European Union Directive 2008/98/EC outlines hierarchy of steps in which waste handling should occur. It suggests that waste prevention should be a top priority followed by re-use and recycling of materials. However in modern, demand and profit driven society this tactic has very small chance of success, certainly in terms of reducing and reusing. As a result generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) is projected to rise by further 2020 by 16% in EU-27, with 80% produced in the EU-15 (which includes UK) (Skovgaard et al., 2008). This implies that “The 3 R’s” strategy fails to deliver its key objective – waste reduction.
Thus attention should also focus on options that could help to reduce waste accumulation rather than just prevention. One of the most successful strategies to decrease landfill waste is to divert it to Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities. The most popular form of energy recovery from waste, for technical and economical reason, is Waste to Energy Incineration (WtEI). It raises a lot of controversy, mainly because it is associated with technologies from the past, when air pollution controls did not exist. This resulted in significant environmental degradation and heath issues. Understandably, this has left a bad image of incineration. Modern incinerators however emit less than 10% of pollutants than their counterparts 25 years ago (DEFRA, 2013). Technology has the potential to play a significant role as part of waste management strategy but equally important as constituent of balanced energy mix. This essay presents available evidence which sheds new light on Waste to Energy Incineration, highlighting its impact on environment, energy security and human health.
In 2011 waste management contributed 17.3 MtCO2e (3.1...
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Shalunenko, N., I.,Korolyuk, T., A., 2012. Construction glass material based on ash from waste incineration plants. Glass and Ceramics, Vol. 69, Nos. 11 – 12, March, 2013
Skovgaard, M., Hedal, N., Villanueva, A., Andersen, F., M., Larsen, H., 2008. Municipal waste management and greenhouse gases. ETC/RWM working paper 2008/1 Available at: http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/publications/wp2008_1/wp/wp1_2008 Accessed on: 4th December 2013
Tabasová, A., Kropác, J., Kermes, V., Nemet, A., Stehlík, P., 2012. Waste-to-energy technologies: Impact on environment. Energy 44, 146-155
UK biomass strategy, 2007. Working Paper 1 – economic analysis of biomass energy. Energy Technologies Unit Department of Trade and Industry. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file39040.pdf Accessed on: 24th November 2013
With the disposal of solid waste from process, manufacturing and its waste pose considerable challenges for many organizations. Since, landfilling has become limited, and with the cost of waste disposal continuing to rise, they needed alternative measures.
The US is the number one producer of garbage all over the world, consuming 30% of the planet’s resources and producing 30% of all its wastes. The number is surprising considering that the US is home to just 4% of the global population. As the world modernizes and the population grows, producing more waste, waste management programs need to improve. Many are pointing to San Francisco because the city achieved an 80% landfill diversion rate, the highest in the nation. Furthermore, the city has set a goal of zero waste by 2020, meaning that no material goes to landfill or high-temperature destruction. Although specific programs many not be suitable or appropriate to imitate in other parts of the world, San Francisco has become the nation’s leader and model city for waste management and recycling in the US due to its unique geographical characteristics, mandatory recycling laws, public participation, and efficient recycling system.
Renewable Energy Technologies and their Pros and Cons, Biomass (2007). Loma Prieta. Retrieved July 23, 2007, from http://www.lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/greenpower/renewabletech.htm#Biomass
In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that Americans generated 250 million tons of municipal solid waste, MSW1, of which only 87 million tons were recycled or composted (“Municipal Solid Waste”, 1). This value, however, does not represent the total amount waste generated by the United States since MSW only accounts for 2 percent of total waste generated. As more trash is generated, space to construct more landfills becomes an issue. In order to reduce the amount of solid waste produced, the federal government must implement and enforce a new waste disposal method that emphasizes composting food waste.
Wilson, D. C., Shienberg, A., & Casanova, L. (2012). Solid Waste Management in the world's cities. Netherlands: UN-HABITAT.
New York City is one of the biggest and most influential cities in the world. With a visible impact over the entire US, and perhaps the entire world, New York stands as one of the two only cities in the world (with London) recognized by the Globalization and World Cities Network (GaWC) as an “Alpha + + city”, described as a city “vastly more integrated with the global economy than any other cities” (The World According to GaWC 2012). To this day New York City continues to grow and further expand its influence over the rest of the world, continuously attracting more businesses and workers to The Big Apple. Although New York is a world pioneer in countless industries, there are others that need to catch up, namely the waste and garbage disposal industry. The rapid growth of the city’s consuming habits and population has left the industry behind, leaving the outdated methods of collection and disposal trying to play a game of catch-up that is negatively affecting the city’s growth potential. For New York City to continue with its pattern of population, economic and influence prosperity and growth, the government and private sector must come together to change every step of the cycle involved (from the buying of the product to its last stop before being dealt with) to create a more sustainable and more long-term orientated strategy to fix this growing problem.
