Bio-waste is defined as biodegradable garden and park waste, food and kitchen waste from households, restaurants, caterers and retail premises, and comparable waste from food processing plants. It does not include forestry or agricultural residues, manure, sewage sludge, or other biodegradable waste such as natural textiles, paper or processed wood. It also excludes those by-products of food production that never become waste.
Currently the main environmental threat from biowaste (and other biodegradable waste) is the production of methane from such waste decomposing in landfills, which accounted for some 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU-15 in 1995. The Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) obliges Member States to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste that they landfill to 35% of 1995 levels by 2016 (for some countries by 2020) which will significantly reduce this problem.
The Landfill Directive does not prescribe specific treatment options for the diverted waste. The most significant benefits of proper bio-waste management - besides avoided emissions of greenhouse gases - would be the production of good quality compost and bio-gas that contribute to enhanced soil quality and resource efficiency, as well as a higher level of energy self-sufficiency. In practice, however, Member States are often inclined not to opt for composting or bio-gas production, and instead choose the seemingly easiest and cheapest option such as incineration or landfilling and disregarding the actual environmental benefits and costs.
Unquestionably, landfilling is the worst waste management option for bio-waste. However, for the management of biodegradable waste diverted from landfills, there seems to be several environmentally favourable options. While the waste management hierarchy also applies to the management of bio-waste, in specific cases it may be justified to depart from it as the environmental balance of the various options available for the management of this waste depends on a number of local factors, inter alia collection systems, waste composition and quality, climatic conditions, the potential of use of various waste-derived products such as electricity, heat, methane-rich gas or compost. Therefore, national strategies for the management of this waste should be determined in a transparent manner and be based on a structured and comprehensive approach such as Life Cycle Thinking (LCT). In order to assist decision-makers in making the best use of biodegradable waste in line with the waste hierarchy, the Commission has prepared a set of guidelines on how to apply Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Thinking to planning the management of bio-waste. The guidelines are available here.
A number of EU legal instruments address the issue of treatment of bio-waste. General waste management requirements, such as environmental and human health protection during waste treatment and priority for waste recycling, are laid down in the revised Waste Framework Directive which also contains specific bio-waste related elements (new recycling targets for household waste, which can include bio-waste) and a mechanism allowing setting quality criteria for compost (end-of-waste criteria). Landfilling of bio-waste is addressed in the Landfill Directive which requires the diversion of biodegradable municipal waste from landfills. The IPPC Directive (soon to be replaced by the Industrial Emissions Directive) lays down the main principles for the permitting and control of bio-waste treatment installations of a capacity exceeding 50 tonnes/day. The incineration of bio-waste is regulated in the Waste Incineration Directive, while the health rules for composting and biogas plants which treat animal by-products are laid down in the Animal By-products Regulation.
The details concerning current Commission works concerning further regulation and guidelines for the management of bio-waste, as well as studies on this subject, can be found in the section "Developments".
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The environmental protection agency encourages practices that reduce the amount of waste needing to be disposed of, such as waste prevention, recycling, and composting. Waste prevention, is designing products to reduce the amount of waste that will later need to be thrown away and also to make the resulting waste less toxic. Recycling is the recovery of useful materials, such as paper, glass, plastic, and metals, from the trash to use to make new products, reducing the amount of virgin raw materials needed. Composting involves collecting organic waste, such as food scraps and yard trimmings, and storing it under conditions designed to help it break down naturally. This resulting compost can then be used as a natural fertilizer (eps.gov, 2014)…
- 1126 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
In regards to waste reduction NBB has successfully diverted 99.8 to 99.9% of their waste from the landfill, and are a Platinum certified Zero Waste Business. They are constantly looking at ways to close loops and eliminate waste generated in the first place. Trying to base the plan on a natural ecosystems, one creature’s waste is another’s food. They are working hard to divert, reuse or eliminate waste whenever they can. These practices help to minimize ecosystem damage from resource extraction and aid in preserving our ecosystems for future…
- 973 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
o Open dumps: fields or holes where garbage is dumped or burned o “Sanitary” landfills: landfills in which MSW is spread out in thin layers, compacted and covered daily – designed to reduce leachate • Pros o Low operating costs o Can handle large amounts of waste o Filled land can be used for other purposes o No shortage of landfill space (usually) • Cons o Noise, traffic, dust o Release of GHG (CO2 and methane) unless collected o Leaks and water contamination o Does not encourage waste reduction Incinerator • Incinerators (“resource recovery” or “waste to energy”) o 89 located in the US where 12% of all MSW is burned • Pros o Reduces volume of trash o Produces energy o…
- 7330 Words
- 249 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Landfills are big contributors to the destruction of the environment. They lead to pollution of water and soil, and produce methane which is a greenhouse gas. The effects of landfills also can include animals or even people being killed, roads being damaged, and annoyances like a lot of noise, stenches, and vermin. According to Conserve Energy Future, “Recycling programs keep 70 tons of waste from being deposited into landfills every year” (No Author Given, 1). Hence, recycling plastic will decrease waste, which in turn will decrease the amount of landfill space needed. If the amount of landfill space decreases, the environment is greatly…
- 772 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In recent decades, there has been an increased need to produce sufficient renewable energy to support global population growth. In response, it has become crucial to find socially responsible sustainable energy resources that offer energy security, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and do not compromise biodiversity or sustainability of existing resources. Despite efforts to reduce the amount of waste produced, a continually growing population limits the space available in landfills. Municipal and industrial waste biomass is often rich in organic matter, allowing for the creation and use of biofuels as an energy source. This organic matter can be used to synthesize ethanol, methanol, and biodiesel through the conversion of inorganic compounds into energy-producing organic carbon compounds. Moreover, unlike fossil fuels, which take millions of years to form, these organic carbon compounds are formed relatively quickly. Biofuel production from waste is beneficial as it allows for better management of landfill sites, and energy production from materials which typically cannot be recycled or composted. Most importantly, it allows for the reduction of significant amounts of methane produced from landfill gas emissions.…
