Posts Tagged ‘Waste Management’

Waste Management and Skip Bins

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
What is waste management? Simply put it is the collection of waste materials produced by human consumption and activity, transporting it to a facility that will treat it and then the recycling of the waste material, or if it is not reusable, disposing of it for good. Recycling products and materials is becoming the norm due to the growing understanding of the effects it has on our environment; concern about waste disposal practices to our surroundings and is an important issue to companies and local governments. Once, the management of waste would have meant the dustbin truck taking your refuse and transporting it to the local rubbish tip. Fortunately rubbish tips are no longer regarded as an appropriate solution to dealing with waste; refuse, garbage, trash, rubbish, scrap, however you want to name it, is now being accepted as a valuable resource that shouldn’t only be land filled but found many valuable and resourceful uses for.

Governments and private companies aim to control waste by offering facilities to households and businesses to dispose of it, one of the main methods used are the provision of skip bins. Skip bins can be hired to collect a variety of waste including food, plastics, metal, furniture, timber and construction, garden and electronic waste. The kind of skip bin required will depend on the type of materials you are planning on disposing of. For example, green waste skip bins are used for anything from tree clippings to grass and hardfill skip bins for substances like concrete, soil, rubble and tiles. Hazardous chemicals and contaminated waste can’t be put into skip bins due to the dangers involved and so for these materials it is necessary to call the local council and they will advise on how to dispose of them, hazardous substances include acids, solvents, cyanide waste materials, paints and oils. There are also bulk bins and skip bin hire solutions for the collection of refuse from businesses such as building and construction sites, large size developments and industrial companies. As well as skip bins, amenities are provided to safely dispose of and destroy private documents such as quarantine stock, computer hardcopy, tapes and microfiche and out of date products. Electronic waste is also recycled these days and includes components from disused computers and other IT equipment. Collection and treatment services exist for clinical and medical waste from businesses and industries such as laboratories, surgeries, veterinaries, dental surgeries, food processing plants and hospitals.

The skip hire industry and resource recovery facilities are particularly essential for the future of the environment as they create an awareness of how everyone can help in increasing the amount of waste recycled and thus reducing landfill. Nations all over the world are joining in the attempt to find ways of recycling waste, from using complicated methods to change the calorific content present in waste into electricity or sorting through landfills to remove recyclable materials and reduce the amount of waste that needs to be disposed of. Waste management is an ongoing problem for society, a problem that will never go away, but if managed effectively, can be controlled.

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Waste Management for a Modern World

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Waste Management refers to the process of (i) collection of waste matter generated mainly by human consumption and activity, (ii) transport and shipment of the collected waste matter to a waste treatment facility and (iii) processing/recycling this waste material for further use or disposing it for good.

Waste Management is required for three reasons. One, you can’t be having waste lying around in any area as it will make the area look awful and the waste will raise a stink. Two, if waste is unattended to, it will attract pests and termites and the chances of a disease spreading will increase. Three, Man has realized that, if he allows waste to pile up or even burned, such an act would be disastrous for our environment. It is a mans duty to control waste and recycle it back into use by recovering resources from it.

History Of Waste Management

Once upon a time, when the density of population was low, the exploitation of the world’s natural resources was minimal and manageable. Plus, there was not much of industrialization and the wastes generated by humans were mostly biodegradable and thus their impact on the environment, minimal. This coupled with the fact that not much waste was generated, man did not feel the necessity to manage it.

Time flew, population grew and before humans knew it, the industrial revolution set in (18th Century). People from rural areas migrated to cities and industrial towns en masse. Human consumption began to get concentrated and waste began multiplying. The proliferation of waste led to many diseases such as bubonic plague, cholera and typhoid, which led to suffering and death.

From this event on, the industrialized nations realized the importance of waste management.

Recovering Resources From Waste

As the world population increases and waste grows in volume, the world’s scientists and planners have evolved technologies to recover resources from waste, which can be used again. For example, the developed nations have sophisticated facilities that convert the calorific content present in waste into electricity. In developing nations, manual laborers sift through the waste and extract recyclable material from it, thereby reducing the volume of waste that needs to be disposed.

Recycling Waste

The term recycling is universally associated with waste management. When we say recycle, we mean that our everyday waste will be collected, processed and then reused in another form. For example, products made out of paper, aluminum, plastic are collected and converted back into paper, aluminum and plastic respectively. Recycling of waste items made up of one material is an easy task.

Electronic waste is sent to developing nations where recycling plants extract gold and copper from the e-waste. Used automobiles are scrapped and their metal is sold to scrap lots, which then sell the metal back to factories for re-conversion. And so on.