...ing nuclear waste is a new and unsound technology, but still a solution to the problems of excessive waste. Where in the future, new technologies may allow for the waste to be completely recycled and reused in the reactors to create more energy. With both positives and negatives of nuclear energy, the real question that remains is “if not nuclear, then what else?” (Rutgers’s Felder)
Research conducted by Lillianna Guerrero et al. at the Built Department at Eindhoven University of Technology in Den Dolech showing the challenges of waste management challenges for cities in developing countries that waste management comes at a high cost that most countries don’t have the money to set aside for in the annual budget (1). They found that even when the money is set aside, failure to follow guidelines hurts the budget even more. This is important because they must figure out how to make sure guidelines are followed so they can make planned budget costs. Budgeting for a smaller country with no money can be tough especially when there is another factor in their country that needs as much resources as it can get, such as food and water supply for their countries people. Worsening the problem can be avoided if they inform their people on how to properly dispose of their waste and recycle item that could be used in place of another object that will potentially end up as harmful waste. According to Guerrero’s research the outcomes are a comprehensive list of stakeholders that are relevant in the waste management systems and a set of factors that reveal the most important causes for the systems’ failure. For example, failure to educated the public causes incorrect disposal techniques to
Energy can come in many different ways but not every way is good for the environment. By-products produced from the waste or energy being converted can cause harmful repercussions to the environment. There is more than 200 million tons of hazardous waste that is created annually through such things like pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, cleaning products, etc. (High Temperature Incineration, n.d.). I will be discussing the incineration process as well as the pros and cons of incineration based waste to energy have on the environment. I will also be going over my views on incinerating waste and what steps should be taken to get rid of waste more effectively. To better understand the positives and negatives about incineration technology the process
European legislation Council Directive 99/31/EC Landfill Directive aimed to reduce the adverse effects of landfill waste on the environment, in particular on surface water, groundwater, soil, air, and human health. Member States were ...
Shah, K. L. (2000). Basics of solid and hazardous waste management technology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), American’s produced at least 1600 pounds of municipal solid waste (MSW) in fiscal year 2005 and more than 54 percent of the wastes disposed in landfills the amount of 140 million tons of waste. This amount of waste has potential to produce toxic gases, CO2, Methane, greenhouse gas (GHG), metals volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), and toxic poisonous soup called leachate along hundreds of other contaminants. By using dump and old landfills, these pollutants became serious hazards to the environment, air quality, ozone layer, soil contamination, ground water and human resource. On the other hand, there are many opportunities to take advantage of municipal solid waste (MSW) by constructing Mod...
White, P. & Franke, M., 1999: Integrated solid waste management: a lifecycle inventory. Gaithersburg, Md.: Aspen.
As humanity develops new technology, the magnitude and severity of waste increases. When computers were developed, it widely was believed that the need for paper would be eliminated. On the contrary this was widely proven false and we are now utilizing more paper than ever. Canada is not an exception as the typical Canadian generates an average of three pounds of solid waste each day1. This alone shows what a careless species we have become- using and disposing materials without even considering the damage we are causing. With half a trillion tones of waste around the world, only 25% may be reused for a second or third time and less than 5% can be renewed limitlessly1. These facts are true only in developed countries. Since these traditional waste reduction methods have been proven inefficient, we must endorse new innovative technology to arrive at a solution.
Efficient waste managing approaches help with reducing and avoiding unpleasant impact on the environment and human health, while allowing financial development and progress in the quality of people’s life. People do not even imagine what is the size and capacity of their activities and the impact they produce on the environment. Garbage is an important ecological problem. It is seems amazing that approximately all of the citizens of the world identify rubbish as a major environmental problem and yet these people still litter. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (2008), an American produces 250 million tons of garbage per year (para.2). There are different circumstances that are based on the society, environmental conditions, occupation and size of each of the different family. As Richmond (2010) stated, if no administration organizations has the responsibility or resources to concentrate their efforts on the waste disposal, then the responsibility to do that is on ...