Peshawar is among the biggest cities in Pakistan with estimated population of 4 million inhabitants. Like most of the cities in Pakistan, solid waste management is a big challenge in Peshawar as the city generate 600-700 tons of municipal waste every day, with per capita generation of about 0.3 to 0.4 kg per day. Major part of the Peshawar population belongs to low and middle income area and based upon this fact, waste generation rate per capita varies in different parts of the city.
Municipal solid waste collection and disposal services in the city are poor as approximately 60 per cent of the solid wastes remain at collection points, or in streets, where it emits a host of pollutants into the air, making it unacceptable for breathing. A significant fraction of the waste is dumped in an old kiln depression around the southern side of the city where scavengers, mainly comprising young children, manually sort out recyclable materials such as iron, paper, plastics, old clothes etc.
Peshawar has 4 towns and 84 union councils (UCs). Solid waste management is one of their functions. Now city government has planned to build a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF), Composting Plant and possibly a Waste to Energy Power Plant which would be a land mark of Peshawar city administration.
The UCs are responsible for door to door collection of domestic waste and a common shifting practice with the help of hand carts to a central pick-up points in the jurisdiction of each UC. Town Council is responsible for collection and transporting the mixed solid waste to the specified dumps which ends up at unspecified depressions, agricultural land and roadside dumps.
Open dumping of municipal wastes is widely practiced in Peshawar
Presently, there are two sites namely Hazar Khwani and Lundi Akhune Ahmed which are being used for the purpose of open dumping. Waste scavenging is a major activity of thousands of people in the city. An alarming and dangerous practice is the burning of the solid waste in open dumps by scavengers to obtain recyclables like plastics, glass and metals.
Almost 50 percent of recyclables are scavenged at transfer stations from the waste reaching at such points. The recyclable ratio that remains in the house varies and cannot be recovered by the authorities unless it is bought directly from the households. Only the part of recyclables reaching a certain bin or secondary transfer station can be exploited.
In some areas of city where waste is transported by private companies from transfer points to the disposal site out study found that scavengers could only get about 35% of the recyclables from the waste at transfer station.
Considering the above fact, it can be inferred that in case municipality introduces efficient waste transfer system in the city, the amount of recyclables reaching the disposal facility may increase by 30% of the current amount. In case house-to-house collection is introduced the municipality will be able to take hold of 90% of the recyclables in the waste stream being generated from a household.
Waste management crisis in India should be approached holistically; while planning for long term solutions, focus on addressing the immediate problems should be maintained. National and local governments should work with their partners to promote source separation, achieve higher percentages of recycling and produce high quality compost from organics. While this is being achieved and recycling is increased, provisions should be made to handle the non-recyclable wastes that are being generated and will continue to be generated in the future.
Recycling, composting and waste-to-energy are all integral parts of the waste disposal solution and they are complementary to each other; none of them can solve India’s waste crisis alone. Any technology should be considered as a means to address public priorities, but not as an end goal in itself. Finally, discussion on waste management should consider what technology can be used, to whatextent in solving the bigger problem and within what timeframe.
Experts believe India will have more than nine waste-to-energy projects in different cities across India in the next three years, which will help alleviate the situation to a great extent. However, since waste-to-energy projects are designed to replace landfills, they also tend to displace informal settlements on the landfills. Here, governments should welcome discussions with local communities and harbor the informal recycling community by integrating it into the overall waste management system to make sure they do not lose their rights for the rest of the city’s residents.
This is important from a utilitarian perspective too, because in case of emergency situations like those in Bengaluru, Kerala, and elsewhere, the informal recycling community might be the only existing tool to mitigate damage due to improper waste management as opposed to infrastructure projects which take more than one year for completion and public awareness programs which take decades to show significant results.
Involvement of informal recycling community is vital for the success of any SWM program in India
Indian policy makers and municipal officials should utilize this opportunity, created by improper waste management examples across India, to make adjustments to the existing MSW Rules 2000, and design a concrete national policy based on public needs and backed by science. If this chance passes without a strong national framework to improve waste management, the conditions in today’s New Delhi, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore and Srinagar will arise in many more cities as various forcing factors converge. This is what will lead to a solid waste management crisis affecting large populations of urban Indians.
