According to the Statistical Committee of Armenia, organizations produced 55.2 million metric tons of waste in 2016, including mining waste.[1] This amounts to about 18.5 tonnes per capita. According to the Waste Atlas, Armenia produces 368,618 tonnes of Municipal solid waste (MSW) per year, or 119.8 kilograms (264lb) per capita.[2]
On May 4, 2018, the government modifications to relevant legislation aimed at strengthening the responsibility for proper waste management.[3][4][5]
Landfills
Sixty landfills exist in Armenia. No waste sorting, recycling, or reuse takes place at any of them. Instead, garbage is dumped into a working area and then flattened using a bulldozer to create a layer of garbage 300 centimetres (120in) thick.[6]
The Nubarashen landfill, located near Yerevan (40°6′24.19″N44°32′49.26″E / 40.1067194°N 44.5470167°E / 40.1067194; 44.5470167), is Armenia's largest waste disposal site. It receives almost all of the solid waste produced in the city of Yerevan and its suburbs, which is about 340 tons per day, or 102,000 tons per year.[7] The site has accumulated over 7.5 million tons of domestic waste over 50 years.[6]
In 2018, a waste processing plant was scheduled for construction near Hrazdan city, which will allow for closure of 10 waste dumps.[8]
Reuse and recycling
Starting May 2017 Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Development (ISSD) NGO is implementing waste management projects in Armenia ensuring the collection and recycling of Municipal Solid Waste in the involved communities. The biggest municipal solid waste management project of the NGO, "Recycle it," includes Yerevan, the capital city and has more than 500 partner organizations who recycle their waste within this project. The NGO organized more than 120 clean-ups and has more than 300,000 beneficiaries. [9]
Waste container in Sevan
In recent years there have been several attempts initiated by public activists to address the waste management problem, such as the Toprak Petq Chi campaign (2016), translates as "I don't need a plastic bag",' that targets single-use plastic bags.[10]
Also recently, some recycling initiatives have started to take shape. Namely, Apaga, also known as ApagaCommunity CJSC,[11] offers a paid pickup service, mirroring similar projects in more developed countries, though in these countries, recycling programs are taxpayer sponsored. Apaga enables individuals and organizations who take responsibility for their waste and want to participate, to voluntarily pay for a pickup service and get some rewards in return in the forms of discounts for individuals and green public relations (PR) for organizations.
In order to allow everyone to benefit from recycling, Apaga has also implemented new Smart Recycling Containers called SmartApaga Containers where anyone with their personal, unique QR code can dispose of their plastics and get ApagaCoins (in-app currency) to exchange for rewards from their rewards partners.
Waste management in Yerevan
The municipal government of Yerevan, capital of Armenia, has made attempts to solve the problem for the city with a long term development plan, which includes three main phases:
In 2014, an international tender was announced for garbage collection. Two waste management companies were chosen: a Lebanese company called Sanitek, who later opened a operations branch in Yerevan; and two Armenian/Swedish Companies called Ecogroup and LL Miliconsult.[12][13]
According to the municipal government of Yerevan, the next step is to introduce waste sorting and recycling practices with projects that meet European Union standards and regulations.
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.
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.'
Construction waste or debris is any kind of debris from the construction process. Different government agencies have clear definitions. For example, the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA defines construction and demolition materials as “debris generated during the construction, renovation and demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges.” Additionally, the EPA has categorized Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste into three categories: non-dangerous, hazardous, and semi-hazardous.
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.
The waste management in Switzerland is based on the polluter pays principle. Bin bags are taxed with pay-per-bag fees in three quarters of the communes. The recycling rate doubled in 20 years due to this strategy. The recycling rate for municipal solid waste exceeds 50 percent.
In the densely populated Hong Kong, waste is a complex issue. The territory generates around 6.4 million tons of waste each year but is able to collect and process only a minimal portion of recyclable waste. By 2019, its existing landfills are expected to be full. The government has introduced waste management schemes and is working to educate the public on the subject. On the commercial side, producers are taking up measures to reduce waste.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Waste management in Russia refers to the legislation, actions and processes pertaining to the management of the various waste types encountered throughout the Russian Federation. The basis of legal governance for waste management in Russia at the federal level is outlined through Federal Law No. 89-FZ, which defines waste as “the remains of raw materials, materials, semi-finished products, other articles or products that have been formed in the process of production or consumption as well as the goods (products) that have lost their consumer properties”.
It is estimated that 290 million tonnes of waste was produced in the United Kingdom in 2008 but volumes are declining. In 2012 municipal solid waste generation was almost 30 million tonnes, according to Waste Atlas Platform.
Statistical data shows that waste management in Winnipeg during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Newby Island Landfill (NISL) is one of the largest active landfills on the shores of the San Francisco Bay. It is located in Santa Clara County, California in the United States. The site is located within the city limits of San Jose, California at the western terminus of Dixon Landing Road. The address is 1601 Dixon Landing Road, Milpitas. Although the address and public street access to the site are both in the City of Milpitas, the landfill property is entirely within the City of San Jose. Newby Island Landfill has a length of 5.07 km (3.15 mi). It is located West of the City of Milpitas near Dixon Landing Road and Interstate 880. It is the terminus for waste for all of San Jose (62%), Santa Clara (14%), Milpitas (10%), Cupertino (5%), Los Altos (2%) and other cities (7%). The 342-acre pile is currently permitted to operate until 2041 and may extend up to 245 feet. The landfill is an island surrounded by a levee which keeps its runoff from directly entering the bay, and the water that drains from it is treated in the landfill's own treatment plant. Electricity for the landfill is generated by burning the methane collected from the decomposition of the waste. Dried sewage sludge from the nearby San José–Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility is the material used as cover, mixed in with the trash, blending San Jose's waste streams. It is operated by Republic Services (Republic), which, along with Waste Management Incorporated, transports and disposes of most of the household trash in the United States.
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.
Waste management in India falls under the purview of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). In 2016, this ministry released the Solid Wastage Management (SWM) Rules, which replaced by the Municipal Solid Waste Rules, and 2000 of which had been in place for 16 years. This national policy plays a significant role in the acknowledgment and inclusion of the informal sector into the waste management process for the first time.
Sanitek Armenia was a branch of Sanitek International Group – a multinational waste management company headquartered in Lebanon, with strategic alliances in Asia, Europe, and at the United States. Sanitek International was founded in September 2010 in Beirut, and started its operations at Yerevan, the capital of Armenia in December 2014.
Waste management in South Korea involves waste generation reduction and ensuring maximum recycling of the waste. This includes the appropriate treatment, transport, and disposal of the collected waste. South Korea's Waste Management Law was established in 1986, replacing the Environmental Protection Law (1963) and the Filth and Cleaning Law (1973). This new law aimed to reduce general waste under the waste hierarchy in South Korea. This Waste Management Law imposed a volume-based waste fee system, effective for waste produced by both household and industrial activities.
In Egypt, waste and lack of proper management of it pose serious health and environmental problems for the country and its population. There has been some governmental attempts to better the system of waste management since the 1960s but those have not proven sufficient until now. In the last 10 years focus on this issue and solutions to it has increased both from the government and civil society. Some attempts at recycling are present, and growing in the country. But these are largely informal or private actors, and government initiatives are necessary to properly manage these systems and provide them with appropriate resources.
New York City's waste management system is a refuse removal system primarily run by the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY). The department maintains the waste collection infrastructure and hires public and private contractors who remove the city's waste. For the city's population of more than eight million, The DSNY collects approximately eleven thousand tons a day of garbage, including compostable material and recycling.
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