The biggest challenge in the implementation of Waste-to-Energy projects lies not in the technology itself but in the acceptance of citizens. Citizens who are environmentally minded but lack awareness of the current status of MSW-to-energy bring up concerns of environmental justice and organize around this. They view waste-to-energy as ‘dumping’ of pollutants on lower strata of society and their emotional critique rooted in the hope for environmental justice tends to move democracy.
An advocate of public understanding of science, Shawn Lawrence Otto regrets that the facts are not able to hold the same sway. Some US liberal groups such as the Center for American Progress are beginning to realize that the times and science have changed. It will take more consensus on the science and the go ahead from environmental groups before the conversation moves forward, seemingly improbable but not without precedent.
Spittelau Waste-to-Energy Plant
The Spittelau waste-to-energy plant is an example of opposition coming together in consensus over WTE. It was built in Vienna in 1971 with the purpose of addressing district heating and waste management issues. Much later awareness of the risks of dioxins emitted by such plants grew and the people’s faith in the technology was called into question.
It also became a political issue whereby opposition parties challenged the mayor on the suitability of the plant. The economic interests of landfill owners also lay in the shutting down of the WTE facility. The alternative was to retrofit the same plant with advanced technology that would remove the dioxins through Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR).
Through public discussions it appeared that the majority of the people were against the plant altogether though thorough studies by informed researchers showed that the science backs WTE. The mayor, Helmut Zilk eventually consulted Green Party members on how to make this technology better perceived in the eyes of the people, and asked the famous Austrian artist Freidensreich Hundertwasser, who was a green party member to design the look of the plant.
Freidensreich Hundertwasser after carefully studying the subject wrote a letter of support, stating his belief as to why WTE was needed and accepted Mayor Helmut Zilk’s request. Later public opinion polls showed that there were a majority of people who were either in favor of or not opinionated about the plant, with only 3% in outright opposition of the plant.
Polarized Discussion
Waste-to-Energy or recycling has kept public discourse from questioning whether there may not be intermediate or case specific solutions. This polarization serves to move the conversation nowhere. For now it can be agreed that landfills are devastating in their contribution to Climate Change and must be done away with.
The choice then, of treatment processes for municipal solid waste are plentiful. If after recovery of recyclable materials there remains a sizeable waste stream the option of waste-to-energy can be explored.
Primary Considerations in WTE Projects
Environmental implications (i.e. CO2 emissions vis-à-vis the next best fuel source) given the composition of the local waste stream. If the waste stream consists of a high percentage of recyclables the more sustainable waste strategy would be to ramp up recycling efforts rather than to adopt WTE,
Likely composition and variation of the waste stream and the feasibility of the technology to handle such a waste stream,
Financial considerations with regards to the revenue stream from the WTE facility and its long term viability,
Efforts at making citizens aware of the high standards achieved by this technology in order to secure their approval.
Note: This excerpt is being published with the permission of our collaborative partner Be Waste Wise.
If you’re interested in green and environmental issues you may have heard the phrase ‘life-cycle assessment’ in relation to a particular product. It can be difficult to ascertain exactly what this life-cycle assessment involves – so we’re hoping to shed some light on the process, the different types of assessment that take place and explain what’s involved with each step.
A look at the bigger picture
Essentially, a product life-cycle assessment takes an overall view of that item’s impact on the environment – and in doing so, offers a true picture of how green that product really is. The aim is for consumers, manufacturers and policy makers to be given a true environmental picture of any product.
Although it’s an example that divides the opinion of environmentalists around the world, the Toyota Prius provides an interesting picture of why the product life-cycle assessment is required in a world driven by a company’s desire to be seen as green. The Prius is an electric-hybrid car which Toyota claims delivers an impressive 60 miles per gallon of fuel – a statistic that puts it as a firm environmental favourite.
However, there are claims that the construction methods used to create the batteries that power the Prius are hugely detrimental to the environment – with some sources saying the manufacturing plant impacts the environment so greatly that by the time a Prius is driven from the showroom – it’s already had the environmental impact it would take any other car 1,000 gallons of fuel to match.
What’s the verdict?
So, is the Prius good or bad? That’s not for us to decide – and we’re not suggesting one way or another, we’re simply using this as an illustration of how complex any environmental consideration can be in a product with such an intensive manufacturing process and prolonged lifespan. At the other end of the calculation you’d have to consider how long the Prius will run for – and whether that balances a supposedly negative building method.
