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What you should know by the end of this lesson:
What you should know by the end of this lesson:
Understand the waste hierarchy
Be able to explain in detail how waste is managed at each of the levels of the hierarchy
This is the Hierarchy of waste management. This refers to all the different methods which can be used to tackle the issue of waste, with the most sustainable at the top and the least sustainable at the bottom. Each of these strategies will be explored down the page
Waste management has several different aspects, from landfill to waste prevention. You need to have an understanding of each level.
Digital Workbook Task and Paper Jotter Task:
Either create a note pyramid using the waste hierarchy example or a mindmap of all the key information from the 6 levels of waste management.
Prevention, Minimisation and Reuse
Prevention, Minimisation and Reuse
Waste minimization is the cornerstone of the Scottish Government’s Zero Waste Plan which was launched in 2010. The plan sets out the vision for a zero waste society, where all waste is seen as a resource. It states waste must be reduced; valuable resources must not be disposed of in landfill, and all waste must be sorted, leaving only limited amounts to be treated. There are a number of ways of reducing waste:
What can you do at home?
Reducing Food Waste
Reducing Food Waste
Make lists before you go shopping and only buy what you actually need. Avoid multi-buys and supermarket 2 for 1 offers.
Eat food with the skins on such as carrots, cucumber and potatoes to reduce peelings
Plan dishes which use up leftover foods such as stews, soups and casseroles
Rotate food in the fridge to ensure it is consumed before the use-by date
Check your fridge is working at its optimum temperature to keep food fresh for longer
Freeze leftovers and foods such as bread, which is perfectly safe for toasting
Store food in airtight containers to prevent it going soft or bad
Donate excess food to charities such as food banks
Reducing Household Waste
Reducing Household Waste
Not purchasing products with excess packaging
Use “bags for life” instead of plastic carrier bags
Buy liquids and products in containers that you can seal and reuse e.g. glass jars
Buy frozen foods in plastic bags rather than in cardboard boxes.
Use rechargeable batteries and long-life fluorescent lightbulbs.
Avoid disposable razors, pens and lighters; choose products than can be refilled
Avoid pump toothpaste - it is over-packaged and includes excess plastic.
Download music as mp3s instead of buying CDs
What can businesses and governments do?
Encourage Companies to Reduce Packaging
The marketing of a product is extremely important to brand image and resultant sales, and large companies spend a lot of time preparing strategies that best fit the product. However excessive packaging leads to increased waste. Many large corporations have been stung by criticism from environmentalists over excessive packaging and are developing products which require less wrapping, plastics and cardboard to minimise the waste at source. This can also reduce a company’s outlay on marketing, resources and improve their image as a “green” and sustainable business
Scrap “best before” dates and focus on “use-by” dates
How about Reusing products?
Ziffit is an app you can sell books, CDs and DVDs simply by scanning the bar code.
Reuse Products
Reuse Products
Give usable old clothes, toys and electrical goods to charities;
Use old clothes as cleaning rags; old bedding can also be used as dust sheets
Use internet schemes such as local Facebook selling groups to swap old, bulky products and websites such as E-Bay or Gumtree to sell electronic products and other unwanted goods
Recycling
Recycling
Open-Loop Recycling
In open loop recycling, a loss of quality often occurs with each recycling cycle, limiting the number of times the material can be recycled. An example is plastic, which is reprocessed into a lower grade product each time. Eventually it will not be recyclable and will become waste. PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) bottles are crushed and shredded into flakes and used for a range of products that would otherwise be made of polyester including clothing, pillows and carpets. HDPE bottles are downcycled into plastic lumber, tables, benches, litter bins, stationery (e.g. rulers) and other durable plastic products. As a result, there is a limit to how many times plastics can be reprocessed.
Closed-Loop Recycling
In closed loop recycling, a product can be recycled indefinitely back into itself without any impact on its quality. An example is aluminium. Recycling aluminium requires only 5% of the energy needed to produce it from the raw material (bauxite), which in turn reduces waste, conserves resources and reduces anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Many of the aluminium products which we buy from the supermarket for instance, are likely to have gone through some type of closed loop recycling process.
Energy Recovery
Energy Recovery
Energy Recovery is a waste treatment process that involves the burning or incineration of waste materials. In the UK, around 10% of waste products are incinerated, although in Scotland this is much lower, around 3%. Most of the waste that is burned is used to produce electricity, in a similar way in which coal and oil-fired power stations work. This process is known as waste-to-energy (WtE).
Arguments for Energy Recovery
Arguments for Energy Recovery
Supporters of incineration argue it is a necessary way of dealing with waste whilst also producing electricity. It also helps to significantly reduce the amount of waste going to landfill as much landfill waste is combustible. The ash waste produced from incinerators can also be used in the construction and road building industries. There are also some types of waste society doesn’t want going to landfill, such as medical waste from hospitals, and it is best that such products are burned.
Arguments Against Energy Recovery
Arguments Against Energy Recovery
Environmental groups on the other hand state that incineration is totally unsustainable. They suggest incineration encourages more waste because incinerator operators need to have a constant level of waste to keep the fires burning. They also argue it only recovers 10% of the energy used to make the products in our rubbish. Worse still, for every tonne of rubbish burned, between 2 and 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide are produced, increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Incinerators basically produce “landfill in the sky”. Campaigners are also concerned about air pollution from chimneys, which they say is a health risk to local residents. These include acidic gases, nitrogen oxide, heavy metals and dioxins, which are linked to cases of cancer.
Disposal
Disposal
The Good
Landfill sites can be a very hygienic and a very cheap method of waste disposal if they are properly managed and well designed. The bottoms of landfill sites are lined with thick resistant plastic which prevents seepage and contamination of the surrounding area. They actually reduce water pollution, as they offer a site which can handle the pollutants securely. It is cheaper to manage landfill that clean the oceans and rivers. They are also reducing in number as management technology improves, there are 2000 today compared to 8000 30 years ago. While recycling is the preferred option, some plastics need cleaned, separated and sorted before they can be processed, this is time consuming and costly, a much cheaper alternative is to simply send them to landfill.
The Bad
They make it far too easy to throw away trash, instead of promoting recycling. They are literally full of waste...9 out of 10 things which end up in landfill can be reused or recycled. Some of the things which end up there should not, heavy metals and toxic components need to be disposed of properly and not in landfill. As it is so easy to throw away, we throw away items that are sensitive. Electronic devices that are not properly wiped could be easily recovered exposing personal information and data. They create leachates (trash juice), decomposed and liquified trash which has combined with rainwater.
The Ugly
They smell. They are a breeding ground for bacteria and vermin, which can create risks to public health. Prolonged exposure to landfills has been linked to cancer and respiratory diseases. Landfill sites last for decades, and when they are full they are just buried which can then be built on where it may be better to incinerate.
and Methane.
Decomposing rubbish in landfill sites releases methane gas. Methane gas is a very potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. If a landfill site is not properly managed this methane gas can build up and become explosive. Properly managed, this methane gas can be collected and redirected for use in energy recovery.
Lesson Complete
Lesson Complete
Now return to your Teams assignment and complete the quiz to test how well you have understood this lesson
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