The Indian Judiciary proved to be the most effective platform for the public to influence government action. The majority of local and national government activity towards improving municipal solid waste management is the result of direct public action, funneled through High Courts in each state, and the Supreme Court. In a recent case (Nov 2012), a slew of PILs led the High Court of Karnataka to threaten to supersede its state capital Bengaluru’s elected municipal council, and its dissolution, if it hinders efforts to improve waste management in the city.
In another case in the state of Haryana, two senior officials in its urban development board faced prosecution in its High Court for dumping waste illegally near suburbs. India’s strong and independent judiciary is expected to play an increasing role in waste management in the future, but it cannot bring about the required change without the aid of a comprehensive national policy.
The old garbage dumps of days gone by are no more. Today’s waste disposal solutions are increasingly sophisticated. Environmental regulation, recycling, and the development of plastics – of all things – have contributed to far more tightly managed landfills, with goals inching towards zero waste.
Garbage dumps used to be large holes, usually on the edge of town, where garbage could be buried. While this was an improvement on how people have historically dealt with their trash – by throwing it out the window, into rivers and fields, or alongside the road – it was still a health hazard, an increasingly offensive thing as populations grew, and an environmental burden.
In the United States, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, passed by the US Congress in 1976, changed how garbage is processed, managed and stored. The garbage dumps of the past were simply places where garbage was buried. Today’s landfills are much more complexly engineered sites.
They are extensively planned locations that are constantly monitored. This move toward increasingly more environmentally sound methods has also increased the efficiency of these sites. Before selecting a site for a landfill, city planners must work with engineers to determine what the effects a landfill will have in the long term.
An additional safety measure came when the EPA examined using alternative materials for landfill “daily cover”. Landfills are required to be covered at the end of each working day, and the original method was to use a layer of soil. This was obviously wasteful of resources, and used up the landfill quickly.
Since the EPA report in 1993, landfills and state regulations have increasingly adopted alternative daily cover (ADC), typically turning to geosynthetic materials such as polyethylene and PVC, which work well both to contain and to filter, and can be manufactured in very large and custom-fitting sheets.
Geomembranes and geotextiles (the “geo” part simply means working with the land) had already been used as part of the liner underneath the landfill. It now became possible to use them as the top cover also.
Landfill Bottom Liners and Top Covers
One of the biggest issues surrounding landfills is their impact on the environment, particularly the potential of contaminants reaching the groundwater supply. To prevent this, a bottom liner is used. While it is well known that placing large qualities of garbage in one location can have long lasting consequence, scientists and engineers continue to work toward better solutions that are more environmentally friendly.
The EPA constantly works to regulate how landfills are designed and managed so that any new discoveries of more environmentally friendly methods can be incorporated quickly. Currently for landfill liners, it requires multiple layers of materials be used for landfills.
The underlying liner of new landfill sites will often consist of a soil or clay layer combined with a geotextile – a synthetic permeable membrane that screens solids out from the ever-present liquid descending from the trash, the “leachate”. This liquid is a severe pollutant and is contained and directed to a treatment process by yet another geosynthetic layer, this one impermeable. And underneath this layer will often be another impermeable layer of dense clay.
Landfill daily cover used to be almost as elaborate, taking 6 inches of soil or clay for each day’s landfill cap. With the continued improvement of geosynthetic materials, these over-engineered solutions can be replaced by a more plastic material. Landfill covers made of a synthetic reinforced polyethylene can create greater safety for the environment, combined with being easier to use, and less costly than other alternative daily covers. They can also be re-used.
Daily cover must contain gasses generated by the garbage, control odor and dust, minimize windblown litter, discourage birds, and prevent pests and the spread of disease. Geomembranes do all these things very well, as well as reducing fire risk, improving community tolerance of the landfill, and most importantly, shedding surface water efficiently – thus avoiding adding to the leachate.
The light yet tear-resistant qualities of geosynthetic materials make them easy for operators to install. To further reduce the risk of tears or holes, manufacturers can create the liner in very large or even one piece to fit the landfill size.
