Definition
A working definition is ‘wastes generated by households, and wastes of a similar nature generated by commercial and industrial premises, by institutions such as schools, hospitals, care homes and prisons, and from public spaces such as streets, markets, slaughter houses, public toilets, bus stops, parks, and gardens’.
History
Basic
During industrialization and urbanization, there have been three reasons for the development and modernization of waste management: resource value of various waste materials, improvement of public health, and protection of the environment.
Public health
Historically, waste management was only dealt with in larger cities, where street buyers collected and sold materials recovered from waste. In the 19th century, links between poor sanitation in cities and infectious diseases was discovered. Cities started accepting responsibility for removing solid waste from the streets.
Environmental concerns
Until the 1960’s, cities in the developed world concentrated on simply getting the waste away from the citizens, without much regard of environmental consequences. However, pollution from waste has shifted attention towards the impact on health of those living close to waste dumps. Stricter regulation was placed on both landfills and incinerators.
Resource management
Methane, often generated during decomposition in landfills, is a contributor to climate change. At the same time, technology and rising prices bring opportunities and incentives for resource recovery. Waste prevention, extended producer responsibility, recycling and composting have all contributed to the slow evolution of sustainable resource management.
Composition
Basic
In most countries in the world, organic materials and paper are the main contributors to municipal waste. In developing countries, it is mostly large cities that generate municipal waste and data are not available for rural areas. Therefore, it is difficult to make accurate global estimates.
Development Divide
For example in France, according to OECD data from 2005, 32 % per cent of waste was organic material, 20 % paper, 9 % plastics, 10 % glass, 3 % metals and 26 % textiles and others.
In Nairobi, Kenya, 61,4 % of waste was organics, followed by 12 % paper, 21% plastics, 1 % glass, 0,6 % metal and 5 % textiles and others.
Electronic Waste
Furthermore, electronic waste is also a part of household waste. Some 20 to 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste are generated worldwide every year, which is more than 5% of all municipal solid waste.
Treatment
Basic
Municipal waste is collected and separated into different waste streams that are to be disposed of separately. The basic methods for disposal of household waste are recycling, composting, incineration and landfill. This process varies not only from country to country, but also among individual municipalities, depending on environmental conditions and budgeting priorities.
Landfill is defined as the depositing of waste into or onto land, including specially engineered landfill and temporary storage of over one year.
Incineration means thermal treatment of waste in an incineration plant.
Recycling means any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes.
Composting is the treatment of biodegradable matter.”
Resource recovery
Recycling and composting have the advantage of recovering some resources from the waste stream and are therefore generally the more environmentally sound methods of treatment. They can be source of financial revenue as well, using the resulting raw materials and gas from composting. The challenges include costs, technology and low demand in the market. Therefore, incinerating the waste and sending to a landfill is more common.
For example, in the 27 member states of the European Union, 504 kg of municipal waste was treated per person in 2009. 38% of this waste was land filled, 20% incinerated, 24% recycled and 18% composted.
Informal sector
In developing countries, waste is often completely untreated. In India, as little as 25% of waste is collected by local governments and contractors. Trash is often treated by an informal network of scavengers, whose livelihood depends on selling recycled materials. Some countries work on integrating these valuable workers into the formal waste management structure, notably Brazil.
Challenges
Costs
The World Bank estimates that in developing countries, it is common for municipalities to spend up to 50 % of budget on waste management, even though 30-60 % of the trash remains uncollected and less than 50 percent of the population is served. Collection is the most expensive part of waste management in poorer countries. In rich countries, collection is just 10 % of the overall costs, so sustainable and technologically advanced treatment facilities are more affordable.
Pollution
Improper disposal of waste, especially open dump burning of waste including materials such as plastics or metals, can cause rapid environmental degradation. Incinerators generate air pollution, landfills leach and pollute land the soil and even paper recycling creates water pollution. Rich countries often export the pollution generating treatment methods into the developing world.
Possibilities
Energy
Waste-to-energy plants are basically incinerators with turbines to generate electricity or tubes to heat water. However, solid waste can also provide a significant biomass feedstock for the production of fuel. Plastics from waste can be used to produce crude oil as well.
Materials
If most of the waste could be diverted for material and resource recovery, the resources can be used to generate revenue. Designing products for disassembly and recovery of materials, using cradle to cradle principles, can also help avoid resource scarcity on the global level.
Climate Change
Waste management sector as a whole makes a relatively minor contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, around 5 % of total in 2005. However, it can shift from being a source of emissions into being a major saver, especially when considering waste-to-energy, recycling and composting. For example, recycling one tonne of aluminium saves around ten tonnes of CO2 emissions.
CSR
CSR
All four leading waste management companies have externally audited CSR reports that are clearly visible when using their websites. One of these four, Waste Management, Inc., has been named on the Newsweek’s list of 500 greenest global companies. Remondis, one of the ten biggest waste service firms, names sustainability as a core of its business model. FCC Environmental is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes.
Key Places
Total municipal waste generation (OECD)
2007 or the latest available year, in thousand tonnes
1.United States - 230 555
2.China - 154 14
3.Russian Federation - 63 075
4.Japan – 52 035
5.Germany – 47 890
6.India – 40 000
7.Mexico - 36 86
8.United Kingdom - 34 78
9.France - 34 310
10.Turkey - 30 00
Municipal waste generation in kg per capita (OECD)
2007 or the latest available year
1.Norway – 830
2.Denmark - 800
3.Ireland – 780
4.USA - 760
5.Switzerland - 710
6.Luxembourg - 690
7.Netherlands - 630
8.Israel – 600
9.Austria - 590
10.Spain - 580
Transition to Globalisation
Fuel From Waste — Or Even Algae
The aim is to have 15 per cent of the UK’s energy derived from renewable sources by 2020.
Globalisation >> Economy >> Energy >> Sources >> Renewable >> Biomass
Transition to Political Tools
Waste and Environmental Policy
"This research deals with the increasingly complex issues of waste generation, waste management and waste disposal that in less developed industrialised countries present diverse but critical concerns. It takes a socio-economic and policy-oriented perspective and provides empirical evidence at EU and regional level. The EU and Italy are taken as relevant case studies given the disparities in environmental performances between less and more developed areas."
Political Tools >> Regional >> Europe >> EU >> Dom. Policies >> Environment >> Waste
Transition to Political Actors
Bureau of International Recycling
"Founded in 1948, BIR was the first federation to support the interests of the recycling industry on an international scale... The federation provides a dynamic forum for its members to share their knowledge and experience. It serves as a platform to establish successful business relations and to promote recycling among other industrial sectors and policy makers.”
Political Actors >> Business >> Interest Organisations
