Municipal solid waste

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Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, as in a garbage disposal; the two are sometimes collected separately. In the European Union, the semantic definition is 'mixed municipal waste,' given waste code 20 03 01 in the European Waste Catalog. Although the waste may originate from a number of sources that has nothing to do with a municipality, the traditional role of municipalities in collecting and managing these kinds of waste have produced the particular etymology 'municipal.'

Contents

Composition

The composition of municipal solid waste varies greatly from municipality to municipality, [1] and it changes significantly with time. In municipalities which have a well-developed waste recycling system, the waste stream mainly consists of intractable wastes such as plastic film and non-recyclable packaging materials. At the start of the 20th century, the majority of domestic waste (53%) in the UK consisted of coal ash from open fires. [2] In developed areas without significant recycling activity it predominantly includes food wastes, market wastes, yard wastes, plastic containers and product packaging materials, and other miscellaneous solid wastes from residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial sources. [3] Most definitions of municipal solid waste do not include industrial wastes, agricultural wastes, medical waste, radioactive waste or sewage sludge. [4] Waste collection is performed by the municipality within a given area. The term residual waste relates to waste left from household sources containing materials that have not been separated out or sent for processing. [5] Waste can be classified in several ways, but the following list represents a typical classification:

For example, typical municipal solid waste in China is composed of 55.9% food residue, 8.5% paper, 11.2% plastics, 3.2% textiles, 2.9% wood waste, 0.8% rubber, and 18.4% non-combustibles. [7]

Components of solid waste management

Bins to collect paper, aluminium, glass, PET bottles and incinerable waste Tri des dechets (cropped).jpg
Bins to collect paper, aluminium, glass, PET bottles and incinerable waste

The municipal solid waste industry has four components: recycling, composting, disposal, and waste-to-energy via incineration. [8] There is no single approach that can be applied to the management of all waste streams, therefore the Environmental Protection Agency, a U.S. federal government agency, developed a hierarchy ranking strategy for municipal solid waste. [9] The waste management hierarchy is made up of four levels ordered from most preferred to least preferred methods based on their environmental soundness: Source reduction and reuse; recycling or composting; energy recovery; treatment and disposal. [10]

Collection

The functional element of collection includes not only the gathering of solid waste and recyclable materials, but also the transport of these materials, after collection, to the location where the collection vehicle is emptied. This location may be a materials processing facility, a transfer station or a landfill disposal site.

Waste handling and separation, storage and processing at the source

Waste handling and separation involves activities associated with waste management until the waste is placed in storage containers for collection. Handling also encompasses the movement of loaded containers to the point of collection. Separating different types of waste components is an important step in the handling and storage of solid waste at the source of collection.

Segregation and processing and transformation of solid wastes

The types of means and facilities that are now used for the recovery of waste materials that have been separated at the source include kerbside collection, drop-off, and buy-back centres. The separation and processing of wastes that have been separated at the source and the separation of commingled wastes usually occur at a materials recovery facility, transfer stations, combustion facilities, and treatment plants.

Transfer and transport

This element involves two main steps. First, the waste is transferred from a smaller collection vehicle to larger transport equipment. The waste is then transported, usually over long distances, to a processing or disposal site.

Disposal

Today, the disposal of wastes by land filling or land spreading is the ultimate fate of all solid wastes, whether they are residential wastes collected and transported directly to a landfill site, residual materials from materials recovery facilities (MRFs), residue from the combustion of solid waste, compost, or other substances from various solid waste processing facilities. A modern sanitary landfill is not a dump; it is an engineered facility used for disposing of solid wastes on land without creating nuisances or hazards to public health or safety, such as the problems of insects and the contamination of groundwater.

Reusing

In recent years, environmental organizations, such as Freegle or The Freecycle Network, have been gaining popularity for their online reuse networks. These networks provide a worldwide online registry of unwanted items that would otherwise be thrown away, for individuals and nonprofits to reuse or recycle. Therefore, this free Internet-based service reduces landfill pollution and promotes the gift economy.

