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WASTE...
By Amanda Buckley
What is Waste Management?
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal and monitoring of waste materials.
Where it all goes...
The Problems
There’s too much waste because of our large population
There is nowhere to put all of our garbage
Our increased standard materials of living
Packaging for food and other products
Incineration
Our Population
Even if the world’s population maintains a steady rate of waste creation, its continued growth will generate a 2% increase in waste each year
Busy families believe that they have no time to reuse products, therefore they buy large amounts of disposable products
Fact
Canadians generate about 1.7 kg of domestic solid waste per person each day
Solid waste: non-liquid waste discharged from households and industries
Packaged Products
Packaging Products alone accounts for 30 to 35 percent of what we throw out
It is made out of plastics that supposedly keeps your product clean
Plastic foam (usual packaging for products such as meat, eggs, etc.) may never break down
Packaging Industries in the U.S. has sales of $30 billion (US) per year
Incineration Disadvantages People believe that incineration makes waste disappear
when really, its creating toxic waste in the air that is a major threat to public health and the environment
We use this as an alternative to landfills but, we do not realize that the ashes from the incinerator are contaminated with heavy metals, unburned chemicals, and new chemicals formed during the burning process
These chemicals are usually dumped in the environment or buried in the landfill
It is rather expensive and not many places can afford it It contributes to the CO2 increasing in the atmosphere
Incineration Advantages
It gets rid of up to 90% of the bulk that would otherwise occupy landfill sites
Steam or electricity may be generated from the incineration process
The incinerator also screens the waste to remove most of the glass and plastic that may be left over
Cost effective Has the ability to reclaim metals, such as
aluminum
How long does litter take to decompose?
Solutions
If we recycled materials such as, metal, organic materials, and paper, we could reduce the pressure on the world’s limited resources
Minimize family sizes so there isn’t so much consumption
Compost fruit and vegetable waste so there is more space in landfills for things that have no other option but, to be there
Don’t buy a lot of non-reusable products; such as paper plates, cups, cutlery, etc.
Only throw out things that have absolutely no use Instead of buying something that you’re going to use
once, you can borrow or rent it and it won’t be lying around your house when you’re done with it
Remember...
If we recycle products that can be reused we can save landfill space and live a more efficient life
Dispose of your waste properly in the right places
Buy reusable products rather than products that have a short life span
The 3 R’s; Reuse, Recycle, Reduce And minimize family sizes so that there is less
consumption
Bibliography
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/toxics/incineration/the-problem
Understanding Our Environment – Second Edition, Copyright (1997), January12th 2010
Newspaper Article – “Incineration is not the safest option for Metro’s trash”, October 7th 2009
http://www.envocare.co.uk/incineration.htm
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