Lecture No: 11.1.Waste materials: sources and quantities and characterization
Solid waste materials are handled by what is termed the waste management system.Waste management is a tradition that goes a long way back as solid waste has existed for about as long as the human race and waste management has now become a complex task asthe amounts and complexity of solid waste materials have increased dramatically especiallyduring the 20
th
century. Optimal waste management depends upon the quantities of waste butalso on the composition of the waste materials. This chapter discusses the sources, quantityand quality of solid waste materials.
1.2. The role of solid waste management.
Human activities invariable involve the consumption of matter (food, water, metaletc.) and the production of waste products (waste water, air pollution, solid wastes, etc.).Seen in a greater perspective, the human society may be viewed as a device that transformsnatural resources into undesirable waste products under the production of desirable productssuch as energy, food, consumer goods etc. as illustrated in
Fig.1.1.
Natural resourcesWaste productsDisposal
Solid waste
managementFig.1.1. The role of waste management in the turnover of matter in the human society
These products, however, ultimately end up as waste at some point n time such thatthe overall process is that of converting natural resources into waste. The depletion of naturalresources is undesirable as it reduces the possibility fir future generations to have access to
the same resources as we have now. The production of waste products also has negative sideeffects in terms of environmental degradation and pollution. The role of sustainable wastemanagement is therefore to reduce the amount of waste that is discharged into theenvironment by reducing the amount of waste generated and to transform the waste that isgenerated into a form where it can be recycled to the input side of the society thus, reducingthe need for extraction of new natural resources. In other words the purpose of wastemanagement is in addition to provide sanitary living conditions to reduce the amount of matter that enters or leaves the society and encourage the reuse of matter within the society.Of course as it is not practically possible to recycle all f the waste generated or to relysolely on recycled products, one other important aspect of waste management is to dispose of the non-recyclable waste products in an environmentally safe manner. This is discussedfurther in the next sections.
1.3 The solid waste management system
The whole set of activities related to handling, treating, disposing or recycling solidwastes is termed the waste management system. The purpose of the waste managementsystem is to make sure that the waste materials are removed from the source or locationwhere they are generated and treated, disposed of or recycled in a safe and proper manner.The system consists of several steps as illustrated in
Fig.1.2.
The waste management system consists of four main parts: (1) generation e.g.,wasteproduction, (2) collection e.g., collection systems and transport of waste materials, (3)treatment e.g., transformation of the waste materials into useful products, and (4) finaldisposition e.g., the use of recyclable products or the placement of on-recyclable materials inlandfills. Each of these steps is again comprised of several subparts. The following sectionsfocus on the generation of solid waste materials including sources, types, impact of sources,separation, and materials production rates. The remaining steps in the waste managementsystem in will be discussed in further detail in subsequent chapter.
Waste sourcesWaste typesProduction of waste materials Source separationInternal collection
Production rates CollectionCollection and transport TransportTransfer Shredding
Physical treatment SortingCompactionTreatment Thermal treatment IncinerationGasificationAnaerobic digestionBiological treatment Aerobic compostingAnaerobic digestionFinal disposition Recycling Land filling
Fig. 1.2. Components of waste management system.1.4.The waste management priority list
Advanced waste management systems are often based on a prioritized list of management strategies to minimize environmental problems and preserve resources. Wastemanagement strategies are categorized into four areas with respect to their final disposition of
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Energy From Solid and Liquid Wastes - I
It describes about the production of all kinds of energy from solid and liquid wastes.
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