Stages of product life-cycle assessment
The product life cycle analysis is ordinarily broken down into different stages:
1. Extraction and processing of raw materials
This is a full understanding of the journey from source to point of manufacture that the building blocks of any product take. For example, in the manufacture of a table you would begin by looking at the trees that provide the wood, the logging process that takes them from forest to timber yard and the impact of the machinery used throughout that process.
You would repeat this process for every raw material that goes into the table’s manufacture.
2. Manufacturing
Next comes the manufacturing itself – if machinery or any industrial process is used to piece our table together then resources used in that process must be considered when we look at the overall impact of the product on the environment.
3. Packaging
The packaging that a product is delivered in is effectively another product in itself. Although unlikely in our table example, it’s not uncommon for extravagant packaging to represent 10-20% of a product’s recommended retail price. Curtis Packaging, an award-winning UK based sustainable packaging company suggest manufacturers pay careful consideration to the impact of packaging on a product’s overall green credentials – from raw materials to the point of disposal, the packing that adorns your product can have serious environmental considerations.
4. Marketing
At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking marketing a product comes with no environmental impact – but you’d be wrong. From the printing of advertising materials – to the sales team’s 20,000 annual miles in company vehicles – there can be a lot of resource put into any marketing process. However, measurement is no mean feat – companies can find it difficult to differentiate between their overall carbon footprint and that associated with any one product.
5. Product use, re-use and maintenance
This is where the impact of a product moves from the manufacturer and into the hands of the consumer. What does typical use look like? How long is a product being used for? Does one person’s use vary compared to another’s? For our example table, the answers could be fairly simple – on the other hand, there’s a huge amount of variation when you look at a broad range of car drivers.
Packaging that adorns your product can have serious environmental impact.
For any product that requires maintenance, the LCA just became much more complex (again!) – just as packaging represented an entirely separate product that requires its own assessment – a similar process is required when a car receives a tank of fuel, a top up of coolant, brake fluid, spark plugs, brake pads… hopefully you get the picture (hint – it’s complex and sprawling!)
However difficult it might be to anticipate, it’s an environmental imperative that big industry is aware of the impact they have – even when their product has left their hands.
6. Recycling, disposal and waste at the end of the product’s life
From pizza boxes to old cars, it’s easy to think of their job as being done when they’re waved off to a recycling bin or breaker’s yard – but environmentally this could just be the beginning of their impact.
In terms of recycling – the effort and impact of the process must be outweighed by the benefit of the salvaged material, it’s often in life-cycle assessments that decisions are made around what is worth recycling – and what should be destined for landfill. If landfill is the ultimate resting place for any product, what does the deterioration process look like and what does that mean to the environment in the short, medium and long-term?
Then, to bring the assessment cycle full circle – any product that can be processed and re-used re-enters the assessment cycle back at the extraction and processing of raw materials stage…
Ultimately, what is the life-cycle assessment done for?
There’s no one reason that a product life-cycle assessment is done. For some companies, they’re keen to explain the full back-story of the product. For others, it can be an exercise in understanding the full process and highlighting any areas that can be financially streamlined – it certainly provides a solid baseline from which improvements can be made.
For the most environmentally ethical companies, the life-cycle assessment gives a true picture of the impact they have on the well-being of the planet – and offers a chance to get a full and honest picture of the moves they and their partners can make in creating a product that fulfils the requirements of the environment – as well as those of the customer and shareholders.
According to GenFollower, around 8.3 billion metric tons (9.1 billion US tons) of plastic have been produced worldwide, and it is found that 9.1% of plastic waste is not recycled, and this is an alarming figure which is contaminating our natural environment. Although plastic is a very useful material that’s rigid, flexible and robust, it becomes waste right after use, and contaminate the environment.
In order to protect our environmental surroundings as well as to make the most of plastic material, recycling procedure is the best solution. Plastic is actually a common material that’s now frequently used by everyone on this planet. Plastic is used in several ways because it is compact and lightweight.
The continues maintenance required is little.
Typical plastic items that usually used are bottles, food packages, bags, and containers. When you buy grocery, food items or any other product from any store or shop, you’ll use plastic bags for carrying them.
Plastic is made of polymer-bonded substances and isn’t biodegradable which means plastic won’t break down when it is buried. When plastic is burnt, it discharges detrimental chemical substances in smoke. Most of these chemical substances in smoke have negative effects on our ecosystem. Therefore, the necessity of recycling arises.