- 2489 Words
- 10 Pages
Good Essays -
For a city to be sustainable, managing its waste efficiently whilst causing the least possible damage to the environment is imperative. The amount of waste produced by the global population is steadily increasing resulting in a continual problem over how and where to dispose of this waste. Targets have already been made such as European Union laws, UK national plans and strategies and at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 (Agenda 21). Currently, most domestic waste ends up in landfill sites, and the general aim has been to avoid this as much as possible. Waste management methods vary widely according to different areas due to various reasons such as type of waste material, nearby land uses and the area available. Methods could include reducing the amount of waste, reusing goods to extend their lifespan, recovering value and disposing of waste in landfill sites.…
- 1266 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Landfills are growing at an exponential rate in the United States; this is a big concern for many people. Many years ago people just threw their garbage in dumps and forgot about it. Then it started to become a problem as the dumps got fuller and just kept growing. People have to put their garbage somewhere; they produce over 4 pounds of garbage everyday per person, that’s about 250 million tons for the country (EPA.gov). The population is growing at a very quick rate also. Some people try to reduce their refuse and waste, but it is very difficult when just about everything we use has some form of waste, and it’s been going up to all time highs. Packaging alone makes up a third of all waste. America has over 3000 landfills that are in use and about 10000 that have been closed (EPA.gov). A vast amount of different ideas and problems come along with landfills and there are many ways to stop them from growing. The pollution associated with landfills is a problem, as well as the massive size of them, and solutions need to be found to stop them from growing.…
- 1821 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
Waste management is all about the need to change our attitude to waste. The four methods of managing waste at the moment are: landfill, composting, recycling and energy recovery (incineration). To be sustainable, waste must be managed in a way that is maintainable for the foreseeable future and will not be hurtful to the environment or the population. Waste is a problem at the moment because the amount of waste we use is increasing and therefore so is toxicity along with the time that the rubbish is toxic for. We are also running out of landfill sites. Therefore, another method of waste management must be found that will solve these problems.…
- 1634 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Plastic bags are not biodegradable. They clog waterways, spoil the landscape, and end up in landfills where they may take 1,000 years or more to break down into ever smaller particles that continue to pollute the soil and water.…
- 16625 Words
- 67 Pages
Good Essays -
Biodegradable waste is a type of waste, typically originating from plant or animal sources, which can be decomposed by other living organisms. Biomass, manure, sewage, municipal waste, green waste and plant materials are some of these common biodegradable waste.…
- 539 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In 1999, recycling and composting diverted 64 million tons of material from entering landfills (EPA, 2005). The longevity of landfills could possibly be extended if more people recycled and if those who do recycled more. A program such as recycling is the key to extending the life of landfills.…
- 1860 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Plastic wastes clog the drains and thus hit especially urban sewage systems. The plastic wastes being dumped into rivers, streams and sea contaminate the water, soil, marine life and also the air we breathe. Choked drains provide excellent breeding grounds for mosquitoes besides causing flooding during the monsoon. Since plastic does not undergo bacterial decomposition, landfilling using plastic would mean preserving the poison forever. Any attempt to get rid of plastic through landfills is also dangerous. Apart form toxic seepage from the landfill resulting in the contamination of precious water sources, the waste mass impedes the flow of ground water. Landfills are also prone to leaks. The wastes, especially cadmium and lead in the wastes, invariably mix with rain water, then seep through the ground…
- 713 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Waste should not be seen as worthless junk, but more as a valuable resource, which could benefit people, industries and the environment. Many industries are picking up on this economical concept and changing the way they do business. These industries (commonly referred to as "eco-industrial parks") demonstrate how much can be gained by recycling and resource sharing. Within each park there are several industries working together in sharing the production and use of many costly resources. With all industries striving to achieve the common goal of maximizing revenue and reducing waste, one company's waste becomes another's resource. One method is where excess heat from a power plant warms nearby homes and agricultural greenhouses. These industries also utilize efficient recycling techniques in order to reuse valuable material. For example the sulphur scraped from the smokestacks of power plants is sold to dry wall companies. There are limits to how many lives you can give a pile of debris. In the long run, we have to reduce the amount of material we use and generate.…
- 913 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Americans produce 4.34 pounds of garbage per person per day (United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). Most people just bring garbage to the curb and just forget about it. Local governments employ numerous ways to remove a growing amount of garbage. The most common way is to ship it off to a landfill and bury it. Another way that has been gaining popularity is recycling. Communities have been struggling with waste removal for generations, raising the question, which option makes more financial sense: landfills or recycling. Even though it is cheaper to use a landfill, recycling is beneficial because ultimately it can save communities money and recycling helps expand the life of growing landfills.…
- 1709 Words
- 7 Pages
Best Essays -
Calculations of the estimated volume of the biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste are the main concern with their current process, because the large volume and its computation may mess up the mind of the reporter and may arrive with erroneous result. Also, due to their lots of classification, the result must be accurate enough.…
- 1819 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays