SOURCES AND TYPES OF SOLID WASTES

Source
Typical waste generators
Types of solid wastes

Residential
Single and multifamily dwellings
Food wastes, paper, cardboard, plastics, textiles, leather, yard wastes, wood, glass,
metals, ashes, special wastes (e.g., bulky items, consumer electronics, white
goods, batteries, oil, tires), and household hazardous wastes.).

Industrial
Light and heavy manufacturing, fabrication, construction sites, power and
chemical plants.
Housekeeping wastes, packaging, food wastes, construction and demolition
materials, hazardous wastes, ashes, special wastes.

Commercial
Stores, hotels, restaurants, markets, office buildings, etc.
Paper, cardboard, plastics, wood, food wastes, glass, metals, special wastes,
hazardous wastes.

Institutional
Schools, hospitals, prisons, government centers.
Same as commercial.

Construction and demolition

New construction sites, road repair, renovation sites, demolition of buildings
Wood, steel, concrete, dirt, etc.

Municipal services
Street cleaning, landscaping, parks, beaches, other recreational areas, water and
wastewater treatment plants.
Street sweepings; landscape and tree trimmings; general wastes from parks,
beaches, and other recreational areas; sludge.

Process (manufacturing, etc.)

Heavy and light manufacturing, refineries, chemical plants, power plants, mineral
extraction and processing.
Industrial process wastes, scrap materials, off-specification products, slay, tailings.

Agriculture
Crops, orchards, vineyards, dairies, feedlots, farms.
Spoiled food wastes, agricultural wastes, hazardous wastes (e.g., pesticides).
Treatment
Typical components of municipal systems for source separation and materials
recovery in industrialized countries are:
source separation of different categories of waste from households, offices, shops,
and institutions; collection at the curbside or drop-off by generators at bins or
centers is subsidized by the government or private industries;
collection of organics (kitchen and garden wastes) for large-scale composting;
promotion of backyard composting through education and sometimes the
provision of a small compost bin; and
public subsidization of extensive and varied educational campaigns to sustain
participation in all aspects of waste reduction.

In many industrialized countries, source separation and curbside collection

programs are heavily subsidized by municipal governments, private industries or
foundations. When municipal funding is withdrawn, the scope of materials
recovery may be greatly reduced. These countries usually have the institutional
competence and capacity in urban government to integrate local and regional
waste management plans. Citizens tend to be highly aware of the problems and to
cooperate in separation programs. Undeveloped or fluctuating markets for
recyclable materials, however, continue to limit cost recovery and the diversion of
materials from landfills.

Developing countries

Most urban places in the developing world have yet to experience the decline of
traditional recovery of recyclables and the corresponding increase in post-
consumer wastes, which, together with scarcity of dump space, have led many
affluent cities to sponsor materials recovery.

The engines of waste recovery and recycling in the poorer countries include:
scarcity or expense of virgin materials, the occurrence of absolute poverty, the
availability of workers who will accept minimal wages, the frugal values of even
relatively well-to-do households, and the large markets for used goods and
products made from recycled plastics and metals. Wastes which would be
uneconomical to recycle or of no use in affluent societies have a value (e.g.,
coconut shells and dung used as fuel). If one takes into account the use of compost
from dumps sites as well as materials recovery, in countries like India, Vietnam,
and China, the majority of municipal wastes of all kinds are ultimately utilized.

Waste reduction that could be achieved by legislation and protocols (such as

agreements to change packaging) is not, at present, a high priority in these
countries, although some are now moving in this direction. Because unskilled
labor costs are low and there is a high demand for manufacturing materials,
manufacturers can readily use leftovers as feedstock or engage in waste exchange.
Residuals and old machines are sold to less advanced, smaller, industries. Public
health is benefitting from plastic and boxboard packaging that reduces
contamination of foods, and much of the superior packaging is recovered and
recycled.

This tumbler is used for making pulp from waste paper. This small recycling
facility is typical of many others throuthout India.
(credit: Warmer Bulletin)

In offices and institutions, cleaners and caretakers organize the sale of paper,
plastics, etc. At the household level, gifts of clothes and goods to relatives,
charities, and servants are still significant in waste reduction. All cities and towns
have markets for used goods. The greatest amount of materials recovery is
achieved through networks of itinerant buyers, small and medium dealers, and
wholesaling brokers. The extent to which the waste trading enterprises are
registered (ÒformalizedÓ) varies in developing regions: in Latin America and
Asia there is more formal registration than in Africa. The system is adaptive to
market fluctuations, as the lowest level workers form a dispensable labor cushion:
they must find other work, if they can, when there is reduced demand for the
materials they sell.

Because so many people are engaged in the activities of materials recovery,

processing, and recycling, and alternative work is scarce, governments and social
welfare organizations are often more sensitive to employment needs than to
environmental considerations in waste management. Thus, they are prepared to
trade off some environmental and public health risks against employment
generation.

The accompanying box shows the main paths traveled by wastes in Bangalore,
due, in large part, to the activities of informal traders and recyclers.

Advantages of scarcity and frugal values

From the point of view of waste reduction, the traditional practices of repair and
reuse, and the sale, barter, or gift of used goods and surplus materials, are an
advantage to the poorer countries. Quantities of non-organic post-consumer
wastes would be higher without them.

These societies should be alert to socio-economic changes that threaten resource-

conserving traditions. When standards of living rise, voluntary source separation
tends to decline, unless (a) it is encouraged through an incentive program or (b)
the opportunities for waste generators to sell recyclables remain very convenient.
Small waste trading enterprises which provide convenient redemption centers for
households, shops, and itinerant buyers are adversely affected by rising land
prices, more high-rise accommodation, traffic regulation and NIMBY (Not In My
Back Yard) objections. Imported, high quality recyclables can undercut the market
for local materials resulting in a decline of waste recovery.

When economic motivations for separation and sale decline, public education
should foster environmental and charitable motives for waste reduction.

Composting is the aerobic decomposition of biodegradable organic matter,

producing compost. (Or in a simpler form: Composting is the decaying of food,
mostly vegetables or manure.) The decomposition is performed primarily by
facultative and obligate aerobic bacteria, yeasts and fungi, helped in the cooler
initial and ending phases by a number of larger organisms, such as springtails,
ants, nematodes and oligochaete worms.

Composting can be divided into home composting and industrial composting.

Essentially the same biological processes are involved in both scales of
composting, however techniques and different factors must be taken into account.

Incineration is a waste treatment technology that involves the combustion of

organic materials and/or substances.[1] Incineration and other high temperature
waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of
waste materials converts the waste into incinerator bottom ash, flue gases,
particulates, and heat, which can in turn be used to generate electric power. The
flue gases are cleaned of pollutants before they are dispersed in the atmosphere.

A landfill, also known as a dump (and historically as a midden), is a site for

the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment.
Historically, landfills have been the most common methods of organized waste
disposal and remain so in many places around the world.

Landfills may include internal waste disposal sites (where a producer of waste
carries out their own waste disposal at the place of production) as well as sites
used by many producers. Many landfills are also used for other waste
management purposes, such as the temporary storage, consolidation and transfer,
or processing of waste material (sorting, treatment, or recycling).

A landfill also may refer to ground that has been filled in with soil and rocks
instead of waste materials, so that it can be used for a specific purpose, such as for
building houses. Unless they are stabilized, these areas may experience severe
shaking or liquefaction of the ground in a large earthquake.

Site construction requirements

The construction of a landfill requires a staged approach. Landfill designers are
primarily concerned with the viability of a site. To be commercially and
environmentally viable a landfill must be constructed in accord with specific
requirements, which are related to:
Location
Easy access to transport by road
Transfer stations if rail network is preferred
Land value
Cost of meeting government requirements
Location of community served
Type of construction (more than one may be used at single site)
Pit - filling existing holes in the ground, typically left behind by mining
Canyon - filling in naturally occurring valleys or canyons
Mound - piling the waste up above the ground
Stability
Underlying geology
Nearby earthquake faults
Water table
Location of nearby rivers, streams, and flood plains
Capacity The available voidspace must be calculated by comparison of the
landform with a proposed restoration profile.
This calculation of capacity is based on:
Density of the wastes
Amount of intermediate and daily cover
Amount of settlement that the waste will undergo following tipping
Thickness of capping
Construction of lining and drainage layers.
Protection of soil and water through:
Installation of liner and collection systems.
Storm water control
Leachate management.
Landfill gas management.
Nuisances and hazards management.
Costs
Feasibility studies
Site after care
Site investigations (costs involved may make small sites uneconomical).
Site respect

n agriculture, windrow composting is the production of compost by piling

organic matter or biodegradable waste, like animal manure and crop residues, in
long rows (windrows). This method is suited to producing large volumes of
compost. These piles are generally turned to improve porosity and oxygen
content, mix in or remove moisture, and redistribute cooler and hotter portions of
the pile. Windrow composting is the most commonly used of farm scale
composting methods. Process control parameters include the initial ratios of
carbon and nitrogen rich materials, the amount of bulking agents added to assure
air porosity, the pile size, moisture content, and turning frequency.