Wikipedia Waste
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[edit] Environmental impact
Many different types of waste have negative impacts upon the wider environment.
Waste pollution is considered a serious threat by many and can broadly be defined as any pollution associated with waste and waste management practices[3]. Typical materials that are found in household waste which have specific environmental impacts with them include biodegradable wastes, batteries, aerosols, oils, acids and fluorescent tubes.
Biodegradable waste is of specific concern as breaks down in landfills to form methane, a potent greenhouse gas. If this gas is not prevented from entering the atmosphere, by implication, it contributes to climate change.[4]
Littering can be considered the most visible form of solid waste pollution[5]. The act of littering for the most part constitutes disposing of waste inappropriately, typically in public places. Littering itself may or may not be an intentional action.
Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally become afloat in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Though it was originally assumed that most oceanic marine waste stemmed directly from ocean dumping, it is now thought that around four fifths[6] of the oceanic debris is from rubbish blown seaward from landfills, and washed seaward by storm drains.[7]
Other forms of pollution associated with waste materials include illegal dumping and leaching[8]. Illegal dumping of flytipping often involves unregulated disposal of materials on private or public land. Remoted sites with road access coupled with limited surveillance often provides the perfect opportunity for this form of dumping which often goes unpunished and leaves others (such as the community or developer) to properly dispose of the waste. Leaching is the process by which contaminants from solid waste enter soil and often ground water systems contaminating them.
[edit] Composition of waste
Most waste is comprised of the following materials.
- Paper - newspaper*, office paper*, packing materials, cardboard*
- Plastic - beverage containers*, high tech waste*, packing materials
- Metals - cans*, high tech waste*, scrap metals*, appliances*, building materials*
- Glass - windows*, bottles*
- Food waste and organic material - leaves, peelings and scraps, spoiled food, grass clippings
- Human and animal waste
- Wood - furniture, building materials, pallets*
(* Denotes waste that can be recycled.)
Although most of this waste is recyclable, very few of it makes it to a recycling facility. Plastics, Metals and Glass can sit in landfills for millions of years before they break down. And when incinerated, they release toxic fumes. In developed area, there are services that will remove these materials, and properly recycle them. But for most people, no service exists. Recycling takes much energy, a lot of labor, and does not leave much of a final product. For most of the world it is a lot easier to just throw it in the garbage than take the hassle of recycling it.
[edit] Definitions
The European Union defines waste as an object the holder discards, intends to discard or is required to discard is waste under the Waste Framework Directive (European Directive 75/442/EC as amended).
Once a substance or object has become waste, it will remain waste until it has been fully recovered and no longer poses a potential threat to the environment or to human health."[9]
The UK's Environmental Protection Act 1990 indicated waste includes any substance which constitutes a scrap material, an effluent or other unwanted surplus arising from the application of any process or any substance or article which requires to be disposed of which has been broken, worn out, contaminated or otherwise spoiled; this is supplemented with anything which is discarded otherwise dealt with as if it were waste shall be presumed to be waste unless the contrary is proved. This definition was amended by the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 defining waste as:
"any substance or object which the producer or the person in possession of it, discards or intends or is required to discard but with exception of anything excluded from the scope of the Waste Directive".[10]
[edit] Culture
There is a cultural dimension to waste. Wasting time, money, or food involves moral judgments that carry a great deal of weight in human interaction. Attitudes to this wastage differ between different societies.
For example, food may be wasted in one part of the world while there may be famine elsewhere. Chefs from a particular culinary tradition may prize cuts of meat that chefs in other traditions will dispose of. A parent may regard a child's career in a rock band as a waste of their education, though this opinion may not necessarily be shared by the child. The frivolous expenditure of money may be described as "wasting money" independently of the economic underpinning of the transactions concerned.[11][12][13][14]
[edit] Education and awareness
Education and awareness in the area of waste and waste management is increasingly important from a global perspective of resource management. The Talloires Declaration is a declaration for sustainability concerned about the unprecedented scale and speed of environmental pollution and degradation, and the depletion of natural resources. Local, regional, and global air pollution; accumulation and distribution of toxic wastes; destruction and depletion of forests, soil, and water; depletion of the ozone layer and emission of "green house" gases threaten the survival of humans and thousands of other living species, the integrity of the earth and its biodiversity, the security of nations, and the heritage of future generations. Several universities have implemented the Talloires Declaration by establishing environmental management and waste management programs, e.g. the waste management university project. University and vocational education are promoted by various organizations, e.g. WAMITAB and Chartered Institution of Wastes Management.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Torbay Council (2006) Municipal Waste Management Strategy for Torbay, Consultation Draft
- ^ March 2008, Cashing in on Climate Change, IBISWorld
- ^ Green Ontario: Solid Waste
- ^ The Landfill Directive Defra
- ^ Attitudes and Actions: A National Survey on the Environment
- ^ "Plastic Debris: from Rivers to Sea". Algalita Marine Research Foundation. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Facts about marine debris". US NOAA. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
- ^ Solid Waste
- ^ The Definition of Waste Waste Definition, Agrarian
- ^ Waste explained CIWM
- ^ Scanlan, John (2005). On Garbage. London: Reaction Books
- ^ Casper, Monica J. (ed) (2003). Synthetic Planet: Chemical Politics and the Hazards of Modern Life. London and New York: Routledge
- ^ Carrier, James G. (ed) (2004). Confronting Environments: Local Understanding in a Globalizing World. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira
- ^ Douglas, Mary (1966). Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London and New York: Rutledge.
[edit] External links
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