essay solid waste management

Essay on Waste Management for Students and Teacher

500+ essay on waste management.

Essay on Waste Management -Waste management is essential in today’s society. Due to an increase in population, the generation of waste is getting doubled day by day. Moreover, the increase in waste is affecting the lives of many people.

For instance, people living in slums are very close to the waste disposal area. Therefore there are prone to various diseases. Hence, putting their lives in danger. In order to maintain a healthy life, proper hygiene and sanitation are necessary. Consequently, it is only possible with proper waste management .

The Meaning of Waste Management

Waste management is the managing of waste by disposal and recycling of it. Moreover, waste management needs proper techniques keeping in mind the environmental situations. For instance, there are various methods and techniques by which the waste is disposed of. Some of them are Landfills, Recycling , Composting, etc. Furthermore, these methods are much useful in disposing of the waste without causing any harm to the environment.

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Methods for Waste Management

Recycling – Above all the most important method is the recycling of waste. This method does not need any resources. Therefore this is much useful in the management of waste . Recycling is the reusing of things that are scrapped of. Moreover, recycling is further converting waste into useful resources.

Landfills – Landfills is the most common method for waste management. The garbage gets buried in large pits in the ground and then covered by the layer of mud. As a result, the garbage gets decomposed inside the pits over the years. In conclusion, in this method elimination of the odor and area taken by the waste takes place.

Composting – Composting is the converting of organic waste into fertilizers. This method increases the fertility of the soil. As a result, it is helpful in more growth in plants. Furthermore it the useful conversion of waste management that is benefiting the environment.

Advantages of Waste Management

There are various advantages of waste management. Some of them are below:

Decrease bad odor – Waste produces a lot of bad odor which is harmful to the environment. Moreover, Bad odor is responsible for various diseases in children. As a result, it hampers their growth. So waste management eliminates all these problems in an efficient way.

Reduces pollution – Waste is the major cause of environmental degradation. For instance, the waste from industries and households pollute our rivers. Therefore waste management is essential. So that the environment may not get polluted. Furthermore, it increases the hygiene of the city so that people may get a better environment to live in.

Reduces the production of waste -Recycling of the products helps in reducing waste. Furthermore, it generates new products which are again useful. Moreover, recycling reduces the use of new products. So the companies will decrease their production rate.

It generates employment – The waste management system needs workers. These workers can do various jobs from collecting to the disposing of waste. Therefore it creates opportunities for the people that do not have any job. Furthermore, this will help them in contributing to society.

Produces Energy – Many waste products can be further used to produce energy. For instance, some products can generate heat by burning. Furthermore, some organic products are useful in fertilizers. Therefore it can increase the fertility of the soil.

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Essay on Waste Management

• Updated on  
• May 11, 2023

Every year, the amount of waste is doubling because of the increasing population around the world. The 3Rs, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle should be followed to help in waste management. Waste management is the need of the hour and should be followed by individuals globally. This is also a common essay topic in the school curriculum and various academic and competitive exams like IELTS , TOEFL , SAT , UPSC , etc. In this blog, let us explore how to write an essay on Waste Management.

This Blog Includes:

Tips for writing an essay on waste management , what is the meaning of waste management, essay on waste management in 200 words, essay on waste management in 300 words .

To write an impactful and scoring essay, here are some tips on how to manage waste and write a good essay:

• The initial step is to write an introduction or background information about the topic
• You must use a formal style of writing and avoid using slang language.
• To make an essay more impactful, write dates, quotations, and names to provide a better understanding
• You can use jargon wherever it is necessary, as it sometimes makes an essay complicated
• To make an essay more creative, you can also add information in bulleted points wherever possible
• Always remember to add a conclusion where you need to summarise crucial points
• Once you are done, read through the lines and check spelling and grammar mistakes before submission

Waste management is the management of waste by disposal and recycling of it. It requires proper techniques while keeping in mind the environmental situations. For example, there are various methods and techniques through which the waste is disposed of. Some of these are Landfills, Recycling, Composting, etc. These methods are useful in disposing of waste without causing any harm to the environment.

Sample Essays  on Waste Management

To help you write a perfect essay that would help you score well, here are some sample essays to give you an idea about the same.

One of the crucial aspects of today’s society is waste management. Due to a surge in population, the waste is generated in millions of tons day by day and affects the lives of a plethora of people across the globe. Mostly the affected people live in slums that are extremely close to the waste disposal areas; thus, they are highly prone to communicable and non-communicable diseases. These people are deprived of necessities to maintain a healthy life, including sanitation and proper hygiene. 

There are various methods and techniques for disposing of waste including Composting, Landfills, Recycling, and much more. These methods are helpful in disposing of waste without being harmful to the environment. Waste management is helpful in protecting the environment and creating safety of the surrounding environment for humans and animals. The major health issue faced by people across the world is environmental pollution and this issue can only be solved or prevented by proper waste management so that a small amount of waste is there in the environment. One of the prominent and successful waste management processes, recycling enables us not only in saving resources but also in preventing the accumulation of waste. Therefore it is very important to teach and execute waste management.

The basic mantra of waste management is” Refuse, Reuse, Reduce, Repurpose, and Recycle”. Waste management is basically the collection or accumulation of waste and its disposal. This process involves the proper management of waste including recycling waste generated and even generating useful renewable energy from it. One of the most recent initiatives taken by various countries at the local, national and international levels, waste management is a way of taking care of planet earth. This responsible act helps in providing a good and stable environment for the present and future generations. In India, most animals get choked and struggle till death because they consume waste on the streets.

So far many lives are lost, not only animals but also humans due to a lack of proper waste management. There are various methods and techniques for disposing of waste including Composting, Landfills, Recycling, and much more. These methods are helpful in disposing of waste without being harmful to the environment. Waste management is helpful in protecting the environment and creating safety of the surrounding environment for humans and animals. This process of waste management evolved due to industrialization as prior to these inventions simple burying was sufficient for disposing of waste.

One of the crucial things to control waste is creating awareness among people and this can only be achieved only when the governments and stakeholders in various countries take this health issue seriously. To communicate with various communities and reach each end of the country, the message can be communicated through media and related platforms. People also need to participate in waste management procedures by getting self-motivated and taking care of activities of daily living. These steps to create consciousness about waste management are crucial to guarantee the success and welfare of the people and most importantly our planet earth.

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Sonal is a creative, enthusiastic writer and editor who has worked extensively for the Study Abroad domain. She splits her time between shooting fun insta reels and learning new tools for content marketing. If she is missing from her desk, you can find her with a group of people cracking silly jokes or petting neighbourhood dogs.

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Waste Management Essay

Waste management , often known as disposal, involves handling waste from the moment it is created until it has been completely disposed of. Waste can be liquid, solid, or occasionally even gas. Waste might be municipal, industrial, biomedical, household, or radioactive waste. It is crucial to manage waste properly. Here are a few sample essays on "waste management".

100 Words Essay On Waste Management

To protect the environment and sustain our health, waste management should be a crucial aspect of everyday life . The population is growing daily, and garbage production has no bounds. Without considering the potentially negative impacts, we either burn the garbage away or throw it all in an area where there are no proper disposal options.

All household, industrial, and factory waste must be appropriately managed; otherwise, it may result in several environmental and health hazards. We thus require efficient means of waste material collection, sorting, transportation, and disposal. We can reduce environmental degradation and safeguard the security and welfare of people and all other living things by managing garbage properly. As more individuals adopt recycling and reusing waste, there will also be a decrease in waste production.

200 Words Essay On Waste Management

Refuse, reuse, reduce, and recycle are the core principles of waste management. Waste management primarily consists of gathering and disposing of waste effectively. This process comprises managing garbage properly, recycling waste that is produced, and even turning waste into valuable renewable energy when possible.

Waste management is one of the current projects undertaken by numerous nations at the municipal, national, and international levels to care for planet Earth. This careful action contributes to creating a good and stable environment for the current and next generations. Most animals in India choke to death after eating garbage on the streets.

Many lives have already been lost as a result of improper waste disposal, including both human and animal life. There are many ways to get rid of garbage, such as composting, landfills, recycling, and many more. These techniques help get rid of garbage without harming the environment.

Waste management helps to preserve the environment and make the surrounding area safe for people and animals. People also participate in waste management by being self-motivated and attending to daily tasks vigilantly. The success and happiness of the population, and most crucially, our planet Earth, depend on these actions to raise awareness about waste management.

500 Words Essay On Waste Management

Refuse what you can, reduce what you can, reuse what you can, recycle what you can, and let the rest go to waste. Efficient waste management is essential in today's world. Population growth is causing garbage production to double every day. A lot of people's health is also impacted by the increase in the garbage. For instance, those who live in slums are close to a dump. They are, hence, at risk for a variety of diseases. Living a healthy life requires good sanitation and cleanliness. Therefore, it can only be accomplished with efficient waste management.

The Meaning Of Waste Management

Waste management is the control of waste via recycling and disposal. Additionally, effective waste management methods must be used while keeping environmental conditions in consideration. For instance, there are a variety of techniques and plans utilised to get rid of trash. Landfills, recycling, composting, etc., are a few of them. These techniques are also quite helpful for removing trash without harming the environment.

Methods For Waste Management

Recycling | The recycling of garbage is the most crucial method. Resources are not required for this technique. As a result, this is extremely beneficial for waste management. Reusing items that have been discarded is known as recycling. Recycling helps in the process of turning waste into valuable resources.

Landfills | The most popular technique for waste management is landfilling. Large earth holes are dug to bury the trash, which is then covered by a layer of mud. As a result, over time, the waste inside the pits decomposes. In general, this approach eliminates the smell and space that the garbage occupies.

Composting | The process of composting involves turning organic waste into fertilisers. The earth is made more fertile with this technique. As a result, it promotes more plant growth. The efficient transformation of waste management also benefits the ecology.

Advantages Of Waste Management

Waste management has a variety of advantages. Here are a few of them:

Decreases Bad Odour | Waste generates a lot of unpleasant odours that are harmful to the environment.

Reduces Pollution | The main factor for the environment's destruction is waste. For instance, domestic and industrial garbage contaminates our rivers. Management of waste is so crucial in order to prevent environmental pollution. Additionally, it improves the city's hygiene, giving residents a cleaner environment to live in.

Reduces The Production Of Waste | Recycling items contributes to waste reduction. Additionally, it creates new things that are once more beneficial.

It Generates Employment | Workers are needed for the waste management system. These workers can do several tasks, including garbage collection and disposal. As a result, it offers employment chances to those who are unemployed.

Produces Energy | Numerous waste materials may also be utilised to create energy. For instance, some items may burn and produce heat. Some organic items can also be used as fertilisers. As a result, the soil's fertility may be increased.

Example Of Waste Management

Swachh Bharat Mission | The Government of India has launched Swachh Bharat, also known as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Program Clean India), a nationwide campaign to clean up the nation's streets, highways, and infrastructure of the country. On August 15, 2014, on Indian Independence Day—prime minister Narendra Modi declared and began the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. This mission was to clean India and remove its dirt and dust. At that time, India had become incredibly unclean, with people throwing trash everywhere. Therefore, this mission was necessary for this nation. Because of this, people realised how important hygiene is.

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What a Waste: An Updated Look into the Future of Solid Waste Management

The Kiteezi landfill near Kampala was expanded as part of the Kampala Institutional Infrastructure Development Project, allowing for the storage and treatment of waste collected in the city. © Sarah Farhat/World Bank

“Waste not, want not.” This old saying rings so true today, as global leaders and local communities alike increasingly call for a fix for the so-called “throwaway culture.” But beyond individuals and households, waste also represents a broader challenge that affects human health and livelihoods, the environment, and prosperity.

And with over 90% of waste openly dumped or burned in low-income countries, it is the poor and most vulnerable who are disproportionately affected.

In recent years, landslides of waste dumps have buried homes and people under piles of waste. And it is the poorest who often live near waste dumps and power their city’s recycling system through waste picking, leaving them susceptible to serious health repercussions.

“Poorly managed waste is contaminating the world’s oceans, clogging drains and causing flooding, transmitting diseases, increasing respiratory problems from burning, harming animals that consume waste unknowingly, and affecting economic development, such as through tourism,” said Sameh Wahba, World Bank Director for Urban and Territorial Development, Disaster Risk Management and Resilience.

Greenhouse gasses from waste are also a key contributor to climate change.

“Solid waste management is everyone’s business. Ensuring effective and proper solid waste management is critical to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez, Senior Director of the World Bank’s Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice.

What a Waste 2.0

While this is a topic that people are aware of, waste generation is increasing at an alarming rate. Countries are rapidly developing without adequate systems in place to manage the changing waste composition of citizens.

According to the World Bank’s What a Waste 2.0 report,

An update to a previous edition, the 2018 report projects that

How much trash is that?

Take plastic waste, which is choking our oceans and making up 90% of marine debris. The water volume of these bottles could fill up 2,400 Olympic stadiums, 4.8 million Olympic-size swimming pools, or 40 billion bathtubs. This is also the weight of 3.4 million adult blue whales or 1,376 Empire State Buildings combined.

And that’s just 12% of the total waste generated each year.

In addition to global trends, What a Waste 2.0 maps out the state of solid waste management in each region. For example, the  And although they only account for 16% of the world’s population,

Because waste generation is expected to rise with economic development and population growth, lower middle-income countries are likely to experience the greatest growth in waste production. The fastest growing regions are Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where total waste generation is expected to triple than double by 2050, respectively, making up 35% of the world’s waste. The Middle East and North Africa region is also expected to double waste generation by 2050.

Upper-middle and high-income countries provide nearly universal waste collection, and more than one-third of waste in high-income countries is recovered through recycling and composting. Low-income countries collect about 48% of waste in cities, but only 26% in rural areas, and only 4% is recycled. Overall, 13.5% of global waste is recycled and 5.5% is composted.

To view the full infographic, click  here . 

