WASTE... By Amanda Buckley

What is Waste Management?  Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal and monitoring of waste materials.

Where it all goes...

The Problems  There’s too much waste because of our large population  There is nowhere to put all of our garbage  Our increased standard materials of living  Packaging for food and other products  Incineration

Our Population  Even if the world’s population maintains a steady rate of waste creation, its continued growth will generate a 2% increase in waste each year  Busy families believe that they have no time to reuse products, therefore they buy large amounts of disposable products

Fact  Canadians generate about 1.7 kg of domestic solid waste per person each day Solid waste: non-liquid waste discharged from households and industries

Packaged Products  Packaging Products alone accounts for 30 to 35 percent of what we throw out  It is made out of plastics that supposedly keeps your product clean  Plastic foam (usual packaging for products such as meat, eggs, etc.) may never break down  Packaging Industries in the U.S. has sales of $30 billion (US) per year

Incineration Disadvantages  People believe that incineration makes waste disappear when really, its creating toxic waste in the air that is a major threat to public health and the environment  We use this as an alternative to landfills but, we do not realize that the ashes from the incinerator are contaminated with heavy metals, unburned chemicals, and new chemicals formed during the burning process  These chemicals are usually dumped in the environment or buried in the landfill  It is rather expensive and not many places can afford it  It contributes to the CO2 increasing in the atmosphere

Incineration Advantages  It gets rid of up to 90% of the bulk that would otherwise occupy landfill sites  Steam or electricity may be generated from the incineration process  The incinerator also screens the waste to remove most of the glass and plastic that may be left over  Cost effective  Has the ability to reclaim metals, such as aluminum

How long does litter take to decompose?

Solutions  If we recycled materials such as, metal, organic materials, and paper, we could reduce the pressure on the world’s limited resources  Minimize family sizes so there isn’t so much consumption  Compost fruit and vegetable waste so there is more space in landfills for things that have no other option but, to be there  Don’t buy a lot of non-reusable products; such as paper plates, cups, cutlery, etc.  Only throw out things that have absolutely no use  Instead of buying something that you’re going to use once, you can borrow or rent it and it won’t be lying around your house when you’re done with it

Remember...  If we recycle products that can be reused we can save landfill space and live a more efficient life  Dispose of your waste properly in the right places  Buy reusable products rather than products that have a short life span  The 3 R’s; Reuse, Recycle, Reduce  And minimize family sizes so that there is less consumption

Bibliography  gns/toxics/incineration/the-problem gns/toxics/incineration/the-problem  Understanding Our Environment – Second Edition, Copyright (1997), January12 th 2010  Newspaper Article – “Incineration is not the safest option for Metro’s trash”, October 7 th 2009 