WASTE any material that has no further value to its producer The Nature of Waste Ways of classifying wastes: Solid waste Liquid waste Gas wastes Hazardous waste Biomedical waste Special waste (e-waste, radioactive…)
Why Do We Manage Wastes? wastes are not pleasing to the senses in early days people threw all wastes (bodily and kitchen scraps) out windows into the street Many diseases swept through Europe by rats and fleas living on this material. modern waste management systems are aimed at sanitizing the waste to prevent the spreading of infectious diseases.
History of Waste Management waste wasn’t a problem when humans had low pop’n density as populations increased so did amount of waste Many diseases spread due to waste disposal Bubonic Plague (Black Death) in Europe of the 1300’s was spread by a bacterium carried by fleas that lived on rats spread easily since wastes that rats fed on were abundant showed the need for waste management The Plague
Solid Waste organic materials (yard and gardent wastes, kitchen waste, sewage) cars, furniture, plastics, all consumer products recyclables that are not recycled or at end of recycling cycle 1/3 of all solid waste are mine tailings produced by mining industry Road building and construction debris is another major component
Solid Wastes in Canada
Solid Waste in Canada In 2006 Canadians produced 40 million tons of waste yearly increase of 8 percent from 2004
Solid Waste by Type ex. Nanimo BC
Methods of Waste Disposal Open Dumps: unregulated dumps where people drop their garbage exposed to wind, rain, rats, insects etc mainly found in developing countries often people live in/around these scavenging for recyclables they can sell usually forbidden in developed countries YouTube - The people in the dump Smokey Mountain, Manila 1 YouTube - The people in the dump Smokey Mountain, Manila 1
Landfills waste disposal regulated and controlled lined with clay/plastic liner to control run off away from waterways impermeable rock types chosen waste compacted and covered daily with dirt layer controls insects and rodents dirt takes up 20% of space cities running out of space in landfills Kingston closed East Landfill on Jan 1 st HowStuffWorks Videos "Really Big Things: America's Landfills" HowStuffWorks Videos "Really Big Things: America's Landfills"
Ocean Dumping tonnes of packaging/yr dumped at sea Great Pacific Garbage Patch - floating ‘island’ size of Texas exists in Pacific due to ocean currents converging Capt. Charles Moore on the seas of plastic | Video on TED.com Capt. Charles Moore on the seas of plastic | Video on TED.com many ocean cities still dumping raw sewage into ocean Victoria BC still dumping, Halifax stopped last year
Exporting Waste many developed countries ship toxic waste to developing countries with fewer environmental rules e-waste commonly shipped to China, Cambodia & India broken down over open fires with bare hands to get metals in electronics many countries passing laws to stop shipping of hazardous wastes but still happens The Wasteland - 60 Minutes - CBS News
Incineration as landfills get full, burning waste becoming more popular common throughout Europe, less used in Canada steam from burning captured used to create electricity
ash and unburnables ~ 10% of original volume ash taken to landfills for disposal usually contains toxic materials very expensive ($ million to build) tipping fees (dumping costs) higher than landfills emissions contain CO 2 and toxins Plasmagasification: waste is converted to syngas used for fuel in engines rather than incenerated large plant near Ottawa Plasco Energy Group