Toward sustainable solid waste management

“Environmentally sound waste management touches so many critical aspects of development,” said Silpa Kaza, World Bank Urban Development Specialist and lead author of the What a Waste 2.0 report. “Yet, solid waste management is often an overlooked issue when it comes to planning sustainable, healthy, and inclusive cities and communities. Governments must take urgent action to address waste management for their people and the planet.”

Moving toward sustainable waste management requires lasting efforts and a significant cost.

Is it worth the cost?

Yes. Research suggests that it does make economic sense to invest in sustainable waste management. Uncollected waste and poorly disposed waste have significant health and environmental impacts. The cost of addressing these impacts is many times higher than the cost of developing and operating simple, adequate waste management systems.

To help meet the demand for financing, the World Bank is working with countries, cities, and partners worldwide to create and finance effective solutions that can lead to gains in environmental, social, and human capital.

, such as the following initiatives and areas of engagement.

Scavengers burning trash at the Tondo Garbage Dump in Manila, Philippines. © Adam Cohn/Flickr Creative Commons

In   Pakistan , a $5.5 million dollar project supported a composting facility in Lahore in market development and the sale of emission reduction credits under the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Activities resulted in reductions of 150,000 tonnes of CO 2 -equivalent and expansion of daily compost production volume from 300 to 1,000 tonnes per day.

In Vietnam , investments in solid waste management are helping the city of Can Tho prevent clogging of drains, which could result in flooding. Similarly, in the Philippines , investments are helping Metro Manila reduce flood risk by minimizing solid waste ending up in waterways. By focusing on improved collection systems, community-based approaches, and providing incentives, the waste management investments are contributing to reducing marine litter, particularly in Manila Bay.

Leaving no one behind

But the reality for more than 15 million informal waste pickers in the world – typically women, children, the elderly, the unemployed, or migrants – remains one with unhealthy conditions, a lack of social security or health insurance, and persisting social stigma.

In the  West Bank , for example, World Bank loans have supported the construction of three landfill sites that serve over two million residents, enabled dump closure, developed sustainable livelihood programs for waste pickers, and linked payments to better service delivery through results-based financing.

A focus on data, planning, and integrated waste management

Understanding how much and where waste is generated – as well as the types of waste being generated – allows local governments to realistically allocate budget and land, assess relevant technologies, and consider strategic partners for service provision, such as the private sector or non-governmental organizations.

Solutions include:

• Providing financing to countries most in need, especially the fastest growing countries, to develop state-of-the-art waste management systems. 
• Supporting major waste producing countries to reduce consumption of plastics and marine litter through comprehensive waste reduction and recycling programs. 
• Reducing food waste through consumer education, organics management, and coordinated food waste management programs.

No time to waste

If no action is taken, the world will be on a dangerous path to more waste and overwhelming pollution. Lives, livelihoods, and the environment would pay an even higher price than they are today.

Many solutions already exist to reverse that trend. What is needed is urgent action at all levels of society.

The time for action is now.

Click here to access the full dataset and download the report What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050 .

What a Waste 2.0 was funded by the government of Japan through the World Bank’s Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC).

• The Bigger Picture: In-depth stories on ending poverty
• Press release: Global Waste to Grow by 70 Percent by 2050 Unless Urgent Action is Taken: World Bank Report
• Infographic: What a Waste 2.0
• Video blog: Here’s what everyone should know about waste
• Brief: Solid Waste Management
• Slideshow: Five ways cities can curb plastic waste

English Compositions

Short Essay on Waste Management [100, 200, 400 Words] With PDF

Waste management is a matter of concern for our world in the current situation. Poor waste management eventually results in environmental pollution. Due to this extreme concern, many institutions use this context as an essay topic to evaluate their students’ overall comprehension skills. In this lesson, you will learn how to write an essay on waste management. So, let’s get started. 

Short Essay on Waste Management in 100 Words

Waste management is one of the significant processes on Earth that leads to sustainable development and habitat. It happens through the reuse and recycling of waste products in our houses, factories, industries etc. At present, the world is facing a severe threat of pollution due to poor waste management.

It is the ultimate need of the hour that wastes must be reduced and reused properly. We on a daily basis produce tons of waste materials that are harmful both for us and the environment. Thus several measures are undertaken through which the wastes accumulated are hence segregated and utilised for better purposes.

Short Essay on Waste Management in 200 Words

Waste management is the call of duty for every 21st-century person on Earth. Wastes are the degradable remnants of our daily activities. It involves household chores, as well as factory dispositions. We are clearly aware of the volume of waste materials that are regularly generated and how carelessly they are disposed of.

Such attention to fewer actions of discarding wastes results in hazards to social and public health including plants and animals. But today waste management is a matter of concern with the increasing population on Earth. The urban expansions, the industrial growth, and the changes in our lifestyle and consumption are also a reason behind this. Waste management takes place through innovations in science and technology and is transformed into a new object of reuse and renovations.

Wastes produced on a daily basis are of several types. It can be solid such as household, laboratory, and industries’ wastes; liquid wastes such as chemicals, sewage, and pipes; and also gaseous wastes like smoke from chimneys of industries, tobacco smells, burning petroleum goods, vehicle emissions, forest fire, and others. Generally, wastes are classified also as biodegradable such as the waste products that come from plants and animals, and non-biodegradable like metals and plastics waste products that cannot be decomposed. All these are rectified through waste management procedures.

Short Essay on Waste Management in 400 Words

Our lives consist of changes and the occurrence of some inevitable situations. Waste production is one such circumstance that cannot be avoided, yet is often considered as the most hazardous effect on the living world and the atmosphere. Waste is something that creates no value and only depreciates our well-being. The basic reason behind the production of waste is the growing civilisation.

The ever-increasing population demands necessities and luxuries for daily use, which in turn generates a huge amount of waste materials. The household produces wastes, industries, factories, vehicles, and laboratories are chief sources of waste production. All these only ends up polluting the environment. The population along with developed lifestyle are again key reasons for waste generation on Earth. Thus urban areas produce a greater amount than rural places due to lesser modernisation of the surroundings and lifestyle.

Waste is unarguably a disaster to humankind and so it needs immediate attention and a proper management system. Ill disposal of wastes results in more than half of the pollution in a heavily populated country like India. In India, corporations and municipal bodies are responsible for maintaining this cleanliness and preserving public health. Generally, wastes are broadly categorised as solids, liquids, and gases. But for a greater facility, it is chiefly divided into biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes.

Biodegradable wastes include kitchen wastes, sanitary wastes, green wastes, and wastes from shops. But the more harmful form, the non-biodegradable wastes contain plastics, papers, all packaging and containers, metals, glass, rubber that cannot be decomposed naturally. These wastes stay in nature and prolong the harm to not only terrestrial creatures but also aquatic beings.

Hence management of the filth is very important. The general disposal methods may often prove unsustainable and serious. Thus waste management is now the call of the day. It is not just a local phenomenon, but also the attention of the states countries and the globe. This management involves at the base the segregation of the wastes and likewise disposing of it.

The principal method involved here is the method of ‘’ reuse, reduce, and recycle’’. Generally, the domestic wastes can be utilised as vermicompost and fertilizers for plants. But for the non-biodegradable wastes, the process involves a higher system. The waste dealers collect them and deposit them into factories that crush the wastes into pulps and recycles them into different, helpful materials. At present, the globe has engaged in not only recycling but also refusing to use materials that create a huge amount of wastes. Thus waste management is the solution of modern society and way to development.

In this session above, I have tried to discuss all possible aspects of the topic within a recommended word limit. Hopefully, after going through this lesson, you have understood the overall approach to write these essays. If you have any doubt regarding the session, post them in the comment section below. To read more such essays on important topics, keep browsing our website.

To get the latest updates on our upcoming sessions, kindly join our Telegram channel. Thank you. All the best for your exam. 

Waste Management Essay

Introduction.

Suppose you bought chocolate due to your craving while walking on the road. Now, what will you do with the wrapper? Will you keep it with you till you find a waste bin, or will you just throw it away on the road? While the first option is the right way to dispose of it, we often see many of us simply tossing the wrapper on the road. But what happens when every one of us behaves the same way and our surroundings become a huge pile of garbage?

Today, people are careless about what they do with their waste, and there are no proper methods to dispose of them. In this waste management essay, we will discuss the importance of waste management and look at different ways to manage waste.

Importance of Waste Management

Waste management should become an essential part of our lives as it plays an integral role in environmental protection and maintaining our health. Each day, the population is increasing, and waste is produced without any limit. Not aware of its dangerous effects, we either dump all the waste in a place where there are no proper disposal methods or burn them away, which releases harmful pollutants into the air. All the waste from homes, industries and factories must be properly managed; otherwise, it could lead to various environmental problems and health issues. This is why we need effective ways to collect, segregate, transport and dispose of waste materials, which we will be discussing in this solid waste management essay.

Methods for Waste Management

There are several methods for waste management, which vary depending on the type of waste that we handle. Waste can be classified into solid, liquid and gas, and they get generated from our homes, hospitals, factories or nuclear power plants. As each type of waste has a different method of disposal, landfills are suitable for solid waste management. A landfill is a deep garbage pit that is usually located away from the city where solid wastes are dumped, which decomposes over the years. Incineration is another popular method for waste management, but it is not the most effective as the combustion process often releases greenhouse gases that pollute the environment.

The waste management essay also highlights other efficient ways to dispose of waste. While the recycling of waste is considered to be productive by changing waste materials into useful things, reusing and reducing waste are also found to be cost-effective. Unlike landfills and incineration, recycling does not harm the environment in any way. As organic wastes can be recycled or reused, we must reduce the use of plastics, thus avoiding plastic pollution . Plastics contribute to the major portion of waste as they are not degradable. We must also practise composting as it is the ideal method for managing food waste and plant products. Through composting, organic waste gets converted into fertiliser, which nourishes the soil and thus supports the growth of plants and trees. In this manner, we must do whatever we can to dispose of waste and save the environment.

For more interesting essays from BYJU’S, check out our kids’ learning section.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the advantages of waste management.

Through proper waste management, we can reduce pollution in the environment as well as ensure the safety and well-being of human beings and all other living beings. There will also be a reduction in the generation of waste as people resort to recycling and reusing.

What are the challenges to waste management?

The key challenge to waste management is the lack of proper amenities or measures to segregate waste. With different types of waste from different sources, it is difficult to separate them. Moreover, the waste never gets reduced as industries continue to dump waste everywhere, and the people and environment face its consequences.

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Solid Waste Management, Essay Example

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Developing countries are often overwhelmed by waste since there is often no governmental or municipal system responsible for waste removal and management. In developing communities “typically one to two thirds of the solid waste generated is not collected.” (Zurbrugg)  For a community overwhelmed by its garbage, it is essential that a needs assessment process be performed before any solutions can be implemented. “Any change in the present order may inevitably affect the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalized population in the cities of the developing counties” (Ahmed and Ali) so it is important to thoroughly assess the current situation before implementing any change.

The first step in the needs analysis for the community is to find out what the gap is between the current situation with waste disposal and the desired situation.  Some questions to ask would be what the current strengths of the current waste disposal system, if any and what the major weaknesses are.  We will need to find out if there is any current system set up within the community to deal with trash, sewage and any potentially hazardous waste.  Also, we will need to assess if there is any system for reusing items like plastic bottles or tires, as well as if there is any sort of recycling system set up for any items.

The second stop in the needs assessment process would be to identify the various needs for waste management, their priority and importance.  The needs of the community to create a healthier environment though better waste management would include:

• Cost-effectiveness: How much does a solution cost versus how much money is available from the government or from international aid.
• Legal mandates: Are there any laws that need to be considered, including government regulations, health regulations and environmental regulations. A good waste management system should be made to come under code.
• Population: The question of how many people are in the community that will need to be serviced with the waste management system will need to be considered.  Also, if the community is growing, future projections will also need to be calculated before implementing solution.

The third step in the process will need to be to determine the people within the community who are currently working on waste management.  If there are private individuals who community members pay pick up garbage to burn, for example.  We will need to assess what is currently being done and what the strengths and weaknesses are.

The fourth step would be to identify possible solutions and opportunities.  Solutions should meet with the needs of the community based on size and the amount of waste currently being created with room for growth based on future projections of waste based on population growth.  Involvement from the community is necessary because in the end when the health workers leave, it is up to the community to continue the new waste management system if it is to be effective.  Often communities are offered help to develop a waste management system and the project, although successful at first, fails.  “Many projects could not support themselves or expand further when the external agencies discontinued their support.  A number of technical, financial, institutional, economic, and social factors contribute to the failure to sustain the projects, and they vary from project to project.” (Ogawa)

In order to make a waste management system truly successful for the community, the community members must be involved in all stages of the planning and implementation process.  That way, they are aware of their responsibilities and can deal with various issues regarding the management when they arise.

Ways to gather information about the current situation would involve direct observations as well as interviews with the community.  Questionnaires could be created to help volunteers gather pertinent information, like family size, current ways the families deal with waste including trash and sewage.  Town meetings could be called to get everyone together to share information, both from the health workers perspective and the community’s perspective.  Any current members of the community who are taking action in waste management, such as collecting plastic for recycling or picking up trash to take to a dump or burn, should also be interviewed to understand the current situation.