The benefit of using this type of cover is that it reusable. This saves cities a lot of money. Also, because operators don’t have to add additional materials to landfill, the lifespan of the site is extended. The combination of a good landfill liner and an alternative daily cover significantly decreases the long term impact the landfill has on the environment.
The federal government provides oversight of landfill operations to ensure that improvements are made Landfilthat make them more environmentally friendly. This involves tracking recycling and composting efforts. Both government and operators are also exploring ways of generating energy from waste processes.
The United States generates 262.4 metric tons of solid waste each year. That number has grown each year – but efforts in recycling and composting have caused it to plateau, and since 2005, the growth has been minimal.
Bottom Line
Landfills are becoming better about preserving the environment. Their efforts, coupled with increased recycling efforts, are improving how waste is managed in the United States. The development of synthetic materials for landfill liners and alternative daily cover has significantly advanced the design and management of landfills.
Rising rates of consumption necessitate an improved approach to resource management. Around the world, from Europe to Asia, governments have adapted their practices and policies to reflect renewability. They’ve invested in facilities that repurpose waste as source of energy, affording them a reliable and cheap source of energy.
This seems like progress, given the impracticality of older methods. Traditional sources of energy like fossil fuels are no longer a realistic option moving forward, not only for their finite nature but also within the context of the planet’s continued health. That said, the waste-to-energy sector is subject to scrutiny.
We’ll detail the reasons for this scrutiny, the waste-to-energy sector’s current status within the United States and speculations for the future. Through a concise analysis of obstacles and opportunities, we’ll provide a holistic perspective of the waste-to-energy progress, with a summation of its positive and negative attributes.
Status of Waste-to-Energy Sector
The U.S. currently employs 86 municipal waste-to-energy facilities across 25 states for the purpose of energy recovery. While several have expanded to manage additional waste, the last new facility opened in 1995. To understand this apparent lack of progress in the area of thermochemical treatment of MSW, budget represents a serious barrier.
One of the primary reasons behind the shortage of waste-to-energy facilities in the USA is their cost. The cost of construction on a new plant often exceeds $100 million, and larger plants require double or triple that figure to build. In addition to that, the economic benefits of the investment aren’t immediately noticeable.
The Palm Beach County Renewable Energy Facility is a RDF-based waste-to-energy (WTE) facility.
The U.S. also has a surplus of available land. Where smaller countries like Japan have limited space to work within, the U.S. can choose to pursue more financially viable options such as landfills. The expenses associated with a landfill are far less significant than those associated with a waste-to-energy facility.
Presently, the U.S. processes 14 percent of its trash in waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, which is still a substantial amount of refuse given today’s rate of consumption. On a larger scale, North America ranks third in the world in the waste-to-energy movement, behind the European nations and the Asia Pacific region.
Future of WTE Sector
Certain factors influence the framework of an energy policy. Government officials have to consider the projected increase in energy demand, concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere, space-constrained or preferred land use, fuel availability and potential disruptions to the supply chain.
A waste-to-energy facility accounts for several of these factors, such as space constraints and fuel availability, but pollution remains an issue. Many argue that the incineration of trash isn’t an effective means of reducing waste or protecting the environment, and they have evidence to support this.
The waste-to-energy sector extends beyond MSW facilities, however. It also encompasses biofuel, which has seen an increase in popularity. The aviation industry has shown a growing dedication to biofuel, with United Airlines investing $30 million in the largest producer of aviation biofuel.
If the interest of United Airlines and other companies is any indication, the waste-to-energy sector will continue to expand. Though negative press and the high cost of waste-to-energy facilities may impede its progress, advances in technology promise to improve efficiency and reduce expenses.
Positives and Negatives
The waste-to-energy sector provides many benefits, allowing communities a method of repurposing their waste. It has negative aspects that are also important to note, like the potential for pollution. While the sector offers solutions, some of them come at a cost.
It’s true that resource management is essential, and adapting practices to meet high standards of renewability is critical to the planet’s health. However, it’s also necessary to recognize risk, and the waste-to-energy sector is not without its flaws. How those flaws will affect the sector moving forward is critical to consider.
According to research, there are around 100,000 pounds of garbage that your community can create. This can have a great impact on the environment like diminishing resources, pollution, and landfills. Meanwhile, recycling is an activity which you can implement every day. It can help in maintaining a green home. This can aid in the reduction of negative effects on the environment. Thus, here are some recycling hacks to get started today:
Start with Small Steps
When you have decided to recycle, do not feel as if you have to start big. Passion for the environment is a great thing. But when you place too much pressure on yourself to get green, this can lead to frustration and stress throughout the process.
Thus, it is best to allow yourself to start small. Learn one part of the process and begin with it. Then, make it a habit for you and your family to begin easy before proceeding to the next part. As you take these baby steps, you will be more likely to include recycling on your life permanently. This is an effective Solutions on Waste, Recycling and Processing Recyclable Materials.
Reduce and Reuse
Part of recycling is reducing the things you use. Reusing the items you use every day instead of throwing them in the bin can aid you in your recycling efforts. Limiting the things that you have to dump will help you control the situation.
Know the Things That Can Be Recycled
It is easy to overlook the items and get confused about where to put your trash. Thus, you should check with your service provider on the specific garbage in your program. But here are the basic principles of recycling:
Cardboard and Paper
All kinds of paper are acceptable which includes flyers, books, colored paper, and junk mail. Do not include waxy papers. You can recycle cardboard so long as it is not filled with grease and food like pizza boxes. For other food boxes like cereals, make sure that you remove first the liners.
Plastic
Recyclable plastics have indicated numbers on them and you can see it at the bottom. Numbers one to seven can be recycled. Take note that you cannot recycle the majority of the utensils because of the low-quality plastic used. If you can crumple easily the plastic bag, then you don’t have to include it in the recycle bin. The curbside will not accept the plastic bags but your local store can collect and reuse them.
Aluminum
As a general rule, you can recycle all aluminum cans. Just clean and rinse it to remove juices and sodas. This can prevent the onslaught of the insect in the area.
Glass
You can recycle glass containers. Before you put them in the recycle bin, rinse them. Make sure that you don’t break these glass containers. When the glass shatters, it can’t be recycled anymore. This is because mixing various colors can contaminate the batches.
Put a Bin in Each Room
Place a recycle bin at the bathroom, office, and bedroom. With this, you can collect all kinds of recyclable materials inside your house.
Hiring a waste production manager is crucial for any business that generates waste. Waste production managers are responsible for managing and reducing waste, ensuring compliance with regulations, and implementing sustainable waste management practices. As businesses strive to become more environmentally conscious, waste production managers play an increasingly important role in achieving sustainability goals.
Businesses that generate waste have a legal and ethical responsibility to manage it properly. Failure to do so can result in fines, legal action, and damage to the company’s reputation. Waste production managers are experts in waste management regulations and can ensure that businesses comply with local, state, and federal laws. They can also help businesses avoid costly mistakes and ensure that waste is disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner.
In addition to regulatory compliance, waste production managers can help businesses reduce waste and save money. By implementing sustainable waste management practices, businesses can reduce the amount of waste they generate, minimize disposal costs, and even generate revenue through recycling and composting programs. Waste production managers can identify opportunities for waste reduction and implement strategies to achieve sustainability goals.
Environmental Impact
Economic Benefits
Operational Efficiency
Corporate Responsibility
Innovation and Development
Risk Management
Environmental Impact
Effective waste management is crucial for reducing the environmental impact of waste production. The waste hierarchy, which prioritizes waste reduction, reuse, and recycling, is an essential framework for achieving this goal. Hiring a waste production manager can help businesses implement these principles and reduce their environmental impact.
One of the primary benefits of hiring a waste production manager is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Landfills, where much of the world’s waste ends up, are a significant source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By diverting waste from landfills through recycling and composting, waste production managers can help reduce these emissions.
In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, effective waste management can also help conserve natural resources. Recycling and reusing materials reduces the need for virgin resources, such as timber and minerals. This reduction in demand can help protect natural habitats and reduce the environmental impact of resource extraction.
Overall, the environmental impact of waste production can be significant. However, by implementing the waste hierarchy and hiring a waste production manager, businesses can reduce their environmental impact and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Economic Benefits
Hiring a waste production manager can provide significant economic benefits for a company. By reducing waste and improving efficiency, companies can save money on disposal costs and increase their bottom line.