Landfills

Segregation of Trash Segregation of Trash.png
Segregation of Trash

Landfills are created by land dumping. Land dumping methods vary, most commonly it involves the mass dumping of waste into a designated area, usually a hole or sidehill. After the waste is dumped, it is then compacted by large machines. When the dumping cell is full, it is then "sealed" with a plastic sheet and covered in several feet of dirt. This is the primary method of dumping in the United States because of the low cost and abundance of unused land in North America. Landfills are regulated in the US by the Environmental Protection Agency, which enforces standards provided in the Resource Conservation Recovery Act, such as requiring liners and groundwater monitoring. [11] This is because landfills pose the threat of pollution and can contaminate groundwater. The signs of pollution are effectively masked by disposal companies, and it is often hard to see any evidence. Usually, landfills are surrounded by large walls or fences hiding the mounds of debris. Large amounts of chemical odor eliminating agent are sprayed in the air surrounding landfills to hide the evidence of the rotting waste inside the plant. [12]

Energy generation

Municipal solid waste produces enormous amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. [13] [14] However, nearly 90% of these methane emissions could be avoided with existing technologies. [14] [13]

In particular, municipal solid waste can be used to generate energy because of the lipid content present within it. A lot of MSW products can be converted into clean energy if the lipid content can be accessed and utilized. [15] Several technologies have been developed that make the processing of MSW for energy generation cleaner and more economical than ever before, including landfill gas capture, combustion, pyrolysis, gasification, and plasma arc gasification. [16] [17]

While older waste incineration plants emitted a lot of pollutants, recent regulatory changes and new technologies have significantly reduced this concern. United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations in 1995 and 2000 under the Clean Air Act have succeeded in reducing emissions of dioxins from waste-to-energy facilities by more than 99 percent below 1990 levels, while mercury emissions have been reduced by over 90 percent. [18] The EPA noted these improvements in 2003, citing waste-to-energy as a power source "with less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity". [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste management</span> Activities and actions required to manage waste from its source to its final disposal

Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitoring and regulation of the waste management process and waste-related laws, technologies, and economic mechanisms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landfill</span> Site for the disposal of waste materials

A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was simply left in piles or thrown into pits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incineration</span> Waste treatment process

Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high-temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. The ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste and may take the form of solid lumps or particulates carried by the flue gas. The flue gases must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are dispersed into the atmosphere. In some cases, the heat that is generated by incineration can be used to generate electric power.

Pay as you throw (PAYT) is a usage-pricing model for disposing of municipal solid waste. Users are charged a rate based on how much waste they present for collection to the municipality or local authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste-to-energy</span> Process of generating energy from the primary treatment of waste

Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes generate electricity and/or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels, often derived from the product syngas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landfill diversion</span>

Waste diversion or landfill diversion is the process of diverting waste from landfills. The success of landfill diversion can be measured by comparison of the size of the landfill from one year to the next. If the landfill grows minimally or remains the same, then policies covering landfill diversion are successful. For example, currently in the United States there are 3000 landfills. A measure of the success of landfill diversion would be if that number remains the same or is reduced. In 2015 it was recorded that the national average of landfill diversion in the United States was 33.8%, while San Francisco had implemented the most effective policies and had recorded a landfill diversion rate of 77%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste sorting</span> Environmental practice of separating waste categories to make it easy to recycle

Waste sorting is the process by which waste is separated into different elements. Waste sorting can occur manually at the household and collected through curbside collection schemes, or automatically separated in materials recovery facilities or mechanical biological treatment systems. Hand sorting was the first method used in the history of waste sorting. Waste can also be sorted in a civic amenity site.

There is no national law in the United States that mandates recycling. State and local governments often introduce their own recycling requirements. In 2014, the recycling/composting rate for municipal solid waste in the U.S. was 34.6%. A number of U.S. states, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Vermont have passed laws that establish deposits or refund values on beverage containers while other jurisdictions rely on recycling goals or landfill bans of recyclable materials.

