What Is Integrated Waste Management

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The purpose of this report is to understand what is sustainability, what is the role of Sustainability Victoria and its priorities in terms of integrated waste management. By focusing on two aspects of integrated waste management, material recovery and waste minimisation I will try to identify different ways for practising sustainability in everyday lives.
1.2 Aims & Objectives
 To define Sustainability Victoria, its role, purpose and statutory objective;
 To explain what is integrated waste management;
 To identify current initiatives/programs used to increase materials recovery;
 To identify current campaigns used in waste minimisation;
 To explain ways for improving practising of sustainability in everyday lives.
2.0 Sustainability …show more content…

This means taking what we need to live now, without threatening the potential for people in the future to meet their needs.
‘Being Green’ means making decisions that are more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible that can help in protecting the environment and preserve natural resources for present and future generations.
Environmentally Friendly means that something is good for the environment, example is riding a bicycle which is good for the environment compared to driving a car which is causing air pollution.
3.0 Integrated Waste Management
Integrated waste management is the management of the entire life cycle of waste system such as avoidance, production, collection, recovery, reuse, treatment and disposal (as shown in Figure 1.0).
Better waste management includes:
• maximising the value of resources by recovering and reusing materials;
• keeping environmental impacts related to disposing of waste to landfill at minimum; and
• making sure that the waste management service meets current and future community …show more content…

3.1 Material Recovery

Material recovery means separating and processing waste products in order to recover components that can be re-used. Waste that is going to landfill is a valuable resource that adds a value to the economy once it is recovered. Recovering and reusing materials provides additional $100 per tonne compared to sending those materials to landfill (Inside Waste, Industry Report 2011-2012). On the other hand recycling of waste materials into new products requires less energy than creating these from raw materials.
Some of the initiatives used in material recovery are listed below.
Household Chemical Collection Program
Household chemical collection program through permanent drop-off sites and mobile collection events. Permanent drop-off sites are opened all year round and accept household paint, batteries and compact florescent lamps. ‘Detox your Home’ is the annual mobile collection event held across 31 locations in order to dispose of highly toxic household chemicals free of charge.

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