Solid Waste Management

Solid Wastes Management BASURA, GARBAGE, GOMI, ORDURES, AFVAL, SPAZZATURA— whatever people call it, solid waste is a problem that must be properly managed. While it is generally understood that proper waste management helps protect human health and the environment and preserve natural resources, many do not realize that solid waste also impacts climate change. The manufacture, distribution, and use of products—as well as the disposal of the resulting waste—all result in emissions of atmospheric gases called “greenhouse gases” that affect the Earth’s climate. When organic waste decomposes in landfills and uncontrolled dumps, it produces methane, one of the major greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. We can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, however, through proper Solid Waste Management. Waste will always be around while human subsist. It is just a matter of proper waste disposal along with a little care and a kick of initiative to give resolution to this undying problem.

What is Solid Wastes Management?

Solid Waste Management is a well-bred terminology that refers to garbage or trash management. As long as humans have been living in settled communities, improper waste management has always been an issue. Industrialized nations can generate pounds of solid waste per consumer thus making it a big problem for the world’s undying waste destitution.
Waste problem being one of the foremost and mounting problems in other countries have been hazardous not only on human’s health but also causes depletion for lands which is why solid waste management was generated. It is a system for handling all of the world’s trash, be it municipal waste collection, recycling programs, dumps and incinerators.
Since human cities began to be more rigorous, solid waste management became a serious matter and for a reason, some industrialized nations today, solid waste management is a multimillion dollar business. Yes, Millions from trash! Most cities require citizens to disburse for waste collection to live up with the goal of garbage reduction. Solid Waste management is also focused on developing environmentally sound methods of handling garbage. There are lots of methods proposed in order to have proper waste management but few of which are no longer wanted like recycling. There are processes now which are more acceptable and does not t fit in anymore like recycling, for we all know not everything can be recycled. Nevertheless it may reduce the amount of waste but still fall on the band end solution denominator.
Governments around the world have become aware that fast solutions to waste management that relies on landfills and incineration (burning of waste) cannot offer a sustainable solution in a world with growing population. Not to mention the negative impacts it may cause to the atmosphere. Nevertheless there are technologies invented which diminishes waste in a cost-effective manner without polluting the environment like Gasification technology.

a. Methods of Waste Disposal and how each method works

The Life Cycle of Garbage (Waste)

* The Flow Chart shows that it can be the source of Energy if the garbage is properly disposed. And there also a method for disposing solid wastes, you can adopt a number of methods like compost, landfill and burning.

* Compost
You can create compost in your own house, especially to dispose of organic wastes. Ideally this should be in everyone's homes as there are a lot of wastes like branches and leaves which can be disposed of. More importantly compost is beneficial for the environment as unnecessary refuse is not dumped into a landfill. Methane is created by organic matter if you put them in landfills, which in turn adds to the greenhouse gases thereby causing global warming. Rather than throwing away leaves and other household organic matter if you use them as compost, soil is replenished thereby reducing cost of land reclamation. * Landfill
If you can't recycle non-hazardous wastes, the alternative you have is a landfill, a relatively cheap option. However, any open area won't do, there are certain guidelines and they should be properly monitored and maintained. A landfill must have a lining to so as to shield it from water seeping into the landfill thereby making water poisonous and unfit for consumption. * Burning
Even though landfill is a cheap option which you may use if large amounts of trash are collected, burning provides an alternative through which the volume can be quickly reduced. Environment friendly burning method does not just burn all trash lying around, but uses filters and scrubbers so that poisonous and acidic gases are not released into the atmosphere. Moreover, this method prevents ash from being released into the atmosphere.