One of the primary economic benefits of hiring a waste production manager is the reduction of waste. Waste production managers can identify areas where waste can be reduced or eliminated, such as by implementing recycling programs or reducing the use of single-use products. By reducing waste, companies can save money on disposal costs and reduce their environmental impact.
In addition to reducing waste, waste production managers can also improve efficiency in the workplace. By analyzing waste production processes, waste production managers can identify areas where processes can be streamlined or improved. This can lead to cost savings and increased productivity, as employees can spend less time on inefficient processes.
Furthermore, waste production managers can help companies stay compliant with regulations related to waste production and disposal. Non-compliance can result in fines and other penalties, which can be costly for companies. By ensuring compliance, waste production managers can help companies avoid these costs.
Overall, hiring a waste production manager can provide significant economic benefits for a company. By reducing waste, improving efficiency, and ensuring compliance, companies can save money and increase their bottom line.
Operational Efficiency
Hiring a waste production manager is crucial to ensure operational efficiency in waste management. The manager’s role is to oversee the entire waste management process, from the collection of waste to its disposal. This includes managing the waste collection schedule, ensuring that waste is sorted and disposed of correctly, and developing strategies to reduce waste production.
The waste production manager can identify inefficiencies in the waste management system and develop solutions to improve operational efficiency. For example, they can analyze the waste collection schedule and determine if there are any areas where the schedule can be optimized. They can also identify areas where waste is being generated unnecessarily and develop strategies to reduce waste production.
Another important aspect of operational efficiency is ensuring that waste is disposed of correctly. The waste production manager can ensure that waste is disposed of in compliance with local regulations and that the waste disposal methods used are environmentally sustainable.
Overall, hiring a waste production manager is crucial to ensure that waste management processes are efficient and sustainable. The manager’s expertise can help identify inefficiencies in the system and develop solutions to improve operational efficiency.
Corporate Responsibility
One of the key reasons why hiring a waste production manager is crucial for any organization is due to corporate responsibility. As more and more companies are becoming environmentally conscious, it is important for them to take responsibility for their waste production.
A waste production manager can help companies to reduce their waste output, implement proper waste management practices, and ensure that they are complying with all relevant regulations. This not only helps to protect the environment but also improves the company’s reputation and demonstrates their commitment to corporate responsibility.
By hiring a waste production manager, companies can also save money by reducing waste disposal costs and implementing more efficient waste management practices. This can lead to increased profitability and a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Overall, corporate responsibility is a key consideration for any organization in today’s business landscape. By hiring a waste production manager, companies can demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, while also improving their bottom line.
Innovation and Development
Hiring a waste production manager can bring innovation and development to a company’s waste management practices. Waste production managers are trained to identify inefficiencies in waste management systems and develop solutions to improve them.
One way waste production managers can bring innovation is by implementing new technologies to reduce waste. For example, they may suggest installing composting machines or recycling equipment to divert waste from landfills. They may also recommend using biodegradable materials or implementing a closed-loop system to reduce waste in the first place.
To transition to a zero-waste lifestyle, you should always recycle.
Another way waste production managers can bring development is by creating new waste reduction strategies. They can analyze a company’s waste stream and identify areas where waste can be reduced. This may involve implementing a waste reduction program, such as source reduction, recycling, or composting. They may also suggest ways to improve waste segregation or collection processes to increase efficiency.
Overall, hiring a waste production manager can bring significant benefits to a company’s waste management practices. They can bring new ideas, technologies, and strategies to reduce waste and improve efficiency. By investing in waste reduction, companies can save money, reduce their environmental impact, and improve their overall sustainability.
Risk Management
Effective waste management is essential for any business to minimize risks and avoid potential hazards. A waste production manager can help a company identify and manage risks associated with waste production, including environmental, health, and safety risks.
With their expertise, a waste production manager can help a company implement best practices for waste management, such as proper waste disposal, recycling, and waste reduction strategies. By doing so, they can reduce the risk of environmental pollution, contamination, and fines from regulatory agencies.
In addition, a waste production manager can ensure that employees are properly trained in waste handling and disposal procedures, reducing the risk of injuries and accidents. They can also monitor waste production and identify areas where waste can be reduced, leading to cost savings for the company.
Overall, hiring a waste production manager is a crucial step for any business looking to effectively manage their waste production and minimize risks associated with it.
We all cherish our electronic devices, from our laptops and mobile phones to our beloved household appliances such as our refrigerators and washing machines. But when these electric appliances become outdated or reach the end of their useful life, they become electronic waste and that’s a big problem.
Whether they’re complete junk or still in good shape, no matter what, you should never just throw an old electronic device in the trash. So how should you deal with old electrical items? Read on to discover some ideas on how you can deal with them.
Repair
Millions of tons of e-waste are discarded every year and a very small percentage of them are disposed of properly, all this isn’t good for our environment. Many of the devices we throw away haven’t reached the end of their useful life so before you get rid of them, make sure they are really unusable.
Whether your phone has stopped working or your washing machine is making funny sounds, the first step to take would be to consult an expert. A specialized electrician will accurately diagnose the state of your device and help you determine the best way to deal with it. Sometimes all you need is for an electrician to simply replace one of the device’s parts and it’s almost as good as new.
You can also try to repair some of your old appliances and devices yourself, some items just need a bit of fixing and connecting loose wires. When fixing an item yourself, check the product’s user manual or look for online resources to find the best and safest way to go about it.
Replace your throwaway habits with repairing ones and reduce your e-waste footprint while saving money. Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional, this will help you reduce any expensive repair costs later on and can greatly extend the lifetime of your devices.
Reuse
There are many ways you can pass on your unwanted items for reuse. If you decide that you want to dispose of an electrical item, consider selling or donating it. Alternatively, some old devices can be traded-in for new ones for a discounted price.
If your items are old but in good quality why not turn them into money? Second-hand electrics are much cheaper to buy. You can easily sell your old electronics online nowadays. The value of a used electrical item varies greatly depending on the condition, age, and current market price, consider all these elements before posting your item for sale to get the maximum value.
The best time to sell old phones and laptops is before new models are announced, so if you’re seeing headlines about an upcoming phone, it might be the right time to list your old unwanted one.
While you may make more money by selling your old devices, nothing beats the convenience of trading in your old gadget for an upgraded one. Some electronics manufacturers and retailers offer trade-in programs that give you cash or gift cards in exchange for your old electrics if they’re in good shape, others let you trade your unwanted device for a reduced price on a new one. Check the company website of your brand or retailer for details on its program.
Donating to charity is a great way to pass on your unwanted items while helping those in need. Check your local non-profit organization or look for reuse programs that will donate your old devices to people who need them or restore and resell them in support of a variety of good causes.
Before donating your old electrical items, make sure that they still function reliably and that they don’t require major repairs or parts replacement.
You don’t want personal or sensitive information to fall into a stranger’s hand. Before selling or donating your old phone or laptop, retrieve some important stuff that you want to keep like photos, passwords, contacts, and music. Once you’ve backed them up, wipe the device completely clean.
Every time new items are made, resources and raw materials are used. The process of extracting and using these materials creates substantial air and water pollution. We can help reduce these environmental effects and save energy by reusing items whenever possible.
Recycle
Recycling old household electrical appliances and electronic devices is usually an easy process thanks to the variety of options available.
Some electronics manufacturers and retailers offer recycling programs for their products, call ahead or visit their official websites to make sure the branch near you is accepting your items. You can also find recycling kiosks in many stores where you can drop off old batteries, wires, cords, and cables.
Plenty of nonprofit organizations, local communities, and official organizations also offer services to help you recycle old electronics. Moreover, several cities and towns around the world now have a local e-recycling center. Look for the nearest trusted recycling service or certified facility in your area to safely get rid of your unwanted electrical items.
To check if an old electrical item is recyclable, simply ask the following questions and if the answer is yes, it’s recyclable:
Does it have a plug?
Does it use batteries?
Does it need charging?
Does it have a picture of a crossed-out bin on it?