Straight into Something New
Recycling means making new items out of waste material. In this article, learn more about how to to recycle plastics
Almost all types of plastic materials can’t be reprocessed. If we recycle those that can be reprocessed, the earth will be saved to a certain degree. Plastic recycling requires the process of recovering discard plastic, and this particular waste is then reprocessed to make new materials that could be more advanced than their original state.
When compared with many other materials such as metal and glass, recycling of plastic is complex and expensive. It’s because of the high molecular body weight of the large polymer-bonded chains that make the plastic material.
Heating plastic does not melt the polymer-bonded chains, and therefore, a tiresome and complicated procedure is required. Several types of plastic-type material can’t be mixed since they recycle separately.
Benefits of Recycling of Plastics
Recycling plastic has many positive aspects:
Use of non-renewable fuels is usually reduced by recycling as the production of new plastic materials requires more of these fuels.
Use of electrical power is also reduced because already prepared plastic material is reused.
Amount of plastic-type material that reaches the garbage dump sites are reduced. This may eradicate land pollution to some extent.
Carbon pollutants are reduced because manufacturing units discharge more carbon.
Inverse Polymerization Procedure
The most popular procedure that is used for polymers recycle is the inverse polymerization procedure in which the polymers in the plastic material are transformed into monomers that are used in the manufacturing process.
Recycling has unending benefits
Most of these chemical substances are then synthesized and purified to form new materials. Different polymers are usually transformed into oil in another process. The main advantage of this particular process is that any mixture of polymers can easily be used.
Steps Involved in Plastic Recycling
The standard steps which are involved in the particular recycling of plastic material are;
Step 1: Accumulating plastic waste from industries and households.
Step 2: Separating the plastic waste materials in different categories such as bags, containers, pet bottles, etc.
Step 3: The plastic is cut into small pieces.
Step 4: The small pieces are carefully cleaned for removing any unwanted particles or dirt contaminants on them.
Step 5: The cleaned pieces are dissolved and poured into storage containers for recycling.
In order to aid this process, plastics that have identification code should be identified with the different polymers that are usually used in the manufacturing of plastic. This process should be started at home. When you’ve used that plastic item, you can easily use the same item for something else entirely. For instance, if you purchase a fruit juice bottle, you can easily use the plastic bottle as a storage bottle for reusing the PET bottle.
Construction business is booming worldwide driven by population growth, urbanization and increased need for dwellings, business sites and commercial spaces with volume output expected to grow by 85% to $15.5 trillion by 2030. Unfortunately, it also means that there is a serious challenge to implement sustainable waste management in the construction industry.
It is not only the duty of waste management contractors and companies to ensure sustainable collection and management of construction wastes responsibly but also individuals who are doing their own DIY projects at home. Without a concerted effort to collect, recycle and dispose waste properly, there is real danger to the environment that will eventually spill over to people, vegetation, and wildlife.
Role of education and behavior change
On a global scale, over half of the world’s population have no access to a steady collection of trash. Illegal dumpsites hold over 40% of the world’s waste. It’s not only the lack of facilities but also inadequate information that is contributing to waste-related pollution all over the world.
Sustainable waste collection begins by educating people about reducing, reusing and recycling efforts or the 3R approach. From education and information campaigns to changes in behavior and attitudes, when people know and are aware of the benefits of reducing, segregating, collection, reusing and recycling, they become a collective and conscious effort.
Right materials and equipment
The availability of skips, bins, collection containers, and recycling centers also has a great influence on how much a person and their communities recycle and reuse or dispose of construction waste properly. For people who are able to hire a 20 yard dumpster in West Chester, Lancaster, Norrington, Reading or any other town in the world, it is easier and convenient to remove construction and renovation waste knowing that the company will dispose of it properly by bringing it to approved landfills.
General awareness to reduce dumping is increasing as about 35% of construction and demolition waste (CDW) goes to landfills. Construction rubbish can contain lots of toxic materials such as lead, asbestos, and other dangerous substances that can find their way into the soil, groundwater, and the air that we breathe.
The construction industry has also recognized that reusing components and materials in making or erecting structures is sustainable and saves money. Most of the parts of construction consist of wood, sticks, steel, and concrete. Rubble can be compacted and reused. Demolition is carefully considered if renovation can be carried out.
The Way Forward
Waste generated from construction sites need not be a nuisance to the environment. With the right education to increase awareness to reduce/recycle/reuse, provision of collection and recycling points and the newer and better techniques to reuse construction materials, sustainable management of construction waste can become a reality.
People are more environmentally conscious than ever, and want to do their part to help reduce waste. Not only are they themselves eco-friendly, but they also want the companies they purchase from and support to do their part as well. Nearly every wyoming llc will produce some type of waste, despite their best intentions. Even things like offices can create a lot of waste. This waste can have a terrible impact on the environment, for everything from wildlife to our own public health.
However, producing zero waste isn’t always possible for companies (at least not currently). As a result, it is more important than ever to have a good waste management strategy for your business. These plans help you deal with responsibly getting rid of waste, as well as reducing it where possible.
Unfortunately, crafting one isn’t always easy. Thankfully, we are here to help. This article is going to go over some great tips for creating a better waste management plan for your business.
Do Your Due Diligence
First and foremost, hire a waste production manager to perform an adequate amount of due diligence on waste processes in your business. While some companies might think they know all of the waste that they are producing, that isn’t always the case. There could be remnants of waste on your property from years ago, which could be damaging the soil and the environment.
In order to truly get the full picture of the waste you are creating or have created, you need to have testing, site-walks and other types of due diligence conducted. The more you know about the kind of waste you are creating, and how much, the better suited you will be to build out your customized plan.
Whether you are an established company wanting to improve or create your plan, or a company looking for a new workplace or site, doing due diligence is a must. If you want to learn more about this environmental due diligence, and the assessments involved, you can do so in this Phase I Environmental Site Assessment article.
Find Ways to Reduce and Reuse
While responsibly disposing of things is often at the heart of any waste management plan, it should be about so much more than that. In fact, actually throwing things away at a dump or landfill should be kept to a minimum. Instead, your plan should be focused primarily on reducing your waste and reusing what you can.
This could be by changing up certain processes, using new technology, or simply identifying what methods produce the most waste, and optimizing them. Also seek to reuse the waste that you can. If you yourself can’t use it, see if another company or industry might be able to.
For example, instead of tossing food waste in the garbage, it can often be used as compost by large farms. While not all types of waste can be reduced or reused, you would be shocked at what can be done if you take your time and come up with a plan.
Know the Responsibilities and Guidelines in Your Area
In most areas, businesses have certain responsibilities when it comes to waste management. It could be anything from offering the right receptacles to staying below a certain threshold of waste. You need to be aware of your responsibilities wherever you operate. If you don’t comply and do what you are responsible for doing, you could end up with some serious penalties or fines to deal with.
In addition to knowing the responsibilities you have in your local area, also be aware of the guidelines. Some cities or areas will require the waste to be sorted or disposed of in a certain way. Be sure to have all of these policies and rules clearly stated for everyone, so they aren’t left confused about anything.
On a similar note, be aware of the local services that can assist with waste management. Know where they operate, what sorts of materials they can help you dispose of and what the associated costs are.
The idea of a zero-waste lifestyle has become increasingly popular in recent years. It entails aiming to generate no more waste to save the planet. How does this work? Well, all the trash that humans generate ends up in landfills. These huge dumpsites are incredibly harmful to the environment. On the one hand, they contaminate the soil. On the other hand, they significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions. That, in turn, contributes to global warming. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to reverse the damage already caused. Nevertheless, we can try to minimize future damage by following zero-waste trends and incorporating them into our lives. Here’s a simple guide to help you transition to a zero-waste lifestyle.
1. Inspecting your waste
That might sound a bit gross, but you need to inspect your trash to identify your waste habits. That enables you to determine where most of your waste comes from. For example, if you mainly generate food waste, then it’s time to make a change in this department. Specifically, you should find ways to shop smart and not buy too much. A good solution here would be to plan your meals for the entire week and buy only the ingredients you need to prepare them.
2. Make compost
A great way to transition to a zero-waste lifestyle is to make compost. Composting is a natural process through which you recycle food waste and other organic materials and turn it into a nutrient-rich fertilizer. Firstly, this enables you to minimize and eliminate food waste. Secondly, it’s a great way to eliminate other types of waste, such as sawdust, wood chips, grass trimmings, and even small pieces of paper and cardboard.
Composting is a great way to transition to a zero-waste lifestyle
3. Buy less processed foods
Apart from shopping smart to avoid food waste, you should also aim to buy less processed foods. That is beneficial not only for your health but the environment as well. Specifically, it helps you generate less plastic waste. This is because most processed foods come in plastic packaging, while fresh food doesn’t.
Of course, grocery stores usually provide plastic bags for these products. But you can easily avoid using them by bringing reusable grocery bags and containers. At the same time, if you need to buy processed foods, look for those that come in glass or aluminum containers. As opposed to plastic, these materials are entirely recyclable.
4. Always recycle
Recycling is the process of turning waste into reusable materials and products. As a result, recycling saves energy and natural resources, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and shrinks landfills. One way to transition to a zero-waste lifestyle is to correctly sort your trash and use recycling bins. However, you should do some research first. Because if you don’t do it right, you’ll make it much harder for recycling facilities to do their job.
To transition to a zero-waste lifestyle, you should always recycle.
5. Avoid single-use items
Single-use items generate a tremendous amount of waste and pollute the environment. Thus, you should do your best to avoid or minimize their use. These items include everything from paper towels and tissues to plastic bottles. You might view these as essentials, but you can easily replace them with reusable items. For example, you can use washable kitchen towels and handkerchiefs. And you can opt for a thermos or sports bottle instead of a single-use water bottle. That is not only eco-friendly but will also help you save money.
6. Reuse packing materials
Most of the household items you buy come in cardboard boxes. Your first instinct is to throw them away to eliminate the clutter. Nevertheless, you should resist this urge because old packing materials can be beneficial. For instance, let’s say you want to go green in your storage unit. In this case, reusing packing materials is one of the most efficient ways to make them sustainable; specifically, you can use old cardboard boxes to organize your belongings instead of investing in plastic containers.
7. Buy second-hand and donate
Whether you need to update your wardrobe or redecorate your home, you should consider shopping in a thrift store. You’ll find everything from clothes to furniture at a meager cost here. That is not only good for your finances but also the environment. More precisely, it reduces waste by reusing old items and materials. As for the items you want to get rid of, you can either sell or donate them to avoid generating waste. That mostly depends on their current condition and value.
8. Go digital
Everything you receive by mail generates paper waste. That includes utility bills, various invoices, newspapers, magazines, etc. So, it’s time to go digital if you want to transition to a zero-waste lifestyle. You only have to contact your providers and tell them you wish to receive all correspondence via email. The same goes for newspapers and magazines that are now available online.
9. Look for a zero-waste community
The zero-waste movement is becoming more and more popular by the day. As a result, you’ll find zero-waste communities all around the globe. These groups can provide you with precious information and valuable suggestions to make the transition easier. Therefore, you should look for and join a local or online zero-waste community.
In conclusion
Given how harmful landfills are to the environment, reducing waste should become a priority worldwide because landfills are harmful to the environment. Unfortunately, as individuals, we don’t have the power to change international environmental laws. However, we can help protect the environment by changing our lifestyle. Going zero waste is a great solution, but it can be hard to achieve. So, use this simple guide to help you transition to a zero-waste lifestyle and go from there. Once you get used to it, you’ll realize it’s not that hard.
Solid waste management is already a significant concern for municipal governments across South Asia. It constitutes one of their largest costs and the problem is growing year on year as urban populations swell. As with all waste management experiences, we have learned lessons and can see scope for improvement.
Collection and Transportation
There are two factors which have a significant impact on the costs and viability of a waste management system as it relates to collection and transportation: first, the distance travelled between collection and disposal point; and second, the extent to which ‘wet’ kitchen waste can be kept separate from dry waste much of which can be recycled. Separating waste in this way reduces the costs of manual sorting later on, and increases the prices for recyclable materials.
In many larger towns distances become too great for door-to-door collectors to dispose waste directly at the dump site. Arrangements are made to dispose of waste at secondary storage points (large skips) provided by the municipality. However, where these are not regularly emptied, the waste is likely to be spread beyond the bins, creating a further environmental hazard.
Ideally, and if suitable land can be found, a number of smaller waste disposal sites located around a town would eliminate this problem. With significant public awareness efforts on our part, and continual daily reminders to home-owners, we were able to raise the rate of household separation to about 60%, but once these reminders became less frequent, the rate dropped rapidly back to around 25%. The problem is compounded in larger cities by the unavailability of separated secondary storage bins, so everything is mixed up again at this point anyway, despite the best efforts of householders.
If rates are to be sustained, it requires continual and on-going promotion in the long term. The cost of this has to be weighed against the financial benefit of cleaner separated waste and reduced sorting costs. Our experience in Sri Lanka shows how important a role the Local Authority can play in continuing to promote good solid waste management practices at the household level.