Waste Management Techniques

Nations employ many techniques to deal with their waste. Here is a brief roundup of these techniques:

1. Landfill: This is the most traditional way of managing waste, by dumping it in a landfill. Countries such as Australia that have vast expanses of land, normally dispose their waste in abandoned quarries or mines. A landfill is an inexpensive way to get rid of waste. However, care should be taken to ensure that only waste that does not harm the environment is dumped in landfills. Populous countries or small countries, such as Japan, have to resort to other means to manage their waste.

2. Incineration: Incineration is the disposal of waste by burning it. However, incineration is not an effective tool for waste management as the burning of waste consumes resources and energy, destroys the recyclable material present in the waste and emits many harmful pollutants.

3. Composting: Composting is a technique in which organic waste materials (food, plants, paper) are decomposed and then recycled as compost for use in agriculture and landscaping applications.

4. Mechanical Biological treatment: In this technique, a variety of waste (plastic, paper, glass, etc.) are fed in bulk into the waste treatment plant. The MBT process extracts the recyclable content in the waste and converts it to calorific fuel that can be used by cement/power plants.

5. Pyrolysis and Gasification: These are thermal techniques, using these, waste is treated at high temperatures and at a very high pressure. In Pyrolysis, the waste material is converted to solid or liquid. The solid material can be further refined into a carbon form while the liquid extract can be used as energy-giving oil. In gasification, the waste material is converted into a synthetic gas, which can be burned to produce more energy.

In conclusion, waste management has become part of our survival strategy. If we have to live, we will produce waste. If we do not treat waste, it will choke us. Waste is a problem, waste Management is the solution.

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5 Steps to Effective Waste Management

Friday, August 21st, 2009

What is waste management? There is more to waste management than collecting rubbish and dumping it at landfill. Although this is a vital step in the process, there is more to it than that! This article will address the steps involved in the cycle of waste management and will hopefully give a greater understanding to the topic.

Waste Management flows in a cycle: Monitoring, Collection, Transportation, Processing, Disposal / Recycle. Through these steps a company can effectively and responsibly manage waste output and their positive effect they have on the environment.

Monitoring is identifying the waste management needs, identifying recycling opportunities and ways to minimize waste output, and reviewing how waste minimization is progressing. Through keeping records of the different waste streams, a customer can see the results of their efforts in becoming more environmentally friendly, and a more efficient business.

Collection involves the logistical organization to guarantee that bin containers will not overfill and waste sit time does not become too long. The correct bin container size and service frequency is a must to prevent overspill or excessive smell. The correct bins for different wastes must be available with sticker and bin colour identification. Locks, chains, lids and bars prevent public access and non-trained personnel putting rubbish in the incorrect bins.

Cooperation between the waste company and customer is vital. Bins must be accessible to the truck driver at the agreed times. Access to work premises outside work hours will cause an issue if unaddressed. Bin wheels can allow customers to move bins from convenient areas to serviceable locations.

Transportation is the organizing of waste transport vehicles with the authorization and ability to transport the specified wastes from a customer’s work residence to landfill or processing plant. A waste must be transported by the vehicle designed for it. For example, general waste requires a vehicle with thicker compacter walls, to that of a cardboard and paper waste transporting vehicle. Therefore, a customer may require a series of vehicles to meet their waste management needs.

Vehicles, drivers, and companies need licenses and approval in certain Council Areas to transport waste. EPA standards need to be upheld as well as General Public Safety. Safety standards are vital to the transportation of clinical and hazardous wastes. Drivers must undergo training for emergency circumstances that may arise.

Processing involves the separation of recyclables for treatment, and then after treatment are packaged as raw materials. These raw materials are sent to factories for production. Non-recyclable wastes by-pass this step and are delivered straight to landfill. Liquid and hazardous wastes are delivered to treatment plants to become less hazardous to the public and environment.

Disposal / Recycling is the disposal of non recyclables into landfill. Landfill sites must be approved by legal authorities. Legal authorities guarantee that specific wastes are buried at the correct depth to avoid hazardous chemicals entering the soil, water tables, water systems, air, and pipe systems.

In this step the raw materials made from recyclables are produced and sold as products on the market. Companies can purchase such products to further sustain the environment and natural resources.

In conclusion, waste management is a science that addresses the logistics, environmental impact, social responsibility, and cost of an organization’s waste disposal. It is a detailed process that involves human resources, vehicles, government bodies, and natural resources.

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