Hazardous Waste Disposal Methods
Some of the most common hazardous waste disposable methods include incineration, bioremediation, injection wells and landfills. However, disposal of hazardous wastes in landfills and injection wells has its own concerns, especially leaking of toxins into surrounding groundwater. A major source of drinking water is groundwater and if that becomes contaminated, it becomes extremely costly to purify them. Ideally, hazardous substances should be converted into non-hazardous form. There are several new technologies like high-temperature plasma torch which have come up and can convert hazardous wastes like low-level radioactive wastes to glass which are environmentally safe. But then even though these methods are costly, they are worth it.
Hazardous wastes are also disposed of in landfills and there are strict regulations which one should follow. The landfills should be lined with groundwater barriers, monitoring wells and clay liners. Incineration method is also used to dispose of hazardous wastes, wherein these refuse is changed into inorganic by-products, water and carbon dioxide. However, the costs associated with burning hazardous wastes are high besides difficulty in disposal of wastes.
Bioremediation is another process which is used to dispose of hazardous wastes and convert them into nontoxic products. The process includes the use of natural degradation processes and microorganisms. However, this process requires a long time and at times it becomes difficult to control the process of natural degradation. You may like to know more on hazardous waste receptacle.
Some of the other methods of waste disposal include energy recovery, wherein waste is recycled and is used as fuel to heat cook and power turbines and ocean dumping, wherein wastes are dumped into the oceans where creatures living in the sea consume them. However, this is a controversial method and the harmful aftereffects far outweigh its benefits.
Thus, there are numerous waste disposal methods of which landfills and burning are the most common. We should all try to minimize the amount of wastes we produce every day so that we don't exert pressure on the environment. Moreover, the costs associated with disposing off wastes are all our money, so the lesser wastes we produce, the better.

b. Compare and Contrast the Economics of using Recycled Materials

In the absence of government regulation, the economics of each material determines how much of it is recycled. For example, about 55 percent of all aluminum cans were recycled in 2000. Recycling of beverage cans goes back to 1968, when the Reynolds Metals Company started a pilot project. The chief motivation was to respond to public concerns about litter, which were spurring laws that required deposits on beverage containers. But an energy price began to rise during the 1970s and, because producing new aluminum from bauxite requires large amounts of energy, recycling aluminum cans became economically attractive.
About 56 percent of paper and cardboard was recycled in 2000. Recycling is economically rewarding because cardboard can be made from a wide variety of used paper. In addition, because many places (such as supermarkets and discount stores) use large quantities of corrugated boxes, collection costs can be low.
In contrast, only about 9 percent of plastic packaging is recycled. Because different plastic resins cannot be mixed together and reprocessed, plastics must be separated at some point if they are to be recycled. The plastics packaging industry has developed symbols for different kinds of resins, but people do not seem eager to separate plastic. In addition, the relatively low cost of producing new plastic from oil-based petrochemicals makes recycling less economically rewarding.
Ironically, recycling does not eliminate environmental worries. Recycling is a manufacturing process and, like other manufacturing processes, can produce pollution. An EPA study of toxic chemicals found such chemicals in both recycling and virgin paper processing, and for most of the toxins studied, the recycling process had higher levels than the virgin manufacturing did. Nor will recycling more newspapers necessarily preserve trees, because many trees are grown specifically to be made into paper. A study prepared for the environmental think tank Resources for the Future estimated that if paper recycling reached high levels, demand for virgin paper would fall. As a result, writes economist A. Clark Wiseman, “some lands now being used to grow trees will be put to other uses.” The impact would not be large, but it would be the opposite of what most people expect—there would be fewer trees, not more. Finally, Curbside Recycling programs require additional trucks, which use more energy and create more pollution.

Curbside Recycling The private sector typically adopts recycling when and where it makes economic sense. When recycling is a government program, however, it can be costly and can waste rather than save resources. Using figures collected by Franklin Associates, Daniel Benjamin compared the costs of traditional municipal waste disposal (by landfill, but allowing residents to drop off material for recycling) and curbside recycling (where the city picks up recyclables separate from trash). He found that the curbside recycling programs cost between 35 and 55 percent more than the traditional landfill disposal. Recycling programs used “huge amounts of capital and labor,” writes Benjamin. Used materials were sold, but the costs of workers and equipment vastly outweighed the revenues from their sale.
Recycling is not a panacea for environmental problems. It is instead only one of several means for disposing of waste. Recycling is widely used where the economics are favorable but inappropriate where they are not. Government regulations may override the economics, but only at a high cost and by requiring actions, such as curbside recycling, that people will not do voluntarily.

c. Modern Landfill: How they work?