Home Composting
Our experience with home composting shows that complete coverage, with every household using the system, is very unlikely to be achieved. Where we have promoted it heavily and in co-operation with the Local Authority we have found the sustained use of about 65% of the bins. Even this level of coverage, however, can have an important impact on waste volumes needing to be collected and disposed of. At the same time it can provide important, organic inputs to home gardening, providing a more varied and nutritious diet for poor householders.
Waste to Compost and Waste to Energy
The variety of technologies we have demonstrated have different advantages and disadvantages. For some, maintenance is more complicated and there can be issues of clogging. For the dry-fermentation chambers, there is a need for a regular supply of fresh waste that has not already decomposed. For other systems requiring water, quite large amounts may be needed. All of these technical challenges can be overcome with good operation and maintenance practices, but need to be factored in when choosing the appropriate technology for a given location.
The major challenge for compost production has been to secure regular sales. The market for compost is seasonal, and this creates an irregular cash flow that needs to be factored in to the business model. In Bangladesh, a significant barrier has been the need for the product to be officially licensed. The requirements for product quality are exacting in order to ensure farmers are buying a product they can trust.
However, the need for on-site testing facilities may be too prescriptive, creating a barrier for smaller-scale operations of this sort. Possibly a second tier of license could be created for compost from waste which would allow sales more easily but with lower levels of guarantees for farmers.
Safe Food Production and Consumption
Community people highly welcomed the concept of safe food using organic waste generated compost. In Sri Lanka, women been practicing vertical gardening which meeting the daily consumption needs became source of extra income for the family.
Female organic fertilizer entrepreneurs in Bangladesh are growing seasonal vegetables and fruits with compost and harvesting more quality products. They sell these products with higher price in local and regional markets as this is still a niche market in the country. The safe food producers require financial and regulatory support from the government and relevant agencies on certification and quality control to raise and sustain market demand.
The concept of safe food using organic waste generated compost is picking up in South Asia
Conclusion
Solid waste management is an area that has not received the attention it deserves from policy-makers in South Asia nations. There are signs this may change, with its inclusion in the SDGs and in many INDCs which are the basis of the Paris Climate Agreement. If we are to meet the challenge, we will need new approaches to partnerships, and the adoption of different kinds of systems and technologies. This will require greater awareness and capacity building at the Local Authority level. If national climate or SDG targets are to be met, they will need to be localised through municipalities. Greater knowledge sharing at national and regional levels through municipal associations, regional bodies such as SAARC and regional local authority associations such as Citynet, will be an important part of this.
Practical Action’s key messages for regional and national policy makers, based on our experience in the region in the last 5 years, are about the need for:
creating new partnerships for waste collection with NGOs and the informal sector,
considering more decentralised approaches to processing and treatment, and
recognising the exciting potential for viable technologies for generating more value from waste
Waste management systems can be divided into a number of steps from collection, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recycling and final disposal. Integrated solid waste management refers to this entire process and aims to maximise resource use efficiency, with minimal amounts ending up in final disposal sites. During Practical Action’s recent work in the South Asia region, we have gained particular experiences in terms of waste collection, storage and transportation; and secondly waste processing in particular of organic waste.
Waste Collection and Transportation
In many cities, waste collection services fail to reach all areas of the town or city. People are left to manage their own waste, which they do by burning and burying it, or dumping on open spaces. Sometimes large bins or skips are provided but they may be irregularly emptied, and also overflow when the contents is picked over by waste pickers and animals.
In Bangladesh, in order to help increase the overall capacity for collecting household waste, Practical Action has promoted a door-to-door collection service run by local NGOs. Residents pay a service charge in addition to their municipal rates, but in return they receive a regular service, leading to a cleaner neighbourhood.
In Faridpur, the local NGO, WORD, with technical backstopping from Practical Action serves more than 5,000 customers with waste collection. There are three main types of customer, non-slum households, slum households and institutions. Slum-based households are charged the lowest tariffs (minimum BDT 10) while the institutional rate is highest (minimum BDT 150).
The numbers of slum households is small because the alternative option of localized composting (with a barrel system) was widely taken up. This is easier than collection through vans and is useful for slum people as they can use the compost later. Waste collectors use small rickshaw vans for the collection service. Recently we have also introduced small small rickshaw vans and small motorized versions for the collection service.