Ahmed, Shafiul Azam, Ali, Mansoor.  “Partnerships for Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries: Linking Theories to Realities.” Habitat International 28(2004): 467-479. Retrieved on 28 Apr. 2010 from http://www.bvsde.paho.org/bvsacd/cd43/ali.pdf

Ogawa, Hisashi.  “Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries.”  Global  Development Research Center.  Retrieved on 28 Apr. 2010 from http://www.gdrc.org/uem/waste/swm-fogawa1.htm

Rouda, Robert H. Kusy, Mitchell E. Jr.  “Needs Assessment the First Step.”  Retrieved on 28 Apr. 2010 from  http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~rouda/T2_NA.html

Zurbrugg, Chris. “Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries.”  EAWAG/SANDEC Retrieved on 28 Apr. 2010 from http://www.eawag.ch/organisation/abteilungen/sandec/publikationen/publications_swm/downloads_swm/basics_of_SWM.pdf

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Essay: Solid waste management

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The solid waste management is one of the most important problems for most cities around the world. Solid waste landfill must be designed to protect the environment from contaminants which may present in waste. Over 100 million tires are generated annually in India. But, only 10 to 20% of tires are beneficially and environmental safely reused or recycled (Kaushik et al., 2013). The tire causes harmful effects due to their non-biodegradable nature. So the reuse of tire in civil engineering application is as a drainage material, fill material in embankments and pavements etc. Moreover the MSW landfill leachate is generated as a consequence of precipitation, surface run-off and infiltration of groundwater percolating through a landfill, biochemical processes and the inherent water content of wastes themselves. Leachate is generated within the landfills from the percolation of water (precipitation) through the waste, release of moisture in the waste, and the biodegradation of organic waste. The leachate mound in the LCS is a function of the spacing of pipes, bottom slope, infiltration rate, and the hydraulic conductivity of the drainage layer material. Leachate mounding within the landfill will also increase possibilities of leachate leakage through the bottom liners. This leachate may percolate into the ground and causes the contamination of ground water and soil. To minimize this effect due to leachate generation in landfill, the leachate collection and removal system is provided. The materials used in the drainage layer of leachate collection and removal system are gravel and sand but these materials are not easily available in the region. A modern municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill typically includes two components (Rowe 2005) (i) a bottom liner system with low permeability to prevent leachate migration and (ii) a highly permeable leachate collection system (LCS) to reduce the hydraulic head on the bottom liner and hence to minimize the driving force for leachate flow. The leachate head in LCS is required to be less than thickness of drainage layer i.e. between 0.3-0.5 m for granular drainage layer. The leachate mound in the LCS is a function of the rate of infiltration, pipe spacing, bottom slope, and the hydraulic conductivity of the drainage layer. The studies showed that the permeated with MSW landfill leachate the granular drainage material experiences a growth of biomass, deposition of suspended particles, and precipitation of minerals (Cooke et al., 2001). In this study tire shreds will be used as a drainage material because to the high cost of gravel. They have shown relatively high hydraulic conductivity (Rowe and McIsaac 2005) and are a better thermal insulator than conventional materials. Tire shreds are the landfill construction material having similarities as the natural aggregates typically utilized as drainage media. Tyre shreds have properties that civil engineers generally need. The suitability of tyres as landfill drainage material have approved by several researches (Hudson et al. 2003; Van Gulck, Rowe 2004). Using these tyre shreds can significantly reduce construction cost. Tyre shreds are capable of providing free draining and are good insulator (Reddy et al. 2010). Tyre chips/shreds may be used around buried pipes and potentially keep both the pipe and tyre safe for the long term, keeping the rubber in an environmentally beneficial end application away from direct exposure of sunlight/UV radiation which may cause the possible degradation /deterioration in its quality/shape etc. (Rowe et al., 2012). High permeability of tyre shreds make them suitable for several landfill applications like leachate collection at the base, operations layer, foundation layer and drainage layer in the landfill cap but the most likely application is to use as drainage material for construction of drainage layer of leachate collection and removal system (Kaushik et al., 2014). These tyre shreds had been used as a substitute for granular material in landfill construction. Tyre shreds can be used in the most applications with negligible effects on ground water quality but a long term service life and durability (to provide long term functioning) of the drainage material is still unknown( ASTM D6270-98). The failure of landfill leachate collection system to control the leachate head due to decrease in hydraulic conductivity of the granular layer is due to biological and mineral clogging. The performance of the LCS is critical for a well-designed modern landfill and there is a need to be able to predict the service life of a given system. The considerable care is required to design the drainage layer by replacing gravels with tire derived aggregates. Gravels should be used in the critical zones of higher mass loading (McIsaac R. and Rowe R. 2005). In case of the continuous drainage layer, a suitable filter/separator layer between waste and underlying drainage layer is placed which will extend the service life of LCS by minimizing the migration of fines and other particulars (Fleming I. R. and Rowe R. K. 2004). Tire derived aggregates should be used in less critical zones and increased thickness of compressed tires is required to give a service life somewhat equal to that of given thickness of gravels. In order to determine the serviceability of the drainage layer, practical approach is used to estimate the service life of the drainage layer. The estimation of the service life of LCSs with different design configurations requires an understanding of the clogging mechanisms and the effects of the different factors on the clogging. The clogging process is caused by the removal of certain constituents from the incoming leachate. Clogging of these materials occurs in these drainage layers due to saturated and unsaturated zones. Clogging includes the accumulation of material in the voids of the drainage medium which decreases the effective porosity in the granular drainage medium. Thus reduces the hydraulic conductivity of the drainage medium and will eventually impair effective drainage. The clogging of drainage medium may also be due to leachate. The composition of the leachate has a critical effect on the rate of clogging. High levels of organic acids, inorganic cations, and suspended solids have all been shown to increase the rate of clogging. Greater clogging will also occur with higher mass loading (a product of the chemical concentration and flow rate). The clogging rate of the drainage layer is increased with: (1) increasing the mass loading (i.e., increasing the leachate strength, increasing the flow rate, or both); (2) decreasing the grain size or uniformity of the drainage material; and (3) increasing the landfill temperature. Thus, for a given leachate, a higher flow rate will produce greater clogging than a lower flow rate (Rowe and Yu 2010). The clog that develops, will decrease the pore space available to permeate leachate, reduces the hydraulic conductivity of the granular layer and reduced the efficiency of the leachate collection system. It is important in the initial stage of design to assess the likely service life of each component in the system, and to predict how the breakdown of any one component will affect the overall performance of the landfill system (Rowe et al., 2005, Rowe et al., 2011, Rowe and Yu, 2012). These systems are required to collect and remove leachate for extended periods of time and it is important that they be designed to optimize their long term performance and service life. Thus service life is defined as the time period from start of the use of a structure or of part of it, during which the intended performance is achieved. The time which is required for the leachate mound to increase to the point at which it is about to exceed the permitted head on the liner (usually the drainage layer thickness) is the service life of the drainage system. The service life of the LCS is said to correspond to the time when it can no longer control the leachate head below the specified design value, which is usually taken to be the layer thickness. Therefore, the service life may be extended by increasing the drainage layer thickness. The hydraulic conductivity of the drainage layer is usually specified to be greater than 1 × 10-5 m/s, but the best performance will occur when it as high as possible, and it should be at least 1 × 10-2 m/s (Rowe et al. 2004). So, in order to determine the service life of drainage layer made up of tyre chips/shreds, mathematical approach can be used. The service life of the drainage layer generally varies from a few years to over 100 years depending on the design of the system. In order to determine the service life of drainage layer made up of TDA (tyre chips/shreds), a mathematical practical approach based upon the characteristics, properties (hydraulic conductivity, compressibility) and permeate (COD, TSS, Ca+ Conc.) under test condition of continuous flow of active MSW landfill leachate in compressed condition may be performed. A simplified form of BioClog was presented by Yu (2012), allowing a more site-specific estimate of service life. The simplified model considers linearly decreasing source concentrations of calcium, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and TSS. CHAPTER III MATERIAL AND METHODS 3.1 Gravel:- Gravels are used as a conventional drainage material in landfill drainage layer. A common gravel size is 38 mm, with coarser and more uniform gravel providing a longer service life (Rowe 2009a). Although gravel has excellent drainage properties but is a scared natural resource. The availability of this drainage material is reducing day by day. Many projects in Punjab are delayed because of this reason. Moreover the MoEF, Government of India under the guidance by Supreme Court of India has banned the mining of natural aggregates from most of the rivers of the Punjab state. So, to continue with the processes, it is necessary to find an alternative for this conventional material which can be act as an efficient drainage material. The drainage material used for the study is tire derived aggregates in place of gravels. So there are some parameters which differ from one another. Table 3.1 Comparison between parameters of Gravel and Tire Shreds Parameters Gravels Tire Derived Aggregates Hydraulic conductivity (m/sec) 10-2-1 10-2 to 10-3 Void Ratio 0.3-0.5 0.55-0.75 Porosity 0.25-0.40 0.45- 0.60 Compressibility Not compressible 40-60% Specific gravity 2.62-2.72 1.1-1.28 Unit weight (Kg/m3) compacted 1520 522-690 Density (Kg/m3) 1500-1800 450-900 3.2 Tire Derived Aggregate (TDA):- Tire derived aggregate (TDA) is an engineered product made by cutting scrap tires into 25 to 300-mm pieces. TDA provides many solutions to geotechnical challenges since it is lightweight (0.8 Mg/m3), produces low lateral pressures on walls (as little as 1/2 of soil), is a good thermal insulator (8 times better than soil), has a high permeability (greater than 1 cm/s for many applications), and absorbs vibrations (D. N. Humphery). So due to their light weight, tires had been considered as an alternative for soil/mineral aggregates for civil engineering applications, as a drainage layer for landfill leachate collection systems. TDA has the excellent drainage properties, maintains its structural integrity. TDA reduces the weight makes the material easier to handle and results reduction in transportation costs. Thus the drainage material used in the leachate collection system is tire derived aggregates. Tire derived aggregates of thickness 900mm needed to achieve equal thickness of 300 mm of gravel, due to high compressibility of the tire shreds (44-48%). Thus the leachate collection system is considered to be failed when thickness of leachate mound exceed design thickness of drainage layer. Hydraulic conductivity of the tire rubber under various overburden pressures and confinement becomes important parameter if these scrap tires required to be utilized for drainage application. Fig. 3.1 Tire Derived Aggregate used as a Drainage Layer Material 3.2.1 Determination of hydraulic conductivity of tire derived aggregates: Apparatus used Permeameter mould (internal dia.=30 cm) Measuring cylinder Metre scale Stop watch Grease Fig. 3.2 Schematic Drawing of Constant Head Permeameter Procedure First of all take a permeameter and apply a little grease on the sides of the mould. Weight the permeameter and measured the internal diameter and effective height of the permeameter. Connect the valve of the permeameter with water system and allow water to flow out so that all the air in the permeameter is removed. When all the air has escaped, close the stop cock. Take tire derived aggregates and put 60 cm of TDA in the permeameter and place the plate over TDA, thus the height is reduced. Then allow the water to flow the through tires and establish a steady flow. The head of water is kept 5 cm. When steady state flow was reached, collect the water in the measuring cylinder for a conventional time interval (10 seconds). Increase the head with the increment of 5 cm up to 15 cm. To determine the permeability of the tire derived aggregates. Repeat this procedure thrice, quantity of water collected must be same, otherwise observations were repeated. The formula used for calculating permeability is, K=Q/(A.t) L/h Where k = permeability of tire chips/shreds (cm/sec) Q = quantity of water collected in time, t L = length of sample, cm A = cross sectional area of sample, cm² h = constant hydraulic head, cm 3.2.2 Determination of Compressibility of tire shreds:- The compressibility of tire derived aggregates is typically obtained in a compression test. The TDA particles are placed in a rigid, cylindrical mold, and then an increasing vertical stress is applied and the vertical strain or deformation is measured. The tire shreds are highly compressible due to high porosity. The compressibility of tire shreds can be measured by placing the tire shreds in containers having diameters ranging from 15 to 75 cm. The vertical compression (or strain) caused by an increasing vertical stress is then measured. The compressibility of tire derived aggregates can be measured by stress applied on the sample and the change in the height of the sample. The dial gauge is placed near the end of the container. The load applied on the tire derived aggregates by means of hydraulic jack. Fig. 3.3 Compressibility test set up for Tire Derived Aggregates Fig. 3.4 Tire Derived Aggregates Fig. 3.5 Application of load on the in the permeameter. TDA by hydraulic jack Fig. 3.6 Compressibility of TDA after application of load. Procedure:- The container of 30 cm diameter and 92 cm is filled with tire derived aggregates of average dimension 17×9 cm. The hydraulic jack was placed on the sample and is connected to the loading assembly. The container was connected to the hydraulic jack. Loads were applied incrementally on top of sample using the steel plate of thickness 2 cm. The stresses at the top of the sample were measured using a load gauge attached to the compression apparatus. The sample was loaded up to 50 KN and the unloaded to zero stress. Based on the average stress, a load of 150 KN is applied for 1 minute. As the load reached maximum stress, deformation is taken and then pressure is released to zero. Also the strain applied at the sample can be evaluated by measuring the initial and the final height of the sample after the application of the load. 3.3 Leachate: The characteristics of leachate are highly variable and depend on the composition of the solid waste, precipitation rate, site hydrology and hydrogeology, compaction, waste age, cover design, sampling procedures, interaction of leachate with the landfill design operation and environment. Leachate contains large numbers of organic, inorganic contaminants and high concentrations of total suspended solids. The age of the landfill also affects the concentration of substances in landfill leachate. Under the normal conditions, leachate is found at the bottom of the landfill and moves through the underlying strata, the lateral movement of leachate may also occur, depending on the characteristics of the surrounding drainage material. As leachate percolates through the underlying strata, its chemical and biological constituents will be removed by the filteration and absorptive action of the material composing the strata. The leachate data used in this study has performance results of a landfill site. Leachate samples were collected and analysed for various physico-chemical parameters to estimate its pollution potential. The leachate composition is typical of a mature landfill. The landfill is deposited with wastes of solid, non-hazardous, industrial, commercial and institutional waste from municipalities. The characteristics of leachate are evaluated in terms of BOD, COD and TSS etc. These characteristics are determined for the Jalandhar region (Warriana Dump Site). Fig. 3.7 Leachate Sample Taken from Dump Site 3.4 Leachate Sampling and Analysis: To determine the quality of leachate, integrated samples was collected from landfill location. The sites are non-engineered low lying open dumps. The landfill has neither any bottom liner nor any leachate collection and treatment system. Leachate sample was collected from the base of solid waste heaps where the leachate was drained out by gravity. The concentration of the COD, Ca2+, and TSS is evaluated in laboratory and analysed to determine pollution potential. 3.4.1 Determination of COD concentration:- Reagents: Standard potassium dichromate 0.25 N Sulphuric acid Ferrion indicator Standard ferrous ammonium sulphate solution. Fig. 3.8 Sample preparation for titration (COD conc.) Procedure: Place 0.4 g mercuric sulphate (HgSO4) in a reflux flask. Take 25 ml sample or a smaller amount diluted to 25 ml in a refluxing flask. Add 10 ml 0.25 N K_2 〖Cr〗_2 O_7 solution and again mix. Add 30 ml H2SO4 containing AgSO4 and mixing thoroughly. Attach the condenser and start the cooling water. Add ferroin indicator to the solution. Dilute the mixture and titrate excess of dichromate with standard ferrous ammonium sulphate. The colour will change from yellow to green – blue and finally red. Fig.3.9 End Result after Titration of Sample (COD conc.) Concentration of COD: (A-B) × N × 8000 ml of sample Where, A = blank volume of sample (ml) B= volume of sample used (ml) N= normality of ferrous ammonium sulphate 3.4.2 Determination of Ca2+ concentration:- Analysis method for calcium hardness Reagents: Buffer solution Murexide indicator (potassium purpurate) Sodium hydroxide Standard EDTA solution 0.01 N Fig. 3.10 Change in colour of sample before and after titration (Ca2+ conc.) Procedure: Take 25 ml in porcelain dish or conical flask. Add 1-2 ml buffer solution. Add a pinch of Murexide indicator and titrate with standard EDTA (0.01N) till wine red colour changes to blue. Note down the volume of EDTA required. Formula used = (volume of EDTA × D × 1000) volume of sample used 3.4.3 Determination of TSS concentration:- Analysis methods for Total Solids, Total Suspended Solids and Total Dissolved Solids: Apparatus required: Crucible dish Heater or oven Filter paper Weighing machine Funnel Beaker Fig. 3.11 Suspended Solids in Leachate after Heating Procedure: Total solids: The crucible was cleaned and then put on an oven. Then it was placed on the desiccators until it cools and then the weight was takenW_1. 100 ml of sample was taken in the crucible dish and it was placed in an oven for 24 hours. Then it was taken out of the oven and the weights were noted down i.e. W_2. Weight of total solid = ( W_2-W_1)mg/l. Total suspended solids : Take 100 ml sample in a beaker and filter paper were taken. Filter paper was weighted i.e. W_f and placed in the funnel. Pass water through filter paper. Filter paper was placed in the oven till it dried. Then the filter paper was weighed again i.e. W_f2 Total suspended solids were calculated as : Weight of total suspended solids = ( W_f2 – W_f) mg/l. 3.5 Method to determine the service life of drainage layer: Rowe and Yan (2013) developed a sophisticated numerical model to determine the characteristics of leachate and service life of drainage layer. It was a complex numerical model not suited to routine design application. Thus based on the findings from field studies of Flemming et al.,(1999), Brune et al., (1991) and Cooke et al., (2001), Rowe and Flemming (1998) developed a practical approach for estimating service life of LCS. To calculate the service life of LCS following steps were used (Rowe and Yu 2013): Select the bulk density of clog material, ρc (Kg/m3). Select the peak and residual COD concentration cL1,COD (Kg/m3) and cL2,COD (Kg/m3). Select the peak and residual Ca concentration cL1,Ca (Kg/m3) and cL2,Ca (Kg/m3). Select the peak and residual TSS concentration cL1, TSS (Kg/m3) and cL2,TSS (Kg/m3). Select infiltration rate of qo (m/year) Select size of tire derived aggregates (maximum length). Select the drainage length of LCS, L meter. Select average porosity reduction, ɳc,avg. required to cause clogging. Select drainage layer thickness, B. Select leachate mound thickness at upstream end, Bu (Bu = B-0.1). Select L.M.T at downstream end Bd. Select drainage length between upstream end and location with the maximum leachate mound thickness, Lm. Separator layer should be placed between waste and drainage layer. Calculate reduction in total void volume within the drainage layer .The total void volume occupied by clog mass, Vtot (m2), is equal to the volume of clog material accumulated in the drainage material and is given by: VTot = ∫_0^L▒ɳ_(c avg.) h_(x ) d_x = ɳ_(c avg. ) [1/3 L_(m ) (2B+B_(u) )+ 1/5 (L-L_m )(4B+ B_d)] For calcium concentration cL1,Ca = 2.3 kg/m3 and COD concentration cL1,COD = 26 kg/m3, the condition cL1,Ca > 0.041 cL1,COD is satisfied. Additional TSS concentration cL1,ADD = 0.018 cL1,COD Modified TSS concentration, cL1 = cL1,ADD + fFS cL1,TSS Calculate service life tc (years) of LCS from eq. tc = (ρ_(c f_TSS ) (t) V_Tot)/q_(oC_(L1 ) L) where tc is service life of LCS estimated from the practical model. Thus the service life predicted by using the practical model can be used for the engineering applications where it is difficult to approach BIOCLOG model (Rowe and Yu 2013). CHAPTER IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Tire Derived Aggregates: Tire derived aggregates have the hydraulic conductivity value in range of 1x 10-2 to 1×10-3 m/sec. This value of the hydraulic conductivity is suitable for the efficient drainage in leachate collection systems. The tire derived aggregates used in the drainage layer of leachate collection system should have higher hydraulic conductivity. Thus in comparison to the gravels used in drainage layer, tire derived aggregates can be used. The hydraulic conductivity values observed from the test results are given as: Table 4.1 Hydraulic conductivity values for Tire Derived Aggregates Sr. No. Hydraulic conductivity m/sec Hydraulic gradient, i Head, cm 1 4.7 x 10-3 0.09 5 2 2.9 x 10-3 0.19 10 3 2.1 x 10-3 0.28 15 Fig. 4.1 Variation in Hydraulic Conductivity of Tire Derived Aggregates Gravel:- Gravels have the hydraulic conductivity varying in range of 10-2 to 1. Gravels have the hydraulic conductivity more than that of the tire derived aggregates. Hydraulic conductivity of Gravels:- Table 4.2 Hydraulic conductivity values of Gravel Sr. No. Hydraulic conductivity m/sec Hydraulic gradient, i Head, cm 1 2.9 x 10-2 0.09 5 2 2.59 x 10-2 0.19 10 3 2.4 x 10-2 0.28 15 Fig. 4.2 Variation in Hydraulic Conductivity of Gravel Compressibility:- Gravels are not compressible even under the load. So the effect loading was not considered on the gravel. Although the tire derived aggregates has a great effect of the loading. The tire derived aggregates are much more compressible than that of the gravels. The strain value of the tire derived aggregates was measured with applied stress. The stress strain curve of TDA was plotted. Table 4.3 Compressibility of the Tire Derived Aggregates under loading S. No. Stress (kPa) Initial thickness of sample (cm) Final thickness of sample (cm) Strain% 1. 14 60 56 6.0 2. 28.16 60 54.5 9.16 3. 42.2 60 51.2 14.7 4. 70.42 60 49 18.33 5. 84.50 60 46.5 22.5 6. 112.67 60 42.3 29.5 7. 140.84 60 40.2 33.0 8. 154.92 60 36.8 38.6 9. 211.26 60 31.2 48.0 Fig. 4.3 Compression behaviour of the TDA 4.3 Leachate:- Leachate from active MSW landfill has high concentration of COD, Ca2+ and TSS. As the landfill is still in operating condition, so concentration of leachate is high. Chemical Oxygen Demand: COD represents the amount of oxygen required to completely oxidize the organic waste constituents chemically to inorganic end products. The COD values for leachate samples of the landfilling site after number of titrations are 25360 mg/l, 26450 mg/l, 26355 mg/l, 25480 mg/l, 26220 mg/l. Total Suspended Solids: The total suspended solids in the leachate have high concentrations. The values of TSS obtained are 2680 mg/l, 2720 mg/l, 2715 mg/l, 2690 mg/l, 2755 mg/l. Calcium Hardness: The conc. of Ca -hardness for the sample is obtained as 2275 mg/l, 2335 mg/l, 2345 mg/l, 2284 mg/l, 2330 mg/l. Thus the characteristics of leachate obtained in the laboratory. The average concentration of COD, TSS and Ca2+ is given as Table 4.4 Characteristics of leachate in Jalandhar dump site (Warriana) Sr. No. Parameters Concentrations 1 COD 26000 mg/l 2 Ca2+ 2300 mg/l 3 TSS 2700 mg/l 4.3 Initial characteristics values for service life calculation:- The concentration of the leachate of Jalandhar region is obtained. The leachate in the leachate collection system causes clogging of drainage material over a period of time. The concentration of COD into leachate varies from 25350 to 26400 mg/litres. The values are obtained from number of titrations done for the leachate. So the average concentration of leachate taken is 26000 mg/lit. The effluent average calcium concentration of leachate is about 2300 mg/litres. The calculated TSS concentration is about 2700 mg/litres. The concentration of these parameters is found very high because of continuous dumping of the waste in the area. The properties of TDA are evaluated under test conditions. The permeability of the TDA obtained is 3.1 ×10-3 m/s. The compacted unit weight of tire derived aggregate is 553.85 kg/m3 but generally varies from 525 Kg/m3 to 690 Kg/m3. Thus the calculated average porosity reduction within the leachate mound is 0.20 (the initial porosity was 0.60). The bulk density of the clog mass (ρc) is 1480 Kg/m3. The average annual infiltration rate is 0.2m/year. The thickness of drainage layer opted is 0.9 m and the compresses thickness for tire shreds is 0.54 which is to be used for service life calculation. The length of the drainage layer is taken as 20m, 30m, 32.5m and 100m. The separator layer provided waste and drainage layer. The filter separator coefficient for silt film is fFS = 1.0 Based upon these parameters the approximated service life is calculated for the tire derived aggregate. This evaluated service life is used in practical application of estimating service life as it is not suited to use the sophisticated numerical model. 4.4 Service life calculated using practical application for TDA drainage layer:- Using the above data the service life for the drainage layer can be evaluated. Consider a 0.9 m thick drainage layer at the different drainage length. The compressed thickness of drainage layer is 0.54 which is used. The average porosity reduction within leachate mound is 0.20.The bulk density of clog material is ρc = 1480 kg/m3. The average infiltration rate is taken to be 0.2 m/year. The strength of leachate is assumed to be constant with time having average COD concentration cL1, COD = 26000 ppm = 26 kg/m3, average calcium concentration cL1,Ca= 2300 ppm = 2.3 kg/m3, average TSS concentration, cL1, TSS = 2700 ppm= 2.7 kg/m3. The drainage length between upstream end and the location with maximum leachate mound thickness is Lm = (0.6 x L). The leachate mound thickness at downstream Bd = 0.1 and at upstream Bu = Bcompressed-0.1 = 0.44 m. The separator used may be taken as slim film separator placed between waste and TDA having filter separator coefficient fFS= 1.0. Thus using the equations (Rowe and Yu 2013), the service life for the tire derived aggregate drainage layer can be calculated Case 1: For drainage length L= 20 m. Maximun leachate mound thickness Lm = 0.6 ×L = 12m. .VTot=ɳ_(c avg. ) [1/3 L_(m ) (2B+B_(u) )+ 1/5 (L-L_m )(4B+ B_d)] = o.20 [1/3 12(2×0.54+0.44)+ 1/5 (20-12)(4×0.54+ 0.1)] = 1.95m3 For calcium concentration cL1,Ca= 2.3 kg/m3 and COD concentration cL1,COD = 26 kg/m3, the condition cL1,Ca > 0.041 cL1,COD is satisfied. So the additional TSS concentration cL1,ADD = 0.018cL1,COD = 0.468kg/m3 Modified TSS concentration, cL1 = cL1,ADD+ fFS cL1,TSS =3.16kg/m3 So service life for tire derived aggregate drainage layer is given by the equation tc = (ρ_(c f_TSS ) (t) V_Tot)/q_(oC_(L1 ) L) = (1480×0.375 ×1.95)/(0.2×3.16×20) tc = 86 years Case 2: For drainage length L= 30 m. Maximun leachate mound thickness Lm = 0.6 ×L = 18m. The other parameters remain same. VTot = ɳ_(c avg. ) [1/3 L_(m ) (2B+B_(u) )+ 1/5 (L-L_m )(4B+ B_d)] = o.20 [1/3 18(2×0.54+0.44)+ 1/5 (30-18)(4×0.54+ 0.1)] = 2.91m3 So the service life, tc = (1480×0.375 ×2.91)/(0.2×3.16×30) tc = 85 years Case 3: For drainage length L= 32.5 m. Maximun leachate mound thickness Lm = 0.6 ×L = 19.5m. VTot = ɳ_(c avg. ) [1/3 L_(m ) (2B+B_(u) )+ 1/5 (L-L_m )(4B+ B_d)] = o.20 [1/3 19.5(2×0.54+0.44)+ 1/5 (32.5-19.5)(4×0.54+ 0.1)] = 3.15m3 So the service life, tc = (1480×0.375 ×3.15)/(0.2×3.16×32.5) tc = 86 years Case 4: For drainage length L= 100 m. Maximun leachate mound thickness Lm = 0.6 ×L = 60m. VTot = ɳ_(c avg. ) [1/3 L_(m ) (2B+B_(u) )+ 1/5 (L-L_m )(4B+ B_d)] = o.20 [1/3 60(2×0.54+0.44)+ 1/5 (100-60)(4×0.54+ 0.1)] = 9.698m3 So the service life, tc = (1480×0.375 ×9.69)/(0.2×3.16×100) tc = 85 years From the above results it can be observed that the service life of tire derived aggregate drainage layer is 85 years whereas service life of gravels is found 114 years for the same condition. However the gravel is used as a drainage material worldwide but this conventional material is not easily available these days, so it is reliable to use tire derived aggregate as drainage material. CONCLUSION Based upon the above results it is concluded that The dump is non-engineered low lying open dumps. There is neither any bottom liner nor any leachate collection and treatment system. Therefore, all the leachate generated finds its paths into the surrounding environment. The concentrations of COD, TSS and Ca2+ are found to be more as the landfill is active landfill and still receiving the municipal solid waste. The concentration of these parameters depends upon the type of waste material that is dumped. The tire derived aggregates have the high hydraulic conductivity as it can be used as the drainage material. Tire derived aggregates are available in huge quantity as a waste material, so it is easy to use it as a drainage material, which would thus reduce the construction cost and its adverse effect on environment. It is a simplified mathematical approach, which can be used by the engineer in practice. The estimated service life by numerical approach was near to that of gravel. So tire shreds have enough service life so that can be used as the drainage material.

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Home Essay Examples Business

Solid Waste Management

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Solid Waste Management is a pressing issue that needs abrupt consideration globally. The purpose of this study is to assess the characteristics of municipal solid waste from households waste to reduce disposal at landfill site. The study seeks to answer the research question, ‘What are the characteristics of solid waste in the municipality of Nadi in 2019 that can be recycled to reduce the amount of waste disposed at landfill site’. The goal is to characterize the types of solid waste from households and analyse the various types of recyclables waste discharged by volume and weight from households in Nadi. A descriptive and experimental study would be used to compare the baseline data available with the Nadi Town Council on the generation amount, generation rate and the participation rate of households.

Introduction

Solid Waste Management in countries that are developing becomes a challenge for the municipalities largely because of the growing amount of waste generated, high cost burden on the municipalities budget due because of its management, absence in understanding the wide range of factors affecting the dissimilar phases of managing waste and its associations that enables complete functioning of the management system.

In developing countries, one of the problems faced in the management of waste is the absence of a culture of sorting waste by type at source or the generation point. This leads to the mixing of all types of waste generated. There may be other special solutions for recycling of solid waste, but separation at source is the starting point (Banga Margaret 2013).

The Fiji National Solid Waste Management Strategy 2011 – 2014 identifies waste management as a pressing issue that needs instantaneous action. Waste management which is recognized as a key concern has various potential impacts on development activities of any country such as the health of people, the environment, food security, tourism and trade. The strategy highlights the negative impacts that waste management has on tourism, its connotation with vector-borne and infectious diseases, and the likely chances of food contamination that affects the revenue generated from exports.

Waste management in Fiji is covered under several pieces of legislation as follows:-

• Public Health Act (Cap 111),
• Environment Management Act 2005,
• Environment Management (EIA Process) Regulations 2007,
• Environment Management (Waste Disposal and Recycling) Regulation 2007,
• Litter (Amendment) Decree 2010,
• Fijian Affairs Act (Cap 120),
• Biosecurity Promulgation 2008.

However, none of the legislation has anything on the promotion of the separation of recyclables waste in managing of MSW except for the SWM-MP of Nadi Town Council and Lautoka City Council. Currently, Fiji is drafting a 5R Policy for all councils to promote the concept of 3R.

In the setting of Nadi, the municipality of Nadi has a population of approximately 12,000 people and has land coverage of 666 hectares. The generation amount of MSW is 22.3 tons/day; the generation rate is 1,894g/person/day. The generation amount of HH waste is 4.4 ton/day; the generation rate of HH waste is 374g/person/day. Kitchen waste is 36.4% of total MSW discharged. The municipality of Nadi does not have a waste disposal facility, hence all MSW collected is transported and disposed at the Vunato Disposal Site in Lautoka (Master Plan on the Solid Waste management for Nadi Town Council , 2010).

Review of literature

Composition and categories of municipal solid waste.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management is one among the foremost issues within the current urban municipalities preponderantly in developing countries. Municipal solid waste includes all types of waste generated from the commercial and residential areas and it contains different categories and composition of waste. The separation of recyclables is integrated into the solid waste management strategy. It can be applied to mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) or to separately collected paper, plastic, glass, tins, cans, metals etc. Separate collection is where waste is collected separately from the waste stream by its nature and type so it can be treated specifically. Waste composition of most countries globally is often subjugated by organic matter followed by paper and plastics except for Japan who generates more recyclables waste (Agamuthu.P 2007).

A Qualitative and quantitative review by Mohee Romeela et.al (2015) discovered that the waste composition in small island developing states comprises mainly of organics (44%) shadowed by recyclables specifically paper, plastics, glass and metals which accounts to 43 percent. In the same review, as compared to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development countries, the recyclables waste accounts the highest (43 percent) followed by 37 percent of organics waste. The study reflects a high waste generation rate on the average in these islands which amounts to 1.29 kg/capita/day. Mohee Romeela et.al (2015) revealed the prevalent waste management practices in the small developing states of mainly landfilling, backyard burning and illegal dumping. With the emerging of sustainable waste management practices in these states, there is a need for the introduction of waste minimization and recycling promotion activities.

In another review by Rajendra K. Kaushal et al (2012) carried out in India revealed an increasing trend in the composition of solid waste generated from municipalities. The components of paper, plastic and glass have a growing pattern from 4.1%, 0.7% and 0.4% individually in 1971 to 8.18%, 9.22% and 1.01 correspondingly in 2005. Metals during the same period also revealed an accumulating pattern. This study concluded with revealing unorganized and unplanned segregation at source except for medical and industrial waste in India. Scavengers play an important role in sorting waste that reduces the competence of segregation since these people only segregate items that have high market return value. Therefore, this increasing trend of recyclables waste recommends the promotion of the separation of recyclables waste for formal recovery. Reduction of waste at source is a primary factor for improving the system and cost of managing waste (Latifah Abd Manaf et.al, 2009).

Baseline Data

To promote separation of recyclables it is necessary to have baseline data on the characteristics of MSW. Hassan N Mohd et.al (2002) in a study conducted in Malaysia revealed that one of the most important requirements for a successful recycling programe is to have reliable data on waste generation rates and composition.

A baseline study by ESCAP (2011) in Vietnam revealed how the city of Kon Tum used the baseline data in planning and implementation process of recycling. According to the writer, this city lacked practices of segregation of waste and all waste generated were disposed at landfill site. Based on the findings and information of the baseline data, the city of Kon Tum prepared the National Strategy for Integrated Solid Waste Management which included the concept of 3R and waste recovery in Vietnam.

Another baseline survey carried out in Australia by the Queensland University of Technology for Community Recycling Network Australia (2012), provides an in depth of how solid waste and recycling planning data to be used. The results were used and integrated into the Waste Management Strategy for strengthening waste separation and 3R practices in Australia. Such data is useful for solid waste and recycling managers to develop comprehensive plans and policies and persuade key stakeholders, municipalities and governments on the benefits of waste separation and recycling. Thus conducting a baseline survey assists in determining the local circumstances and situations to come up with critical information and data and such data and information helps support appropriate decision making (ESCAP 2010).

Awareness on separate collection of recyclables

Education and awareness on separate collection of recyclables is essential for change in behaviour of people. According to M Florica and Bucur Bondan (2017), environmental education is a tool for implementing changes and creating awareness to residents on environmental issues. For proper waste management in urban and rural areas it is important to cogitate on public education. The effectiveness of preventing and minimizing waste involving prevention and minimization at source is connected to community participation and behaviour of the people. Basis factor in recycling waste recovery is the attitude and behaviour of the people towards recycling (Wichitra Singhirunnusorn et al, 2012). Different forms of awareness raising should be promoted to disseminate information to the community level and achieve high participation rate in recycling.

In a descriptive and questionnaire survey study by L.A. Guerrero et al, (2013) on three continents comprising thirty urban areas in twenty two developing countries found that fourteen of the inspected cities do not have recycling practices. Management of MSW is improved once stakeholders are willing to take charge and share responsibility with municipalities on the decision making for SWM which are associated with three necessary components:-

• Awareness – The effectiveness on the separation of waste depends on the awareness of its people and leaders on the effects of waste management systems within the town/city.
• Knowledge – Municipal Decision makers are only likely to set up waste separation programs once they are familiar and acquainted with the new and suitable technologies and the proper practices for the management of waste.
• Equipment. The availability and provision of necessary equipment and machinery to manage and recycle waste is a key factor that promotes separation of waste at the household level.

Education and Awareness Techniques – Research has also been done on the different methods used for creating awareness. Adam D (1999) in a study conducted in the UK revealed the common methods of communication used by the UK local government in creating awareness on recycling were media campaigns, household leaflets, radio advertisement, seasonal promotions, public meeting, celerity launching, reminder cards, conference presentations, mobile advertisement, recycling tours, telephone hotline, school presentation, surveys, and promotional videos. To increase low public awareness and participation the local government found that door-to-door or house- to- house communications strategy is the most effective promotion to increase recycling rate and public participation in the recycling service. This study further concluded roadshow being helpful communication tool. These different forms of awareness campaign have increased average weekly recycling tonnage from 107 to 132 tonnes in the UK local government. Hence these varieties of methods for communication can form a central and effective approach to raising residents’ participation.

In support, a Pilot recycling program in Quito by Hernández Orlando (1999) revealed a mixture of cluster group discussions, in-depth interviews and a household survey being used to gauge the way to increase and sustain resident’s participation on separation of waste.

Furthermore, in another study by Omran, A. et al. (2009) carried out in Malaysia concluded various activities implemented to increase awareness on the importance of household participation in recycling which includes mass media awareness (TV and Radio ) advertisement, awareness programs organized in communities , schools and shopping complexes. However, in the same study various launching programs of recycling failed. It revealed that the households did not comprehend and respect the waste collection schedule and there was a lack of co-operation and understanding from the households in discharging waste separately. Omran, A. et al. (2009) in this study strongly emphasizes that social influences, altruistic and regulatory factors are a number of reasons which can inspire communities to develop strong recycling habits. Educating people on how, what, and where to recycle is paramount. Not everybody will participate. Thus it is necessary that people are aware of the reasons for recycling and the positive impact that waste separation and recycling has on the environment.

On the other hand, Banga Margaret (2013) in a case study conducted in Kampala, Uganda surveyed 500 randomly selected households and the results indicated that, although people were aware of separation and recycling practices, they had not participated in such initiatives. The result also indicated that participation in solid waste separation activities not only depends on the level of awareness of recycling activities but on resident’s attitude, household income, educational level and gender. Banga Margaret (2013) further found that one of the effective methods to increase the rate of participation in separation activities needs to be initiated by government policymakers and local authorities.

Increased participation and discharge rate of recyclables can be achieved through community participation. This is supported in a study by Hassan N Mohd et.al (2002) which concluded that community participation is critical to the success of any recycling programme and therefore the economical recovery of large volumes of great quality recyclable depends on people’s involvement. Wichitra Singhirunnusorn et.al (2012) supported by concluding that an important source of recycling knowledge come from public education and campaigns which shows a positive connotation with recycling rate.

Benefits – Separate collection of Recyclables

Hernández Orlando (1999) in another review revealed that local governments in Africa, Asia and Latin America spend 20 to 50 per cent of total municipal revenue on solid waste services. Thus, recycling can reduce costs to the municipality for the collection and disposal of solid waste by reducing the amount of waste transported to its landfill.

Alexis M. Troschinetz and James R. Mihelcic (2008) further, concluded that material or resource recovery is an advantage of recycling and substantial quantities of recyclables are reused as resources. This study shows the recycling rates of developed countries falling within the ranges of developing countries from 0 to 41%. It revealed comparison of the developed countries utilizing curbside recycling programs to amass and sort wastes for recycling processing while developing countries utilize the social sector known as scavengers to handle such activities. Such practices benefit thus; creating job opportunities for people thus reduces poverty that enhances stronger economy, lower cost for raw material for industries, resources and raw materials are preserved, pollution is reduced, and the environment is protected.

Similarly, the study by M. Sharholy et al (2009) revealed the key role of scavengers in solid waste management in Delhi India stating that the proportion of recyclables like paper, glass, plastic and metals is precisely low due to the presence of the more than 100 000 scavengers who separate and collect the recyclables at generation sources, assortment points and disposal sites. Approximately 40–80% of plastic waste is recycled in India in comparison to 10–15% in the developed nations. About 17% of waste handling in Delhi is done by scavengers where one collects 10–15 kg/ despite the health and safety risk associated with it. This allows saving for the governments of US$13,700 daily. M. Sharholy et al (2009) also revealed the informal sector involvement in Bangalore which again allows the municipalities in Pune to save around US$200,000/ year on description of scavengers. This does not only allow the government to save cost on collection, transportation and disposal but tolerate the scavengers to generate income at the same time reducing the need for landfill space.

To support the above, a guide by ASPEM (2016), also reflects about the advantages of waste recovery into resource materials. Waste if managed properly becomes a resource and can be recycled into new products thus stabilizing the reduction of raw materials. Such examples are recycle of cans into glasses, plastic containers into chair, glass bottles into a new glass bottle, PET fibres into clothes, glass into tiles (Tim Hornyak, 2017). Banga Margaret (2013) also supported by concluding that the enhancement of waste recycling activities saves resources and costs by reducing on the purchase of raw materials, lowers the costs of the final disposal of the residues, produces cheaper goods that support low-income households, and creates new jobs.

Proper solid waste management policies and practices can be adopted to manage MSW at a considerable level. Separation of recyclables waste is an imperative and key component of 3R practices. The benefits of recyclables waste separation are several folds and have various economical and environmental impacts. The implementation of recycling and separation is encouraged at the household level that also indicates the high interest and response of the citizens to get involved in the management of their waste. To achieve education and awareness on waste separation, behavioural and attitudinal changes in the residents is essential. Strengthening and enhancing environmental education brings about behavioral changes in the awareness level of the residents which contributes to heightened participation level as well.

Recovery of resource materials can be made possible by strengthening policies, and providing support on the advantages of recycling as it generates benefits at every level: environmental, financial and social. Since the composition of MSW comprises 40 – 60% recyclables waste, reducing by resource recovery does not only increases landfill life but addresses health hazards as well. There was a reduction of nuisance that occurred during the collection and transfer of MSW; it lowered the burden on landfill increasing their lifecycle. The various reviews also advocate that a holistic management of MSW at all levels not only reduces the burden on landfill sites but contributes to the reduced carbon emission. There are a large number of different stakeholders involved in waste management. They all play a role in shaping the system of a municipality, but often it is seen as a responsibility of the local authorities. An effective system is not only based on technological solutions but also environmental, socio-cultural, legal, institutional and economic linkages that should be present to enable the overall system to function. Therefore, proper management of MSW at all stages is very important to address not only health and hygiene issues of a population but also the effect it has on the environment which comes back to human health and environmental degradation. The planning, changing or implementing a waste management system in a city requires decision makers to be well informed in order to make positive changes in developing an integrated waste management strategy.