Technology underpins modern landfills, making them safer. Our environmental stewardship is helping keep communities clean and maintain public health. New state-of-the-art landfills are designed, sited, engineered, operated, regulated, tested and monitored in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. Protective landfill liners, gas and leachate collection controls, daily cover of the working face of the landfill and final cover and monitoring upon landfill closure allow for safe disposal of garbage. Permitting a modern landfill generally takes between 5 to 7 years, costs millions of dollars and requires rigorous siting, engineering and environmental studies and demonstrations to ensure both state and local environmental and safety concerns are satisfied.
Are you surprised that there’s so much technology involved? We are a science-based industry that employs civil and environmental engineers, chemists, soil experts, biologists, geologists and hydrologists to protect today’s environment while developing the sustainable waste management practices of the future.
Modern Landfills are well-engineered facilities that are located, designed, operated, and monitored to ensure compliance with federal regulations. Solid waste landfills must be designed to protect the environment from contaminants which may be present in the solid waste stream. The landfill siting plan—which prevents the siting of landfills in environmentally-sensitive areas—as well as on-site environmental monitoring systems—which monitor for any sign of groundwater contamination and for landfill gas—provide additional safeguards.
Municipal solid waste landfills (MFWLFs) receive household waste. MSWLFs can also receive non-hazardous sludge, industrial solid waste, and construction and demolition debris. All MSWLFs must comply with the federal regulations in 40 CFR Part 258 (Subtitle D of RCRA), or equivalent state regulations.
The Modern Landfill

Federal MSWLF Standards include: * Location restrictions - ensure that landfills are built in suitable geological areas away from faults, wetlands, flood plains, or other restricted areas. * Composite liners requirements - include a flexible membrane (geomembrane) overlaying two feet of compacted clay soil lining the bottom and sides of the landfill, protect groundwater and the underlying soil from leachate releases. * Leachate collection and removal systems - sit on top of the composite liner and removes leachate from the landfill for treatment and disposal. * Operating practices - include compacting and covering waste frequently with several inches of soil help reduce odor; control litter, insects, and rodents; and protect public health. * Groundwater monitoring requirements - requires testing groundwater wells to determine whether waste materials have escaped from the landfill. * Closure and postclosure care requirements - include covering landfills and providing long-term care of closed landfills. * Corrective action provisions - control and clean up landfill releases and achieves groundwater protection standards. * Financial assurance - provides funding for environmental protection during and after landfill closure (i.e., closure and postclosure care).

Parts of Landfills: * Bottom liner system - separates trash and subsequent leachate from groundwater * Cells (old and new) - where the trash is stored within the landfill * Storm water drainage system - collects rain water that falls on the landfill * Leachate collection system- collects water that has percolated through the landfill itself and contains contaminating substances (leachate) * Methane collection system - collects methane gas that is formed during the breakdown of trash * Covering or cap - seals off the top of the landfill
Each of these parts is designed to address specific problems that are encountered in a landfill. So, as we discuss each part of the landfill, we'll explain what problem is solved.

d. Law Governing Solid Waste Management

* AO 93-90 (Oct 19,1993) - CREATING A PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT UNDER THE PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE ON WASTE MANAGEMENT * DAO 98-49 (Oct 19, 1993) - CREATING A PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT UNDER THE PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE ON WASTE MANAGEMENT * DAO 98-50 - ADOPTING THE LANDFILL SITE IDENTIFICATION AND SCREENING CRITERIA FOR MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL FACILITIES * MC 88-39A (Oct 19, 1993) - AMENDING MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 39-A, DATED JANUARY 19, 1988. BY RECONSTITUTING THE PRESEDENTIAL TASK FORCE ON WASTE MANAGEMENT * PD 825 (Nov 7, 1975) - PROVIDING PENALTY FOR IMPROPER DISPOSAL OF GARBAGE AND OTHER FORMS OF UNCLEANLINESS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. * RA 9003 (July 24, 2000) - AN ACT PROVIDING FOR AN ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, CREATING THE NECESSARY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS AND INCENTIVES, DECLARING CERTAIN ACTS PROHIBITED AND PROVIDING PENALTIES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Here in the Philippines (Local): Currently, the Philippines is undergoing modernization of its solid waste sector based on Republic Act 9003 (Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000). One of focus of this modernization is on the conversion of the open dumpsites to an engineered sanitary landfills which is expected to continue for the next 5-10 years. This process of modernization will affect a large number of waste pickers and itinerant waste buyers by the changing infrastructure and institutional structure, and in some cases, risk losing their livelihoods.
In 2009, a National Framework Plan for the Informal Waste Sector in Solid Waste Management was developed to recognize the efforts of the informal sector in waste recovery. The objective of the Plan is to integrate the informal waste sector in the solid waste management by providing favorable environment, skills development and access to secured livelihoods, employment and social services.
In cognizant of this Plan, the World Bank through the Japan Seed Development Fund (JSDF) recently approved a 3-year project entitled: Social Inclusion and Alternative Livelihood Project. The social inclusion activities are intended to support the informal waste sector through empowerment and income improvement that will complement basic infrastructure investments associated with modernizing the waste sector. The Solid Waste Management Association of the Philippines (SWAPP) will be the implementing agency for this project.