Waste management in Japan today emphasizes not just the efficient and sanitary collection of waste, but also reduction in waste produced and recycling of waste when possible. This has been influenced by its history, particularly periods of significant economic expansion, as well as its geography as a mountainous country with limited space for landfills. Important forms of waste disposal include incineration, recycling and, to a smaller extent, landfills and land reclamation. Although Japan has made progress since the 1990s in reducing waste produced and encouraging recycling, there is still further progress to be made in reducing reliance on incinerators and the garbage sent to landfills. Challenges also exist in the processing of electronic waste and debris left after natural disasters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste</span> Unwanted or unusable materials

Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste product may become a by-product, joint product or resource through an invention that raises a waste product's value above zero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waste converter</span>

A waste converter is a machine used for the treatment and recycling of solid and liquid refuse material. A converter is a self-contained system capable of performing the following functions: pasteurization of organic waste; sterilization of pathogenic or biohazard waste; grinding and pulverization of refuse into unrecognizable output; trash compaction; dehydration. Because of the wide variety of functions available on converters, this technology has found application in diverse waste-producing industrial segments. Hospitals, clinics, municipal waste facilities, farms, slaughterhouses, supermarkets, ports, sea vessels, and airports are the primary beneficiaries of on-site waste conversion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demolition waste</span> Waste debris from destruction of buildings, roads, bridges, or other structures

Demolition waste is waste debris from destruction of buildings, roads, bridges, or other structures. Debris varies in composition, but the major components, by weight, in the US include concrete, wood products, asphalt shingles, brick and clay tile, steel, and drywall. There is the potential to recycle many elements of demolition waste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landfills in the United States</span> American landfills

Municipal solid waste (MSW) – more commonly known as trash or garbage – consists of everyday items people use and then throw away, such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps and papers. In 2018, Americans generated about 265.3 million tonnes of waste. In the United States, landfills are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states' environmental agencies. Municipal solid waste landfills (MSWLF) are required to be designed to protect the environment from contaminants that may be present in the solid waste stream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Source-separated organics</span>

Source-separated organics (SSO) is the system by which waste generators segregate compostable materials from other waste streams at the source for separate collection.

Solid waste policy in the United States is aimed at developing and implementing proper mechanisms to effectively manage solid waste. For solid waste policy to be effective, inputs should come from stakeholders, including citizens, businesses, community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations, government agencies, universities, and other research organizations. These inputs form the basis of policy frameworks that influence solid waste management decisions. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates household, industrial, manufacturing, and commercial solid and hazardous wastes under the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Effective solid waste management is a cooperative effort involving federal, state, regional, and local entities. Thus, the RCRA's Solid Waste program section D encourages the environmental departments of each state to develop comprehensive plans to manage nonhazardous industrial and municipal solid waste.

The San Francisco Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance is a local municipal ordinance requiring all persons located in San Francisco to separate their recyclables, compostables and landfilled trash and to participate in recycling and composting programs. Passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2009, it became the first local municipal ordinance in the United States to universally require source separation of all organic material, including food residuals.

Resource recovery is using wastes as an input material to create valuable products as new outputs. The aim is to reduce the amount of waste generated, thereby reducing the need for landfill space, and optimising the values created from waste. Resource recovery delays the need to use raw materials in the manufacturing process. Materials found in municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, commercial waste and industrial wastes can be used to recover resources for the manufacturing of new materials and products. Plastic, paper, aluminium, glass and metal are examples of where value can be found in waste.