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Solid Waste Management: Hazardous Waste Management Essay

Solid waste has become a major upshot of development and modernization in many countries across the world, and its management continues to present many challenges to the developed nations as well as the developing countries.

However, the greatest challenge of solid waste management is felt in third world countries (Thomas-Hope, 1998), where the existing frameworks of solid waste management coupled with weak or inadequate policies regarding the same and population pressures have aggravated the issue to a point of attracting international attention.

This does not imply that developed countries have won the battle of solid waste management; on the contrary, countries such as China and India often stand accused of implementing improper solid waste disposal practices, thus endangering the health of the community and contributing to environmental degradation. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the issue of improper trash disposal practices and the human health problems that such practices may cause in the community.

A multiplicity of actions that we engage in on daily basis may in actual sense constitute improper trash disposal practices by the fact that we do not follow the proper procedures to discard the trash, mostly generated from our interactions with the environment (Thomas-Hope, 1998).

At the most basic level, we often drop banana peels in places not designated for garbage disposal, in the process endangering the lives of passersby, who may step on the peel and slip, causing injury. This in itself constitutes an improper trash disposal practice.

At a more specific level, some companies are known to drain chemical byproducts from their manufacturing processes into the nearby rivers, in the process generating a situation which can have far-reaching ramifications for the environment, the aquatic life, and for the public who may end up using such water for domestic purposes (Leach, 2010).

Other waste management practices end up mixing trash that can decompose with others that cannot decompose, resulting in an escalation of the waste disposal problem as seen in most Asian countries that are struggling to clear man-made ‘mountains’ of garbage generated by employing improper trash disposal practices (Thomas-Hope, 1998).

As such, it can be argued that methods and techniques of waste disposal that end up occasioning negative consequences for the environment, natural vegetation, inhabitants (people and animals), and the public health constitutes improper trash disposal practices.

Improper trash disposal practices may lead to a number of human health problems. Indeed, a meta-analysis of several environmental studies done by Thomas-Hope (1998) demonstrates that the consequences of improper disposal of waste causes governments to spend huge sums of money to mitigate against disease outbreaks or in treating individuals whose conditions are largely derived from the poor waste disposal practices.

In the decomposing phase, various types of garbage may combine to form gases and chemicals that are potentially dangerous to the health of individuals. As unpleasant as it may seem, dead animals and raw sewage are among the types of organic waste that may find their way into the ‘mountains’ of garbage in the absence of an effective solid waste management system (Leach, 2010).

Assuming that such an area is hit by a devastating earthquake or rains heavily, the waste and its poisonous emissions and chemicals will be soaked and then carried through the landmass and into the underground water table, which is a fundamental source of the water that we drink and use on daily basis.

These chemicals and compounds can cause irreversible health conditions in people who take such water, and studies have demonstrated that various forms of cancers, tooth decay, stomach problems, and birth defects are often caused by such contamination (Leach, 2010). These medical conditions end up consuming vast financial resources in treatment, but the solution can be readily found in developing and implementing effective trash disposal practices.

As demonstrated in Haiti after the devastating earthquake, disease outbreaks are likely to occur in areas with inadequate mechanisms or frameworks of disposing waste. The open pits and uncollected garbage has caused Haitians untold suffering in cholera outbreaks and diarrhea.

Away from Haiti, it has been observed that Malaria increases in areas where water collects in uncollected plastic bags because mosquitoes find ready bleeding grounds (Leach, 2010). As such, it is imperative to encourage people not to dispose their plastic wrappings and bags in the open fields within the community as this is likely to lead to more health challenges for the people residing in the area.

Lastly, the deterioration of air quality and climate change occasioned by improper trash disposal practices can cause human health problems, some of which may be very difficult to treat (Leach, 2010).

It is well known that the process of waste decomposition generates methane, a greenhouse gas that is considerably responsible for some of the changes in the global temperatures that is being experienced, and which have made many countries to come together to fight global warming. Indirectly, many of the diseases and parasites which threaten the health and wellbeing of individuals are known to thrive well in conditions brought about by global warming.

As such, it can be argued that the production of the methane gas upon decomposition of waste which has been improperly disposed off occasions the right conditions for disease prevalence through global warming. Burning of waste in the open is also an improper waste disposal method since it releases dangerous and toxic chemicals such as dioxin in to the environment (Leach, 2010). Such gases have the capacity to cause serious public health risks.

As such, the focus should be on all the interested stakeholders to develop mechanisms, frameworks, and practices that will necessitate proper trash disposal for the sake of the environment and its inhabitants, and for the sake of our own prosperity and well-being.

Reference List

Leach, M. (2010). Effects of improper solid waste disposal . Web.

Thomas-Hope, E. (1998). Solid waste management: Critical issues for developing countries . Kingston: Canoe Press.

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Municipal solid waste management in Russia: potentials of climate change mitigation

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• Published: 29 July 2021
• Volume 19 , pages 27–42, ( 2022 )

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The goal of this study was to assess the impact of the introduction of various waste management methods on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from these activities. The assessment was carried out on the example of the Russian waste management sector. For this purpose, three scenarios had been elaborated for the development of the Russian waste management sector: Basic scenario, Reactive scenario and Innovative scenario. For each of the scenarios, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated during waste management was calculated. The calculation was based on the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. The results of the greenhouse gas net emissions calculation are as follows: 64 Mt CO 2 -eq./a for the basic scenario, 12.8 Mt CO 2 -eq./a for the reactive scenario, and 3.7 Mt CO 2 -eq./a for the innovative scenario. An assessment was made of the impact of the introduction of various waste treatment technologies on the amounts of greenhouse gas emissions generated in the waste management sector. An important factor influencing the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from landfills is the recovery and thermal utilization of 60% of the generated landfill gas. The introduction of a separate collection system that allows to separately collect 20% of the total amount of generated municipal solid waste along with twofold increase in the share of incinerated waste leads to a more than threefold reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions from the waste management sector.

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Introduction

Population growth, urbanization and changing life style have resulted in increased amounts of generated solid waste, which poses serious challenges for many cities and authorities around the world (Abu Qdais et al. 2019 ; Chen 2018 ; Dedinec et al. 2015 ). In 2011, world cities generated about 1.3 Gt of solid waste; this amount is expected to increase to 2.2 Gt by 2025 (Hoornweg and Bhada-Tata 2012 ). Unless properly managed on a national level, solid waste causes several environmental and public health problems, which is adversely reflected on the economic development of a country (Abu Qdais 2007 ; Kaza et al. 2018 ).

One of the important environmental impact of the waste management sector are the generated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These emissions come mostly from the release of methane from organic waste decomposition in landfills (Wuensch and Kocina 2019 ). The waste management sector is responsible for 1.6 Gt carbon dioxide equivalents (CO 2 -eq.) of the global GHG direct anthropogenic emissions per year (Fischedick et al. 2014 ), which accounts for approx. 4% of the global GHG emissions (Papageorgiou et al. 2009 ; Vergara and Tchobanoglous 2012 ). The disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) contributes to 0.67 Gt CO 2 -eq./a worldwide (Fischedick et al. 2014 ), which is approx. 1.4% of the global GHG emissions. Per capita emissions in developed countries are estimated to be about 500 kg CO 2 -eq./a (Wuensch and Kocina 2019 ), while in the developing and emerging countries, it is around 100 kg CO 2 -eq./a per person. This low contribution of waste management sector comparing to other sectors of the economy, such as energy and transportation, might be the reason for the small amount of research that aims to study GHG emissions from the waste management sector (Chung et al. 2018 ).

However, it is important to consider that the mitigation of GHG emissions from waste management sector is relatively simple and cost-effective as compared to other sectors of the economy. Several studies proved that separate waste collection and composting of biowaste as well as landfilling with landfill gas recovery is currently found to be one of the most effective and economically sound GHG emissions mitigation options (Chen 2018 ; EI-Fadel and Sbayti 2000 ; Yedla and Sindhu 2016 ; Yılmaz and Abdulvahitoğlu 2019 ). Metz et al. 2001 estimated that 75% of the savings of methane recovered from landfills can be achieved at net negative direct cost, and 25% at cost of about 20 US$/Mg CO 2 -eq./a. In any country of the world, the potential of the waste management sector is not yet fully utilized; the implementation of relatively simple and inexpensive waste treatment technologies might contribute to national GHG mitigation goals and convert the sector from a net emitter into a net reducer of GHG emissions (Crawford et al. 2009 ; Voigt et al. 2015 ; Wuensch and Simon 2017 ).

While there are many well-established solutions and technologies for the reduction in GHG emitted from the waste sector, there is no universal set of options that suits all the countries. When thinking to adapt certain solutions of GHG mitigation, it is important to take into account local circumstances such as waste quantities and composition, available infrastructure, economic resources and climate (Crawford et al. 2009 ).

It is expedient to assess how the introduction of modern waste management methods affects the amount of GHG emissions from the waste management process by the example of those countries in which the waste management sector is undergoing reform. These countries include the Russian Federation, where the values of targets for the waste management industry until 2030 are legally established (Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ). In addition, on February 8, 2021, Russia issued a Presidential Decree “On Measures to Implement State Scientific and Technical Policy in the Field of Ecology and Climate,” which prescribes the creation of a Federal Program for the Creation and Implementation of Science-Intensive Technologies to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Decree of the President of the Russian Federation 2021 ).

The goal of this study was to quantify the impact of the introduction of various modern waste treatment methods on the volume of GHG emissions from the waste management sector using the example of Russia. To achieve this goal, the following objectives were set and solved:

Elaborate scenarios for the development of the waste management industry, based on the established Industry Development Strategy for the period up to 2030 (Government of the Russian Federation 2018 )

Determine the weighted average morphological composition of MSW;

Select emission factors for various waste treatment methods;

Calculate GHG emissions under each scenario and analyze the calculation results.

The study was conducted from November 2019 to May 2020; the text was updated in March 2021 in connection with the changed situation, as climate change issues began to play an important role on the agenda in Russia. The study and its calculations are theoretical in nature and did not involve experimental research. It was carried out by the authors at their place of work—in Germany (Technische Universität Dresden, Merseburg University of Applied Sciences) and in Russia (Perm National Research Polytechnic University).

Greenhouse gas emissions related to municipal solid waste management sector in Russia

According to the State Report on the Status of Environmental Protection of the Russian Federation of 2018 (Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation 2019 ), the volume of generated MSW has increased by 17% from 235.4 to 275.4 m 3 (49.9 to 58.4 Mt) during the time period 2010 to 2018. With approx. 147 million inhabitants, the annual per capita generation rate is about 400 kg. Until now, MSW management in Russia has been disposal driven. More than 90% of MSW generated is transported to landfills and open dump sites; 30% of the landfills do not meet sanitary requirements (Korobova et al. 2014 ; Tulokhonova and Ulanova 2013 ). According to the State Register of the Waste Disposal Facilities in Russia, there were 1,038 MSW landfills and 2,275 unregistered dump sites at the end of 2018 (Rosprirodnadzor 2019 ). Such waste management practices are neither safe nor sustainable (Fedotkina et al. 2019 ), as they pose high public health and environmental risks and lead to the loss of valuable recyclable materials such as paper, glass, metals and plastics which account for an annual amount of about 15 Mt (Korobova et al. 2014 ).

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) requirements, the signatory parties of the convention need to prepare and submit national communication reports that document GHG emissions and sinks in each country by conducting an inventory based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines (UNFCCC 2006 ). Being the fourth biggest global emitter of GHG emissions, Russia submitted its latest National Inventory Report (NIR) to UNFCCC in April 2019. The report documents national GHG emissions by source and removals by sink (Russian Federation 2019 ). The total emissions had been decreased from 3.2 Gt in 1990 to about 2.2 Gt of CO 2 -eq. in 2017, which implies 30% reduction over a period of 27 years. At the same time, the emissions from the disposal of solid waste increased from 33 Mt in 1990 by more than 100% to 69 Mt CO 2 -eq. in 2017. In terms of methane emissions, Russian solid waste disposal sector is the second largest emitter in the country and accounts for 18.1% of the total emitted methane mostly in the form of landfill gas, while the energy sector is responsible for 61.2% of methane emissions (Russian Federation 2019 ).

Landfill gas recovery from MSW landfills is not widely practiced in the Russian Federation. According to the statistics of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology, the share of landfill gas energy in the total renewable energy produced in Russia was 8.61%, 5.43%, 2.77% and 2.59% in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively (Arkharov et al. 2016 ). Different studies show that the potential of recovering energy from landfill gas in the Russian Federation is high (Arkharov et al. 2016 ; Sliusar and Armisheva 2013 ; Starostina et al. 2018 ; Volynkina et al. 2009 ).

Waste-to-energy technology is still in its infancy in Russia; the country is lagging in this area (Tugov 2013 ). Despite that, there is a great interest among the public as well as the private sector in the possibilities of the recovery of energy from MSW. In April 2014, the State Program “Energy Efficiency and Energy Development” was approved, which includes a subprogram on the development of renewable energy sources in the Russian Federation (Government of the Russian Federation 2014 ). In this program, MSW was considered as a source of renewable energy. Until the year 2017, there were only four waste incineration plants in Moscow region processing 655,000 Mg MSW per year, with only one incinerator recovering energy in form of heat and electricity (Dashieva 2017 ). In the nearest future, the construction of four additional incinerators in Moscow region and one in the city of Kazan is planned. The annual total combined capacity of the four new plants in Moscow will be about 2.8 Mt (Bioenergy International 2019 ). In the Kazan incinerator, 0.55 Mt of MSW will be treated annually, which eventually will allow ceasing of landfilling of solid waste in the Republic of Tatarstan (Bioenergy International 2019 ; Regnum 2017 ). The construction of these five new incineration plants is part of the Comprehensive Municipal Solid Waste Strategy adopted by the Russian government in 2013 (Plastinina et al. 2019 ). The focus of this strategy is the reduction in the amount of landfilled waste by creating an integrated management system and industrial recycling of waste.

Separate collection of MSW and the recycling of different waste fractions at the moment plays only a negligible role in the Russian Federation.

Materials and methods

Scenarios of the development of municipal solid waste management system.

To assess the current situation and the potential for reducing GHG emissions from the MSW management industry, three scenarios of the development of the Russian waste management system had been elaborated. The developed scenarios are based on the official statistics data on the amount of waste generated and treated, and also on the adopted legislative acts that determine the development directions of the Russian waste management system and set targets in these areas (Council for Strategic Development and National Projects 2018 ). That is why the developed scenarios include such measures to improve the waste management system as elimination of unauthorized dump sites, introduction of landfill gas collection and utilization systems at the landfills, incineration of waste with energy recovery, separate collection of waste, and recycling of utilizable waste fractions, and do not include other waste-to-energy technologies and waste treatment strategies contributing to climate change mitigation. Separate collection and treatment of biowaste is not applied in the national waste management strategy of the Russian Federation (Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ) and therefore was beyond the scope of the elaborated scenarios. For the purpose of the current study, three scenarios had been developed.

Scenario 1: BASIC (business as usual)

This scenario is based on the current waste management practices, under which 90% of the generated mixed MSW is disposed of on landfills and dump sites. According to the 6th National Communication Report of the Russian Federation to UNFCCC, the total MSW generated that found its way to managed landfills Footnote 1 was 49.209 Mt in 2009, while the amount of MSW disposed in unmanaged disposal sites (dumps) was 5.067 Mt. In 2017, the amount of MSW generated was 58.4 Mt with 10% being diverted from landfills: 3% incinerated and 7% recycled (Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation 2019 ). According to Russian Federation 2019 , landfill gas recovery is not taking place at Russian landfills. This scenario implies the closure of unorganized dump sites, with all the waste to be disposed of on managed dump sites or landfills only.

Scenario 2: REACTIVE (moderate development)

The reactive scenario implies a moderate development of the waste management sector, based on the construction of several large incinerators, a small increase in the share of waste to be recycled and the disposal of remaining waste at sanitary landfills, Footnote 2 with the closure of all the existing unorganized dump sites. In this scenario, all Russian regions were divided into two clusters: the first cluster included the city of Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan, where new waste incinerators are being built, and the second cluster which includes — all the other cities and regions.

Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan

In Moscow and Tatarstan together, 8.586 Mt of mixed MSW is generated annually (Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan 2018 ; Department of Housing and Communal Services of the city of Moscow 2019 ). In an attempt to introduce the waste-to-energy technology in Russia, an international consortium that consists of Swiss, Japanese and Russian firms is currently involved in constructing five state-of-the-art incineration plants in these two areas. Four incinerators are to be built in the Moscow region and one in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. The annual combined capacity of the four plants in Moscow will be about 2.8 Mt of MSW, and the one of Kazan 0.55 Mt (Bioenergy International 2019 ; Regnum 2017 ). In this scenario, it is assumed that compared to the basic scenario, the share of waste undergone recycling is increased to 10%, i.e., 0.859 Mt annually. Furthermore, these 10% would be transferred to recycling plants to recover secondary raw materials. The remaining 4.377 Mt of mixed MSW would be disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Other cities and regions

In the other cities and regions of Russia, in accordance with the Development Strategy of Waste Recycling Industry until 2030 (Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ), over two hundred new eco-techno parks (i.e., waste recycling complexes) will be built. These facilities will receive mixed MSW that will be sorted there for recycling purposes. Under this scenario, it is also assumed that compared to the basic scenario, the share of waste undergone recycling is increased to 10%, thus transferring 4.982 Mt annually of the mixed MSW to recycling plants. The remaining 44.932 Mt of MSW are disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Scenario 3: INNOVATIVE (active development)

This scenario is based on the legally established priority areas for the development of the industry (Council for Strategic Development and National Projects 2018 ; Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ). The scenario implies deep changes in the industry with the introduction of technologies for incineration, separate collection and recycling of waste. In this scenario, the regions of Russia are divided into three clusters, in accordance with the possibilities of improving the infrastructure for waste management and the need for secondary resources and energy received during the processing of waste. When determining the share of waste to which this or that treatment method is applied, federal targets (Council for Strategic Development and National Projects 2018 ; Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ) and estimates made by the World Bank (Korobova et al. 2014 ) were used.

The first cluster includes two huge, densely populated urban agglomerations in which large incineration plants are under construction: Moscow and Tatarstan. With the construction of new waste incinerators, 3.35 Mt of mixed MSW will be incinerated annually. It is assumed that some 10% of mixed MSW (0.859 Mt) generated in these two regions is to be transferred to eco-techno parks for secondary raw material recovery. Some 20% of the MSW (1.712 Mt) is to be recovered from separately collected waste, and the rest of 2.66 Mt (31%) to be disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Cities with more than 0.5 million inhabitants

This cluster includes large urban agglomerations with developed industry and high demand for materials and energy resources. In this cluster, approx. 28 Mt of MSW is generated annually (Korobova et al. 2014 ). Under this scenario, it is assumed that waste incineration plants are also built in some larger cities, besides Moscow and Kazan. However, the exact quantity and capacity of these plants is yet unknown; it was assumed that in comparison with the basic scenario, in this scenario, the share of incinerated waste increased to 10%, the share of recycled waste to 15%, and a separate waste collection system is partially implemented. Hereby, 10% of the generated mixed MSW (2.79 Mt) is undergoing incineration, 15% (4.185 Mt) is transferred to sorting facilities for secondary raw material recovery, some 20% of the MSW (5.58 Mt) is recovered from separately collected waste and the rest 55% (15.345 Mt) is disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Smaller cities with less than 0.5 million inhabitants and rural areas

This cluster includes smaller cities and towns with some industrial enterprises, as well as rural areas. The amount of waste generated annually in this group of settlements is 21.914 Mt. It is assumed that no waste is incinerated, 15% of the mixed MSW (3.287 Mt) is transferred to sorting facilities for secondary raw material recovery, 10% (2.191 Mt) is recovered from separately collected waste, and the rest 75% (16.435 Mt) is disposed of in sanitary landfills.

Waste flow diagrams corresponding to the three scenarios with their input and output flows are shown in Fig.  1 .

MSW management scenarios with model inputs and outputs

In all the three scenarios, mixed MSW is transferred to sorting facilities where the recovery of valuable materials by mostly hand sorting takes place. Detailed accounts of process efficiency for material recovery facilities, in terms of recovery rates and quality of recovered materials, are scarce in the published literature (Cimpan et al. 2015 ). In the study of Cimpan et al., 2015 , at least three data sets were evaluated with the result that 13–45% of paper, 3–49% of glass, 35–84% of metals and 1–73% of plastics were recovered from the plant input of these materials. Two other studies report similar recovery rates between 60 and 95% for paper, glass, plastic and aluminum for hand and automatic sorting test trials (CalRecovery, Inc and PEER Consultants 1993 ; Hryb 2015 ). Based on this data and the results of the authors’ own experimental studies on manual waste sorting in Russia, the recovery rates for the most valuable waste fractions, including paper/cardboard, glass, metals and plastics had been calculated (Table 1 ). In the Scenario 3, separate collection of paper/cardboard, glass and plastic is introduced. Recovery rates related to the input of the corresponding waste type into each waste management cluster (see Table 1 ) for Moscow and Tatarstan as well as for the cities with more than 0.5 million inhabitants are considered to be higher than for the settlements with less than 0.5 million inhabitants.

For the comparison of GHG emissions of the three elaborated scenarios, a specific assessment model was elaborated.

Model structure

The calculation of the amounts of released and avoided GHG emissions for the different considered waste treatment technologies are based on the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. The IPCC methodology is scientifically widely recognized and used internationally, which makes the results easy comprehensible and easier to compare with other studies.

For the elaboration of the model that would allow calculating the GHG balance emissions, the upstream-operating-downstream (UOD) framework (Gentil et al. 2009 ) was used, where direct emissions from waste management procedures and indirect emissions from upstream and downstream activities are differentiated. On the upstream side, the indirect GHG emissions, like those related to fuel and material extraction, processing and transport as well as plant construction and commissioning, are excluded from the consideration. Indirect emissions from infrastructure construction on the downstream side are outside the system boundaries and not accounted for as they are relatively low (Boldrin et al. 2009 ; Mohareb et al. 2011 ). Direct GHG emissions from the waste transport are also excluded from the system boundaries since they are negligible comparing to the direct emissions from the waste processing/treatment (Weitz et al. 2002 ; Wuensch and Simon 2017 ). Since indirect GHG emissions avoided due to energy and material substitution, as well as carbon sequestration in the downstream processes is significant, they are included into the model. The conceptual framework of the model and its boundaries are shown in Fig.  2 .

Conceptual framework of the model showing upstream and downstream processes along with the system boundaries [derived from Abu Qdais et al. ( 2019 )]

The inputs to the model are waste (its quantity, composition, carbon content fixed in biomass and no-biomass), as well as energy and fuel that are used in the waste treatment processes (see Table 2 and Figs.  1 , 2 and 3 ). The outputs include generated and delivered electricity, recovered secondary materials and sequestrated carbon.

Compensatory system for the substitution of primary materials and energy [derived from Abu Qdais et al. ( 2019 )]

The analysis of MSW composition is not regularly done in Russia, and only a limited number of studies on this subject are published. Since waste composition is the basis for the determination of direct GHG emissions from waste management activities, accurate data is desirable. The Russian Federation is a huge country with both densely populated urban areas and sparsely populated rural areas. Due to the different settlement structures, the waste compositions also differ a lot. It is not expedient to assume an average composition for the entire country. Therefore, hereinafter three clusters had been considered to define waste compositions. The first cluster includes Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan, since in these regions, a larger amount of mixed MSW is/will be incinerated in the nearest future. The second cluster includes the cities with the population of more than 0.5 million people, and the third cluster includes the settlements with the population of less than 0.5 million people. The waste compositions for these three clusters given in Table 2 are weighted averages of the results of a number of experimental studies of waste composition which were found in sources of the literature published after 2010 and further analyzed. Weighted average here means that the respective data on waste composition that was found for a city or region was included in the weighted average with the proportion that the amount of MSW generated in the city or region takes up as part of the total mass of MSW generated in the respective cluster.

To determine the avoidance of GHG emissions in the downstream processes by means of energy and material substitution as well as carbon sequestration, a compensatory system must be used. In Fig.  3 , the compensatory system for the substitution of energy and primary materials is shown.

Emission factors

Waste incineration.

It is necessary to know the emission factors when calculating GHG emissions from thermal treatment of waste, and also when compiling national emissions inventories (Larsen and Astrup 2011 ). Information on GHG emission factors of various solid waste treatment technologies for each country is of great importance for the assessment of GHGs emitted as a result of adopting a certain technology. However, such factors are not available for the Russian Federation, which implies using the data available in the literature for the countries with the conditions similar to the Russian ones, examining local circumstances of solid waste management system (Friedrich and Trois 2013 ; Larsen and Astrup 2011 ; Noya et al. 2018 ).

There are different factors affecting GHG emission levels from waste incineration. One of the most important factors in determining CO 2 emissions is the amount of fossil carbon in the waste stream meant for incineration. Non-CO 2 emissions are more dependent on the incineration technology and conditions, and for modern waste incinerators, the amounts of non-CO 2 emissions are negligible (Johnke 2001 ; Sabin Guendehou et al. 2006 ).

The amount of fossil carbon was calculated based on waste composition, carbon content and share of fossil carbon given in Table 2 ; the resulting fossil carbon content in wet waste was 0.117 kg C/kg. For the indirectly avoided GHG emissions, the recovery of electricity with a net efficiency of 24% for all the scenarios and for the Scenario 3 also from metals contained in the incinerator slag to substitute primary metals was considered. The recovery of heat in form of process steam or district heat was not considered in the scenarios (Dashieva 2017 ). Further parameters for the calculation of GHG emissions from waste incineration are given in Table 3 .

For the calculation of the impact of the methane released from landfills to climate change over a 100 years’ time horizon, the first-order decay kinetics model was used. Almost 80% of the Russian MSW landfills occupy an area larger than 10 ha (Volynkina and Zaytseva 2010 ). Here, it is assumed that all the MSW is highly compacted and disposed of in deep landfills under anaerobic conditions without the recovery of landfill gas (Govor 2017 ). Since no landfill gas is recovered, in Scenario 1, only the sequestrated non-biodegradable biogenic carbon in the landfill results in avoided GHG emissions. There is an intention in Russia to introduce the collection of landfill gas as the primary measure to reduce GHG emissions from the waste management sector (Government of the Russian Federation 2018 ; Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation 2013 ) within the next years. In the literature, methane recovery rates between 9% (Scharff et al. 2003 ) and 90% (Spokas et al. 2006 ) are reported. For example, most US landfills are well-controlled and managed; in particular, in California, gas collection efficiencies are as high as 82.5% (Kong et al. 2012 ). Based on these values, for both Scenario 2 and Scenario 3, landfill gas recovery is introduced with a recovery rate of 60%. Under these two scenarios, in addition to carbon sequestration, the recovered landfill gas is used to produce electricity, which results in avoided indirect GHG emissions. Other parameters used for the calculation are mainly taken from the latest Russian National Inventory Report where IPCC default parameters were used (Pipatti et al. 2006 ; Russian Federation 2019 ). The parameters used for the calculation of GHG emissions from landfills for all the three scenarios are shown in Table 4 .