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9003
(ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2000)
The paradigm of RA 9003 is “waste is resource that can be recovered”, emphasizing recycling, re-use and composting as methods to minimize and eventually manage the waste problem.
The law specifically declares in Sec. 2 that it is the policy of the state to adopt a systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid waste management system. To understand the essence of this system, it would be necessary to identify: 1) solid wastes and how the law classifies these, and2) the limitations of the law. The following are the types of wastes identified by RA 9003:

* Solid Wastes – all discarded household, commercial wastes, non-hazardous institutional and industrial wastes, street sweepings, construction debris, agricultural wastes, and other non-hazardous/non-toxic solid wastes. * Special Wastes – these are household hazardous wastes such as paints, thinners, household batteries, lead-acid batteries, spray canisters, and the like. These include wastes from residential and commercial sources that comprise of bulky wastes, consumer electronics, white goods, yard wastes that are collected separately, oil, and tires. These wastes are usually handled separately from other residential and commercial wastes. * Hazardous Wastes – these are solid, liquid, contained gaseous or semisolid wastes which may cause or contribute to the increase in mortality, or in serious or incapacitating reversible illness, or acute/chronic effect on the health of people and other organisms. * Infectious Wastes – mostly generated by hospitals. * Wastes resulting from mining activities including contaminated soil and debris.

Solid Waste: Understanding the Problem Each year, human society produces mountains of Municipal solid waste; the problems are especially acute in the more developed nations. In 2003, for instance, Americans generated 212 million metric tons of Municipal Solid waste ---enough garbage to fill the Superdome in New Orleans nearly three times a day. On a more individual level, in 2003 Americans produced on average approximately 727 kilograms per person –over 2 kilograms per person per day. A city of 1 million people could fill the Superdome once very year. Municipal solid waste production has increased sharply since 1980, but growth slowed in the 1990’s. Garbage disposal is also of concern to those interested on building a sustainable future because it squanders the Earth’s resources. The more that is thrown away, the more minerals that must mined. The more we throw away, the more trees that must be cut. The more plastic we discard, the more oil wells that must be drilled. Each of these activities produces enormous waste itself and equally impressive amounts of environmental damages.
In addition to the environmental and direct economic effects of green manufacturing and green supply chain management addressed in the existing literature, a better understanding of the non-environmental benefits of green manufacturing for supply chain management and operations strategy will further increase the attractiveness and use of environmentally friendly practices.
Solving a Growing Problem Sustainably Actions to reduce our output of solid waste generally fail into three broad categories. The traditional response to solid waste is known as the output approach. It consists of ways to deal with trash flowing out of cities and towns. Most often, this means incinerating trash or dumping it in landfills. A more sustainable strategy is known as the input approach. This consists of activities that reduce the amount of materials entering the production-consumption cycle –for example, efforts to reduce consumption and waste, say, by increasing product durability. The third approach, also essential to building a sustainable society, is the through put approach. It consists of ways to direct materials back into the production-consumption system, creating a closed-loop (cyclic) system akin to those found in nature. Reuse and recycling fall under this category.

REFERENCE:

CHIRAS, David D. (2006) “Seventh Edition: Environmental Science”
FIELD, Joy M. (2001) “The Use of Recycled Materials in Manufacturing: Implications for Supply Chain Management and Operations Strategy” (Case Study)

http://www.spectrumbluesteel.com/blog/2011/01/06/solid-waste-management-101 http://www.epa.gov/statelocalclimate/local/topics/waste-mgmt.html http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/landfill6.htm http://www.swapp.org.ph/ http://www.scribd.com/doc/13916987/RA-9003 www.chathamnc.org www.econlib.org www.emb.gov.ph www.environmentalistseveryday.org www.buzzle.com

-Reina_QC-