Some of the most common recyclable electrical goods include
Printer cartridges
Refrigerators
TVs
Mobile phones
Electric toothbrushes and shavers
Laptops
Watches
Cameras
Treadmills
Correctly disposing of e-waste ensures that the hazardous materials such as lead and mercury can be treated appropriately and the recyclable components including plastics, glass, and metal can be recovered for reuse. If your electrical item is deemed unfixable or unusable, responsibly dispose of it through recycling.
You are even able to have your items picked up by certified electronics recycler. They service both small and large companies, government agencies, municipalities, and even provide support for local residents.
Approximately 25% of the electrical items thrown away can still function and most of the rest can be fixed. Always remember the three Rs; repair, reuse, and recycle when dealing with your old electrical items. You’ve got the resources at your fingertips to repair or reuse so many things, consider those first and if all else fails, look for the nearest certified recycling center.
Every single one of us can do something to improve our impact on the planet, but it is a given that businesses of all sizes have a bigger footprint than families – commercial accounts for 12% of total greenhouse gas emissions. A big factor of that is waste management. From the physical process of picking up garbage, to the methane-released process of decomposition, there are numerous factors that add up to create a large carbon footprint.
A key form of commercial waste is food waste. Between the home and restaurant, it is estimated by the US Department of Agriculture that 133 billion pounds of food is wasted every year. Much will end up in the landfill. How is technology helping to tackle this huge source of environmental waste? Restaurants themselves are benefiting from lower priced and higher quality commercial kitchen cooking equipment, that helps to raise standards and reduce wastage.
Culinary appliances for varied cuisines also benefit from a new process being developed at the Netherland’s Wageningen University. A major driver of food waste is rejected wholesale delivery, much of which will be disposed of in landfill. The technology being developed in Holland aims to reduce wastage by analyzing food at the source, closer to where recycling will be achievable.
Route optimization
Have you ever received a parcel from an online retailer only to find the box greatly outsizes the contents? On the face of it, this is damaging to the environment. However, many retailers use complex box sorting algorithms. The result is that the best route is chosen on balance, considering the gas needed to make the journey, the amount of stock that can be delivered and the shortest route for the driver. This is an area of intense technological innovation.
The National Waste & Recycling Association reported in 2017 on how 2018 would see further advances, particularly with the integration of artificial intelligence and augmented reality into the route-finding process.
Balancing the landfill carbon footprint
It is well established that landfills are now being used to power wind turbines, geothermal style electricity and so on. They are being improved to minimize the leachate into groundwater systems and to prevent methane escaping into the atmosphere. However, further investigation is being pushed into the possibility of using landfill as a carbon sequester.
AI-based waste management systems can help in route optimization and waste disposal
Penn State University, Lawrence Berkeley and Texas University recently joined together to secure a $2.5m grant into looking into the function of carbon, post-sequestration. This will help to shed light on the carbon footprint and create a solid foundation on which future technology can thrive.
Businesses of all sizes have an impact on the carbon footprint of the world. The various processes that go into making a business profitable and have a positive impact on their local and wider communities need to be addressed. As with many walks of life, technology is helping to bridge the gap.
Waste-to-Energy (also known as energy-from-waste) is the use of thermochemical and biochemical technologies to recover energy, usually in the form of electricity, steam and fuels, from urban wastes. These new technologies can reduce the volume of the original waste by 90%, depending upon composition and use of outputs.
Energy is the driving force for development in all countries of the world. The increasing clamor for energy and satisfying it with a combination of conventional and renewable resources is a big challenge. Accompanying energy problems in different parts of the world, another problem that is assuming critical proportions is that of urban waste accumulation.
The quantity of waste produced all over the world amounted to more than 12 billion tonnes in 2006, with estimates of up to 13 billion tonnes in 2011. The rapid increase in population coupled with changing lifestyle and consumption patterns is expected to result in an exponential increase in waste generation of upto 18 billion tonnes by year 2020.
Waste generation rates are affected by socio-economic development, degree of industrialization, and climate. Generally, the greater the economic prosperity and the higher percentage of urban population, the greater the amount of solid waste produced. Reduction in the volume and mass of solid waste is a crucial issue especially in the light of limited availability of final disposal sites in many parts of the world. Millions of tonnes of household wastes are generated each year with the vast majority disposed of in open fields or burnt wantonly.