The waste is taken to a composting facility where it is sorted and the organic portion is separated for composting, and in some cases for generating biogas. In 2008, WORD started the waste collection business with only 525 customers. In the last 8 years, the number has increased more than tenfold (5,100 customer per month) making the solid waste management a viable business. It has not only contributed to a better living environment, but also generated green and dignified jobs for 21 waste workers.
The municipal conservancy department continues to play a regulatory and coordinating role through the Waste Management Steering Committee. This meets regularly to discuss any emerging issues and review the progress of door-to-door collection services. The conservancy department continues to manage the sweeping of streets and drains, and collection of waste from some areas of the town, from vegetable markets and slaughter houses. The only recycling and reuse of organic waste is done by WORD, as all municipal waste for now continues to be disposed at an open dumping site where no further treatment, sorting or reuse takes place.
In Nepal, Practical Action has facilitated organic waste management under a public-private partnership model. For example, in Butwal Municipality, a private firm, Marry Gold Concern, collects and manages wastes from 400 households with a monthly service fee of NPR 50 (GBP 0.33) in an area called Ramnagar. The company employs three operators for collecting and managing waste from low income communities. A compost plant has been set up which processes up to 10 metric tonnes of organic waste and generate 5 metric tonnes of compost per month. In addition, recyclable waste, mainly plastic, is sold to scrap dealers, creating another source of income.
Recycling and Disposal by Forming Associations and Enterprises
In Bangladesh, collection services have been organised through existing local NGOs. In Nepal, Practical Action has instead helped to form different groups of Informal Waste Workers (IWW) such as street waste pickers, waste segregators, pheriya (dry waste pickers), scrap owners and door to door collectors.
We have worked intensively with IWW from five municipalities of Kathmandu Valley. We have facilitated the establishment of a IWWs association called Samyukta Safai Jagaran (SASAJA), and the first waste workers’ cooperative with the same name. These organisations have distributed identity cards to members to increase their recognition as an ‘official’ part of the waste management system. We provided basic safety equipment to 5,622 IWWs, including rain boots/shoes, gloves, masks, raincoats, windcheaters with trouser and wrapper, aprons, cap etc. to minimize health risks.
Basic safety equipment is essential to minimize health risks to informal recycling sector.
Following capacity building and skill enhancement training from Practical Action, many of the IWW group members have established waste-based enterprises. For example, plastic tearing (PET bottle and carton crushing or pressing) for recycling and reuse; paper recycling and mechanical composting of organic waste. This approach has been scaled up in other municipalities in Chitwan and Rupadehi districts reaching around 350 IWWs there.
Reducing Waste through Home Composting
In Nepal and Sri Lanka, and in some slum communities in Bangladesh, we have promoted barrel composting of organic waste. This has the dual benefit of producing compost locally which can be used for home gardening, and reducing the amount of waste that needs to be collected and disposed of elsewhere.
It can reduce the amount of organic waste coming in to the waste collection stream by about 20-30%. It requires community involvement in waste management system as well as frequent monitoring and troubleshooting. This process ensures source segregation of waste, a necessary condition for proper implementation of the 3R system (reuse, reduce and recycle).
Practical Action has distributed more than 2,000 compost bins in Sri Lanka. Especially in Galle, Kurunegala and Akkaraipattu cities where we have distributed about 1,500 home composting bins from 2006 to 2016. More than 65% of the bins are being regularly used.
Our experience shows that once a locality is provided with home composting, the volume of organic waste into the municipal collection system is reduced around 20-30%. However, this varies greatly by locations. If the local authority strictly monitors the compost bin usage and provides troubleshooting support, waste reduction can reach up to 30%.
Both Kurunegala and Galle municipal councils have upscaled the distribution of bins city-wide with the support of national government funding. This technology was taken up by the private sector and other municipal councils. It has been used widely in the country as a solution for reducing organic waste coming in to the waste collection system. For example, Kandy municipal council has adopted the technology with strict restriction on organic waste collection in the municipality collection system.
The Provincial Agriculture department in Kurunegala and the Coconut cultivation board in Akkaraipattu are both promoting organic agriculture with the usage of composting and are using Practical Action’s work as examples for expansion. The central government has provided seeds and fertilizer to city dwellers, including the urban poor, to promote home gardening.
This has been further expanded by Kurunegala municipal council which has distributed potted plants. Some of the vertical gardening structures promoted by Practical Action are now included in urban gardening models of the Western Province Urban Agriculture unit.
