Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Managing Our Waste
- Types of Waste
- Waste = any unwanted
material or substance
that results from
human activity or
process
- Municipal solid waste =
nonliquid waste from
homes, insititutions,
and small businesses
- Industrial solid waste =
waste from production
of goods, mining,
agriculture, petroleum
extraction, and refining
- Hazardous waste: solid or
liquid waste that is toxic,
chemically reactive,
flammable, or corrosive
- Wastewater: Used water
from households,
businesses, or industry
- Waste stream:
the flow of
waste as it
moves from
its sources
toward
disposal
destinations
- Goals of Waste
Management
- Minimize the amount of
waste generated (source
reduction)
- Use materials efficiently,
- consume less, buy
goods will less
packaging
- use goods longer
- Source reduction: Preventing waste in the first place
- Recover waste
materials and recycle
them
- Recovering or removing
waste from the waste
stream
- Recycling: collects and sends used
goods to facilities to manufacture
into new goods
- Composting: recovery
of organic waste by
converting it into
mulch or humus
through
decomposition
- Dispose of waste
safely and
effectively
- Current Methods:
- Most industrialized nations now
bury waste in lined and covered
landfills or burn it in incineration
facilities
- Sanitary landfills: waste buried in the
ground or piled in large, engineered
mounds to prevent contamination
and health threats
- Landfill gas: a mix of gases that consists of
50% methane
- Incineration: A controlled process that
burns garbage at very high temperatures
- Materials recovery
facilities (MRFs): workers
and machines sort,
clean, shred, and
prepare items