The main categories of waste-to-energy technologies are physical technologies, which process waste to make it more useful as fuel; thermal technologies, which can yield heat, fuel oil, or syngas from both organic and inorganic wastes; and biological technologies, in which bacterial fermentation is used to digest organic wastes to yield fuel.
The three principal methods of thermochemical conversion are combustion in excess air, gasification in reduced air, and pyrolysis in the absence of air. The most common technique for producing both heat and electrical energy from wastes is direct combustion.Combined heat and power (CHP) or cogeneration systems, ranging from small-scale technology to large grid-connected facilities, provide significantly higher efficiencies than systems that only generate electricity.
Biochemical processes, like anaerobic digestion, can also produce clean energy in the form of biogas which can be converted to power and heat using a gas engine. In addition, wastes can also yield liquid fuels, such as cellulosic ethanol, which can be used to replace petroleum-based fuels. Cellulosic ethanol can be produced from grasses, wood chips and agricultural residues by biochemical route using heat, pressure, chemicals and enzymes to unlock the sugars in biomass wastes.
Waste-to-energy plants offer two important benefits of environmentally safe waste management and disposal, as well as the generation of clean electric power. The growing use of waste-to-energy as a method to dispose of solid and liquid wastes and generate power has greatly reduced environmental impacts of municipal solid waste management, including emissions of greenhouse gases.
If your company has plastic equipment that’s no longer needed, you can dispose of it by selling the machinery through the most optimal channels.
Here’s a guide on how to achieve disposal of plastic machinery efficiently.
1. Sell Your Plastic Equipment Through an Established Company
When you offer your used plastic equipment for sale in partnership with an established machinery buyer and vendor that sells the machines on your behalf, your equipment can sell much more quickly.
Why? Because an established third party already has a share of the market and buyers are continually looking for second-hand machinery on its site. It would be much more challenging and typically take longer to sell your plastic equipment by yourself.
You can sell all types of used plastic machinery on the second-hand market, including extruder machines, injection molding machines, blow molding machines, downstream equipment, and thermoforming equipment, to name just a few.
2. Check the Condition of Your Equipment Before You Sell it
Before you start selling your plastic equipment, you should thoroughly check it for any problems. While wear-and-tear is normal for used machinery, if any major problems are found, such as defective parts, you need to be aware of it.
If you sell defective machinery without making buyers aware, you’ll have either a return or a lawsuit on your hands. Transparency is the key to a successful and efficient sale.
Also, by discovering problems with the machinery early on, you could take steps to fix the issue before selling it. That way, you can command a higher price.
However, make sure you calculate whether the cost of the repair is worth it in comparison to the going rate for your make and model of plastic equipment.
3. Have All Required Information Ready Before You Begin the Selling Process
To make sure your plastic equipment sells quickly, which in turn will allow you to free up floor space and create greater efficient operations, make sure you have all the information needed to perform a quick and successful sale.
You’ll typically need to know the make and model of your plastic equipment, the year it was made, and its serial number. You should also provide details of what the machinery was previously used for.
By having all of that information available, not only can you sell your equipment efficiently. You can also command a higher price than machinery without accompanying information.
4. Take High-quality Photographs of Your Equipment
Most buyers will purchase used plastic equipment without seeing it in person, due to geographic differences. That means they need to see detailed photographs of the equipment you are selling before they can choose your machinery over another seller’s items.
Even if buyers come to see the equipment first-hand, they will still begin the buying process online, so providing photos is a crucial step if you want to sell your plastic equipment efficiently.
Furthermore, to increase your chances of an early sale, you need to take photos that are highly detailed. Don’t try to pull the wool over customers’ eyes, either. If the machine you’re selling shows signs of wear and tear, photograph it.
And to stand out against other equipment for sale, make sure you take high-quality photos that instantly attract buyers.
Summing Up
When you take the right preparatory steps, you’ll be able to sell your used plastic equipment much more efficiently.
Check the machinery’s condition, ensure you have all the details that buyers will require such as the equipment’s make and model, and learn how to take high-quality photographs of the equipment.
You’ll then be able to quickly sell your plastic equipment for a good price through an established buying and selling platform.
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