Turkey generates about 30 million tons of solid municipal waste per year; the annual amount of waste generated per capita amounts to about 400 kilograms. According to Waste Atlas, Turkey's waste collection coverage rate is 77%, whereas its unsound waste disposal rate is 69%. While the country has a strong legal framework in terms of laying down common provisions for waste management, the implementation process has been considered slow since the beginning of 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Packaging waste</span> Post-use container and packing refuse

Packaging waste, the part of the waste that consists of packaging and packaging material, is a major part of the total global waste, and the major part of the packaging waste consists of single-use plastic food packaging, a hallmark of throwaway culture. Notable examples for which the need for regulation was recognized early, are "containers of liquids for human consumption", i.e. plastic bottles and the like. In Europe, the Germans top the list of packaging waste producers with more than 220 kilos of packaging per capita.

China's waste import ban, instated at the end of 2017, prevented foreign inflows of waste products. Starting in early 2018, the government of China, under Operation National Sword, banned the import of several types of waste, including plastics with a contamination level of above 0.05 percent. The ban has greatly affected recycling industries worldwide, as China had been the world's largest importer of waste plastics and processed hard-to-recycle plastics for other countries, especially in the West.

References

  1. ↑ Kumar, Sunil; Dhar, Hiya; Nair, Vijay V.; Bhattacharyya, J. K.; Vaidya, A. N.; Akolkar, A. B. (2016). "Characterization of municipal solid waste in high-altitude sub-tropical regions". Environmental Technology. 37 (20): 2627–2637. doi:10.1080/09593330.2016.1158322. PMID   26915419. S2CID   8140600.
  2. ↑ Centenary history of waste and waste managers in London and south east England- Page 7 Archived 2013-08-13 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Non-hazardous Waste U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Municipal Solid Waste
  4. ↑ Municipal Solid Waste Archived 2010-11-20 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Energy Information Administration
  5. ↑ Mechanical Biological Treatment Archived 2007-09-27 at archive.today Welsh Assembly (2005) Mechanical Biological Treatment, Environment Countryside and Planning Website, Welsh Assembly
  6. ↑ "Organics -Green Bin". Christchurch City Council. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Zhou, Hui; Meng, AiHong; Long, YanQiu; Li, QingHai; Zhang, YanGuo (August 2014). "An overview of characteristics of municipal solid waste fuel in China: Physical, chemical composition and heating value". Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 36: 107–122. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2014.04.024.
  8. ↑ Nonhazardous waste Archived 2010-11-20 at the Wayback Machine U.S. Energy Information Administration
  9. ↑ "System Overview > Solid Waste - GSA Sustainable Facilities Tool". sftool.gov.
  10. ↑ US EPA, OSWER (22 September 2015). "Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures". US EPA.
  11. ↑ Horinko, Marianne, Cathryn Courtin. "Waste Management: A Half Century of Progress." EPA Alumni Association. March 2016.
  12. ↑ Rogers, Heather (2006). Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage . New York: The New Press. ISBN   9781595581204.
  13. 1 2 Webber, Michael; Glazer, Yael (17 November 2023). "Solid waste, a lever for decarbonization". Science . 382 (6672): 762.
  14. 1 2 Hoy, Zheng Xuan; Woon, Kok Sin; Chin, Wen Cheong; Fan, Yee Van; Yoo, Seung Jick (17 November 2023). "Curbing global solid waste emissions toward net-zero warming futures". Science . 382 (6672): 797.
  15. ↑ Caircross, Richard (1 January 2018). "Longitudinal Study of Wastewater Greases and Their Potential for the Production of Biofuels". Energy and Fuels. 32 (2): 1831–1842. doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.7b03550 . Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  16. ↑ "Environmental and Energy Study Institute Issue Brief" (PDF).
  17. ↑ Agaton, Casper Boongaling; Guno, Charmaine Samala; Villanueva, Resy Ordona; Villanueva, Riza Ordona (2020-10-01). "Economic analysis of waste-to-energy investment in the Philippines: A real options approach". Applied Energy. 275: 115265. doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115265 . ISSN   0306-2619.
  18. ↑ US EPA, ORD (26 March 2015). "Research Grants". US EPA.
  19. ↑ U.S. EPA Letter to Maria Zannes, President, Integrated Waste Services Association Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine

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