• Material recovery

In all the scenarios, some part of mixed MSW is treated in eco-techno parks, where valuable secondary raw materials like metals, paper, glass and plastics are recovered, and the sorting residues are forwarded to landfills. In addition, separate collection of some amounts of paper, glass, and plastics in the Scenario 3 is presumed. The corresponding recovery rates are already given in Table 1 . Each recovered secondary material substitutes a certain amount of primary material. Since the production of primary materials is usually connected with higher energy and raw material consumption than that of the secondary materials, more GHGs are released during the production of the former ones. Therefore, every unit of recovered secondary material obtained leads to a reduction in released GHGs.

GHG emission or substitution factors are developed for specific geographical areas and technologies, and their appropriateness to other circumstances may be questionable (Turner et al. 2015 ). The application of one specific emission factor for a recovered material in the whole Russian Federation would already be debatable due to the size of the country. Perhaps that is why emission factors for Russia cannot be found in the literature. For this study, the average values of GHG emission/substitution factors determined for other industrial countries from the study of (Turner et al. 2015 ) were used. The amounts of avoided GHG, i.e., the values of the emission factors in CO 2 equivalents for the recovered valuable waste fractions, including steel, aluminum, paper/cardboard, glass and plastic, are given in Table 5 .

In Table 5 , the used equivalent factor (Global Warming Potential over a time horizon of 100 years) of released methane versus carbon dioxide, the emission factor of the use of fuel oil in the waste incineration process and the substitution factor of delivered electrical power are shown. The emission factor of the generated electricity in the Russian Federation is relatively low, since approx. half (52%) of the electricity is produced by natural gas and approx. 13% by hydro- and nuclear power, while only 13% is produced by coal (British Petrolium 2019 ; U.S. Energy Information Administration 2017 ). The electricity mix factor is therefore only 0.358 Mg CO 2 -eq./MWh generated electricity (Gimadi et al. 2019 ).

Results and discussion

The population of the Russian Federation is expected to decrease in the next decades (United Nations 2019 ), but due to the economic growth, the amount of waste generated per capita is expected to increase in the same ratio; that is why the calculation of the GHG emissions for all the three scenarios was based on an assumed fixed annually amount of 58.4 Mt of MSW. Average waste compositions were calculated for this study on the basis of eleven waste analyses conducted in different Russian cities between 2010 and 2017 and grouped into three clusters (Moscow and Tatarstan, cities with more than 0.5 million inhabitants and cities/settlements with less than 0.5 million inhabitants). From the available literature data for the countries with conditions similar to Russian ones, emission factors were adopted to be further used in calculations of GHG emissions from waste disposal on managed and sanitary landfills, waste incineration and waste recycling with the recovery of secondary raw materials.

In Fig.  4 , the amounts of CO 2 -equivalent emissions per year that contribute to global warming for each of the three scenarios considered in the study are shown. Since the emissions related to the collection and transportation of waste, as well as energy consumption in the upstream side, are almost similar for all the treatment processes (Komakech et al. 2015 ), and as they are relatively small compared to the operational and downstream emissions (Boldrin et al. 2009 ; Friedrich and Trois 2011 ), they were not considered in the model. Avoided and sequestrated emissions were subtracted from the direct emissions to calculate GHG net emission values.

Global warming contribution of the three considered scenarios

The basic scenario (mostly managed landfilling without landfill gas recovery) gives the highest GHG net emissions among all the analyzed scenarios of approx. 64 Mt CO 2 -eq./a, followed by the reactive scenario (mostly sanitary landfilling with landfill gas recovery) with approx. 12.8 Mt CO 2 -eq./a of GHG net emissions. The innovative scenario (sanitary landfilling with landfill gas recovery and increased shares of MSW incineration, separate collection and material recovery) had shown an almost neutral GHG balance with approx. 3.7 Mt CO 2 -eq./a of GHG net emissions.

To assess the impact of the introduction of various waste treatment methods on the amount of GHG emissions from the waste management sector, the specific GHG emissions for each scenario as a whole was calculated, as well as “within” scenarios for each considered waste management process/method (Table 6 ).

The amount of specific total GHG emissions under Scenario 2 is five times less than under Scenario 1. Such a large difference is due to the modernization of existing managed dumpsites (Scenario 1), instead of which MSW is disposed of at sanitary landfills equipped with landfill gas and leachate collection systems, with intermediate insulating layers and top capping (Scenario 2). Such a transition from managed dumpsites to sanitary landfills leads not only to a decrease in the amount of specific released GHG emissions by approx. 1 Mg CO 2 -eq./Mg MSW, but also to a decrease in total emissions due to avoided emissions in the amount of 0.053 Mg CO 2 -eq./Mg MSW generated by energy recovery.

The amount of specific total GHG emissions under Scenario 3 is 3.4 times less than under Scenario 2. This reduction is mainly due to an almost twofold increase in the volume of waste incinerated, along with the introduction of a separate waste collection system (Scenario 3). At the same time, in Scenario 3, the share of plastic in the mixed waste stream sent to incineration is less than in Scenarios 1 and 2 (see Fig.  1 ). Climate-related GHG from waste incineration are generated mainly due to the plastic contained in the waste. Therefore, in Scenario 3, less GHG emissions are released during waste incineration. Reduction in GHG emissions from waste incineration is also facilitated by the recovery of metals from the bottom ash, which occurs only in Scenario 3.

In Scenario 3, the total amount of recycled material is larger than in Scenario 2, since not only part of the mixed waste is recycled, but also separately collected. According to the Scenario 3, metals are not included in the waste fractions collected separately. Metals have a comparably high GHG substitution factor (see Table 5 ); this explains the slight decrease in avoided GHG emissions due to material recovery in Scenario 3 compared to Scenario 2 because of a decreased share of metals in the total waste stream sent for recycling.

Many studies confirm GHG emissions reduction by the application of these waste treatment concepts. It is shown that the recovery of landfill gas from managed landfills has a high potential to reduce GHG emissions from landfills (EI-Fadel and Sbayti 2000 ; Friedrich and Trois 2016 ; Lee et al. 2017 ; Starostina et al. 2014 ). The transfer from the disposal of mixed MSW on landfills to the incineration on waste incineration or waste-to-energy plants leads to further reduction in GHG emissions (Bilitewski and Wuensch 2012 ; Chen 2018 ; Voigt et al. 2015 ). The recovery of secondary materials from MSW allows avoiding additional amounts of GHG emissions (Björklund and Finnveden 2005 ; Franchetti and Kilaru 2012 ; Turner et al. 2015 ; Wuensch and Simon 2017 ).

It should be noted that the calculated results of the direct GHG emissions from landfilling and waste incineration are subject to uncertainties. Waste composition (Table 2 ) and the parameters set/assumed for the landfills (Table 4 ) and waste incineration (Table 3 ) affect the level of the results. Indirect downstream emissions from recovered secondary materials and substituted energy cannot be provided with accuracy, as indicated by missing data for the substitution factors of recovered secondary materials in Russia and the variability of the scenarios for substituted electricity. To get an impression about the possible fluctuation range of the determined results, a sensitivity analysis was carried out. Therefore, all values shown in Tables 1 , 3 , 4 and 5 were ones decreased by 10% and once increased by 10%. The impact of the sensitivity analysis on the GHG net emissions is shown as error bars in Fig.  4 . The results of the sensitivity analysis show a range for the GHG net emissions of the basic scenario between 35.129 and 91.446 Mt CO 2 -eq./a, for the reactive scenario between 5.133 and 16.324 Mt CO 2 -eq./a and for the innovative scenario from − 1.516 to 4.871 Mt CO 2 -eq./a.

All the exact values of the final results shown in Fig.  4 as well as the graphical representation of the results of the sensitivity analysis can be checked in the provided supplementary materials.

The most recent data about global GHG emissions from solid waste disposal shows that direct emissions contribute with 0.67 Gt CO 2 -eq./a (Fischedick et al. 2014 ) to about 1.4% of the total anthropogenic GHG emissions of 49 Gt CO 2 -eq./a (Edenhofer et al. 2015 ). For the Russian Federation, the contribution of the direct emissions from the MSW management accounts for approx. 3.7% of the total GHG emissions of the country of around 2.2 Gt CO 2 -eq./a (Russian Federation 2019 ). In this study, the potential of different waste management methods in relation to climate change impact was assessed using the example of the Russian waste management industry. For this purpose, three scenarios had been developed and analyzed:

Basic scenario (business as usual), based on the existing waste management practices. The scenario implies that 90% of the generated mixed MSW is disposed of on managed dumpsites, 7% is undergone material recovery and 3% incinerated. All the unorganized dumpsites are closed; on managed dumpsites, there is no landfill gas recovery.

Reactive scenario (moderate development). This scenario implies construction of a number of large waste incineration plants and an increase in the share of waste to be recycled so that 84.3% of generated MSW is disposed of in sanitary landfills, 10% is sent to recycling plants for material recovery, and 5.7% is incinerated.

Innovative scenario (active development). This scenario assumes partial implementation of a separate waste collection system and broader introduction of waste processing technologies. As a result, 20% of the total generated MSW is collected separately and then recycled, 14.3% undergoes material recovery, 55.2% is disposed of in sanitary landfills, and 10.5% is incinerated.

For determining weighed average morphological composition of MSW, three clusters of human settlements had been considered, and the respective data on waste compositions had been analyzed. The first cluster includes Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan, the second cluster includes the major cities (those with the population of more than 0.5 million people), and the third cluster includes the minor cities and rural areas.

For determining emission factors, both own calculation results and reference data from the National Inventory Report and other sources were used. Thus, the amount of fossil carbon, being one of the most important factors determining CO 2 emissions from waste incineration, was calculated based on the waste composition, carbon content and the share of fossil carbon in the waste. For the calculation of the amount of CH 4 released from MSW landfills, the first-order decay kinetics model was used. Avoided GHG emissions are the result of sequestrated non-biodegradable biogenic carbon in landfills (all the scenarios) and recovered landfill gas used to produce electricity (Scenarios 2 and 3). With the use of emission factors for material recovery included those for the recovered valuable waste fractions steel, aluminum, paper and cardboard, glass and plastic, GHG emissions were calculated under each scenario. As it was expected, the basic scenario gives the highest amount of total GHG net emissions of approx. 64 Mt CO 2 -eq./a (1.096 Mg CO 2 -eq./Mg MSW). Under the reactive scenario, the amount of total GHG net emissions is approx. 12.8 Mt CO 2 -eq./a (0.219 Mg CO 2 -eq./Mg MSW), and under the innovative scenario, it is about 3.7 Mt CO 2 -eq./a (0.064 Mg CO 2 -eq./Mg MSW).

The calculation of specific GHG emissions made it possible to assess the extent to which the introduction of various waste treatment methods makes it possible to reduce GHG emissions resulting from the respective waste treatment processes. Analysis of the results of these calculations showed that the transition from managed dumpsites to sanitary landfills can reduce total GHG emissions from the Russian waste management sector by up to 5 times. The introduction of a separate collection system (in which 20% of waste is collected separately) with a simultaneous twofold increase in the share of waste incinerated has led to a more than threefold reduction in total GHG emissions from the sector of Russian waste management. Another factor influencing the reduction in GHG emissions from waste incineration is the recovery of metals from the bottom ash.

Direct GHG emissions can be further reduced with a shift from landfilling to treatment of mixed MSW in material recovery facilities and waste incinerators or even to separate collection and treatment of MSW. In addition, indirect downstream emissions can be avoided by a significant amount via energy and material recovery. With a separate collection and treatment of biowaste and the recovery of district heat from waste incineration process, further GHG mitigation can be obtained. With these additional measures, the MSW industry of the Russian Federation could become a net avoider from a net emitter.

For this study, a number of parameters and emission factors from the literature where used, which does not precisely reflect the situation in Russia. Conducting further research for determining country specific, for a huge country like Russia, possibly even region-specific data and emission factors resulting in the development of a corresponding database would be useful to minimize these uncertainties.

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Wünsch, C., Tsybina, A. Municipal solid waste management in Russia: potentials of climate change mitigation. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19 , 27–42 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03542-5

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03542-5

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Korle Klottey Delegation Gains Waste Management Expertise in Moscow Training

May 10, 2024 | Ghanaian Times

A delegation from the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (KoKMA) have returned from a fruitful training programme in solid waste management and circular economy in the Russian capital Moscow.

Led by the Municipal Chief Executive, Nii Adjei Tawiah, the delegation comprised six members who went for the closing ceremony of staff who underwent intensive training at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) University. The training, held between March 11 and April 7 sought to equip the staff with the necessary knowledge and skills to address the growing challenges of waste management, and promote circular economy practices within the municipality. “With 10 employees participating in the programme, KoKMA took the first step in implementing its agreement with RUDN University, signed in 2023, to enhance cooperation in science and education,” says the KoKMA MCE.

Speaking with the Ghanaian Times in an exclusive interview in Accra yesterday to share their experience, Nii Tawiah said the programme, a combination of lectures, seminars, case studies, and field visits, covered a range of topics essential for effective waste management.

These included understanding the sources and impacts of waste generation, principles of waste classification and processing, and exploring modern technologies and equipment used in waste management. It also provided an opportunity for the KoKMA delegation to visit advanced industrial waste management sites, allowing them to witness first-hand the application of modern technologies and best practices in waste management. This practical exposure, the MCE said was instrumental in broadening their understanding and provided valuable insights for implementing similar strategies back home.

Nii Tawiah, expressed his gratitude to the Russia Federation, RUDN University, and the Institute of Ecology for their commitment to training the KoKMA staff. He stressed the significance of the training in improving service delivery and organisational effectiveness, particularly in a municipality operating within a central business district like Korle Klottey. “Our visit also facilitated discussions with key stakeholders, including the Russian Environmental Operator (REO), exploring potential collaborations in waste management.

“Discussions centered on technology exchange and the possibility of acquiring Russian equipment to enhance waste processing capabilities in Ghana.”

The MCE indicated that the training programme marked a significant milestone in KoKMA’s efforts to improve waste management practices and foster sustainable development, and underscored the importance of international cooperation and knowledge exchange in addressing common environmental challenges and advancing towards a cleaner, greener future.

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