Managing Our Waste

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

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Managing Our Waste

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	Created by Ashley Sadler about 8 years ago