The Effects Of Waste Generated On Human Health And The Environment

Definition of Terms

Contamination/ Contaminant(s) - Material(s) placed in wrong bins for instance, finding paper and refundables in bins designated for garbage. Finding recyclable materials in single bins designated for garbage is considered contamination and vice versa.

Garbage/Trash - Food waste, glass, used paper towels and non-recyclables materials

Recyclable plastics - Those plastics with identification codes 1- 6 listed under the Fredericton Region Solid Waste Commission’s recycling program.

Single bins - individual bins allocated for garbage only

Three compartment bins - A bin composed of three sections; refundables, paper and garbage.

UNB - University of New Brunswick

UNBF - University of New Brunswick Fredericton

1.0 Overview

The global increasing population and urbanization have amounted to a huge rise in the levels of waste. The amount of waste generated is a reflection of a society’s production and consumption patterns and has a direct impact on human health and the environment. UNB with its increasing student and staff populations, generate tons of waste from paper, electronic, plastics to organic waste. By diverting waste from the landfill and recycling them through the Fredericton Solid Waste Commission recycling program, the university will be fulfilling its strategic plan of building a better university and province; reducing resource consumption and ultimately help protect the environment. The UNBF Sustainability Department therefore retained my services to undertake a recycling project from May 2015 to August 2015.

2.0 Purpose

The aim of the project was to quantify the waste generated in some selected buildings; determine the rate of contamination in the current bin system; to come up with recommendations...

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...by a contracted company.

4.2 Recyclable paper and cardboards

The paper compartment on the three compartment bin distributed across campus and boxes and plastic recycling bins in some offices are used to collect waste paper. The janitorial staff go round routinely to collect and store the paper in 95-gallon recycling bins. The paper is later picked up by the Fredericton Solid Waste Commission to be recycled.

4.3 Refundables

The refundables compartment on the three compartment bins together with some single recycling bins are demarcated for bottles and cans. The refundables are again collected by the janitorial staff and sent to the Fredericton Solid Waste Commission.

4.4 Scrap metal

Recyclable metal is collected and stored separately from the general waste by Facilities Management and later picked up by Laagland Recyclers. This was outside the scope of this project.