Waste management in the SAARC countries has occasionally been raised as an area for regional co-operation. It fits in with other more pressing regional concerns such as environmental degradation, food safety, power generation, poverty alleviation and trans-boundary technology transfer. The Dhaka Declaration on Waste Management of 2004, for example, recognises the environmental imperative to promote more effective waste management systems ‘with special attention to addressing the needs of the poor’.
Similarly, the SAARC action plan on Climate Change of 2008 listed waste management as an area for nationally appropriate mitigation actions where regional sharing of best practices could be useful. The 2010 convention on co-operation on the environment, also included waste management among a list of 19 areas for the exchange of best practices and knowledge, and transfer of eco-friendly technology. However, these commitments have rarely turned into concerted action.
Effectively tackling the growing waste management crisis has not proved easy for most municipalities. Their capacity to cope has not kept pace with the increasing quantities of waste generated, and yet waste management can be one of the biggest costs of municipal budgets. Often they are able to collect waste only from limited areas of their towns. For the South Asia region, waste collection rates are on average 65%, with wide variations between towns.
At the same time, there is often a very active recycling system through waste pickers and the informal sector, involving large numbers of poor people. Large schemes to recycle, separate and produce useful end-products such as compost have often run into problems if they relied too heavily on donor inputs. Once these were phased out they failed to generate sufficient income from sales to be sustainable.
A municipal drain choked by garbage in north Indian city of Aligarh
Two global agreements signed in 2015 may help to raise the profile and stimulate greater action on solid waste management. First, the Sustainable Development Goals which include a goal focused on cities and sustainable urban development. Within this, target 11.6 is to “by 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management”.
This is the first time a global agreement of this sort has included commitments on waste management. Second, the Paris Climate Agreement, with a number of South Asian countries including better management of urban waste as part of their Intended Nationally Determined Contribution.
Solid waste management is already a significant concern for municipal governments across the South Asian region. It constitutes one of their largest costs and the problem is growing year on year as urban populations swell. And yet it is an area that has not received the attention it deserves from policy-makers. There are signs this may change, with its inclusion in the SDGs and in many INDCs which are the basis of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Never before has our society had such a massive and noticeable predilection for recycling. Many industries now want to show that they have a minimal carbon footprint and are doing everything in their power to reduce the burden they cause on the planet as a whole.
This desire has now come to the machining industry. Ceramics often go unused in many industries. This can be things such as broken or excess tiles from a construction site or any other number of ceramic using industries. Previously, we didn’t really know what to do with this excess waste and carted it off to landfills for it to live out the rest of its days.
Now, we are able to grind the ceramics into a fine powder that can then be repurposed for a staggering number of alternative uses. Turning this powder into useable machine parts is just one of these uses that is now seeing some major traction.
Why machine parts?
Many people are woefully unaware of just how prevalent ceramic parts are in the industry. Everything from electrical insulators to use in high-powered lasers and even as durable nozzles for dispensing materials from. Ceramic is highly prized for its thermal resistance, toughness, and applications in the electrical field.
Any of these parts, however, require careful machining of ceramics to get the parts to the right specifications. What this means is that there is a huge demand for people who can take ceramic waste, break it down, and then change it into a useable part.
Okay, but why ceramic?
Ceramic parts are one of the biggest places for growth in industry application currently. Both designers and engineers are finding new ways to apply ceramic to their needs, and part of this requires heavy testing. It can be prohibitively expensive for consistently machine parts from new ceramic for testing in ways that haven’t been proven to be economically viable yet, so using repurposed and recycled ceramics are a great way to test ideas before taking them to market.
The low weight and toughness of ceramics mean that over time, many parts thought only usable if they were made from metal or specialized materials can now be created from relatively simple ceramic materials. As chemistry advances and allows us to create new forms of ceramics in all manner of shapes and sizes, so do our possible applications for these ceramics.
In short, nobody wants to be left behind as better ceramic products are created which in turn is creating a huge demand for ceramic waste for recycling purposes.
They say that technology advances at an exponential pace, meaning that the time it takes for us to double our relative amount of technological advancement is shrinking with each major technological milestone. There’s very little opportunity for those who can’t manage to keep up, with obsolescence coming quickly, there is a major incentive to be on the cusp of any given field’s knowledge. Having the newest and best ceramic parts is just part of this drive for future-proofing businesses, meaning ceramic waste is at a premium currently.
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