Introduction to Waste Management - Nc State University course intro.pdfsolid waste management • New landfills and waste-to-energy facilities are difficult ... • Recycling Utilization

Introduction to Waste Management

• What is solid waste• Why manage it• Material flows• Waste management systems• Issues in waste management• Approaches in waste management

Copyright Anders Damgaard & Morton A. Barlaz, NC State University 1

What is solid waste

• No universally accepted definition exists• A useful definition:

“Waste is a left-over, a redundant product or material of no or marginal value for the owner and which the owner wants to discard” (Solid Waste Technology and Management)

• The definition suggests that waste depends on time (e.g. new products, war/shortage), location (e.g rural/small town vs. urban, climatic differences), culture (e.g food-wise), and social conditions (e.g. poor vs. rich)

• Focus on municipal waste in this class


Definitions – Other wastes

• Construction wastes:– From work on individual residences and

commercial/industrial buildings• Demolition wastes:

– Dirt, stones, concrete, bricks, plastics, lumber, pipes,shingle from razed buildings

• Agricultural wastes:– Wastes from agricultural sources


Why manage it?

• We generate over 350 million tons per year• Every governmental unit must address solid

waste management• Waste will cause public health problems if not

managed properly


Naples, July 2007

5Copyright Anders Damgaard & Morton A. Barlaz, NC State University

The current state of solid waste management

• New landfills and waste-to-energy facilities are difficult to site

• Public interest in landfill diversion is high and is thought to represent a solution to waste problems

• The perceived risks associated with any wastemanagement facility are high

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The current state of solid waste management

• Solid waste is an area where the technical andpolitical processes must work together.

• Solid waste is a local issue, not something thatjust occurs in industrial areas.

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Copyright Anders Damgaard & Morton A. Barlaz, NC State UniversityCopyright Anders Damgaard & Morton A. Barlaz, NC State University 8

Material Flow and Waste - 1

ref. Vesilind et al 2002

Copyright Anders Damgaard & Morton A. Barlaz, NC State University

Material Flow and Waste - 2

Brunner and Rechberger, 2004

Solid:12-18

Solid:Ca. 6

∆ stock6-12

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Vienna, Austria


Waste and Economy

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Danish EPA, 2005

Denmark

Copyright Anders Damgaard & Morton A. Barlaz, NC State University 11Copyright Anders Damgaard & Morton A. Barlaz, NC State University

Waste Management Systems

GENERATION STORAGE COLLECTION TRANSPORT PROCESSING DISPOSAL POST-DISPOSAL MONITORING PLANNING FINANCING PERMITTING PUBLIC RELATIONS


Waste management areas

• Generation– Categories– Types– Quantities– Composition

• Material fractions• Substances

• Treatment– Mechanical

• Air classifier, magnet– Thermal

• Incineration• Pyrolysis/gasification

– Biological• Composting• Anaerobic Digestion

• Collection and transport– Source segregation– In-house collection– Collection stations (drop-off)– Collection– Transfer stations & transport

• Recycling Utilization and Disposal– Recycling

• Paper, plastic, metal, glass– Utilization

• Compost as soil amendment• Bottom ash in roads• RDF in cement kilns• Energy

– Landfilling• Ash monofill vs. MSW• Gas recovery for energy

Copyright Anders Damgaard & Morton A. Barlaz, NC State University14



Current waste management in the US

15Based on The State of Garbage in USA 2010

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Issues in solid waste: 1

• Volume - space: Needs to be actively taken away. Does not disappear by itself

• Nuisances: Odours, flies, etc. Waste being spread by dogs, wind etc. becomes un-esthetical

• Public health issues: Pathogens (bacteria, virus, protozoan, intestinal worm eggs, fungi) in the waste are spread by vectors (flies, rats, etc.) or infected or transmitting vectors are attracted by the waste

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Issues in solid waste: 2

• Economy: The scale of waste generation makes economy an important issue

• Contamination of the environment: Waste components transferred to air, water or soil may cause contamination

• Resource issues: Waste contains resources that should be used in order to save on other resources

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Waste management criteria: 1

The ideal waste management system:• Provide a customised and robust handling of all waste

with a minimum of effort for the customer• Result in the lowest possible load on the environment in

terms of noise and contamination of air, water and soil• Provide a maximum of resource recovery from the

waste while minimising use of resource in the waste handling

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• Provide only little impact on the city with respect to traffic, vehicle exhaust, noise, traffic accidents and spill of waste

• Include architectural considerations in establishing waste collection and treatment facilities

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• As a minimum enforce current laws, regulations and code of practice

• Economically acceptable!• Ultimately, understanding the economics of waste

management will lead to an understanding of why material flows in the way that it does

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Approaches to management: 1

• Common sense strategy: Some issues should meet defined minimum standards (occupational health, level of service, compatibility with regulations, etc.), while the balancing of the other issues is a matter of discussion/ policy

• Waste hierarchy (3-5 levels):- waste minimization and cleaner technology- waste reuse and recycling (definition is partly political)- incineration with energy recovery- landfilling

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• Sustainability: World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987 (The Brundtland-report: Our Common Future) defines: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

• Not many direct suggestions, but a way of thinking: long term issues should receive more attention, each generation solves its own problems, local responsibility, etc.

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• Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a common tool used in evaluation and minimising the environmental impact of industrial products, but still fairly new in waste management:

• LCI: Life cycle inventory is the basis: account of all mass flows and emissions as well as energy use and production. We will do some in this class.

• LCIA: Life cycle impact assessment: converts LCI to potential impacts and compares these, e.g., Global Warming

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Nicaragua Recycling and Landfill


Drop-Off Recycling in Delaware


A Landfill in Virginia


Documents

Introduction to Waste Management - Nc State University course intro.pdfsolid waste management • New landfills and waste-to-energy facilities are difficult ... • Recycling Utilization