Reducing impacts of

waste disposal
LO:
DESCRIBE STRATEGIES TO REDUCE
IMPACT OF WASTE DISPOSAL
EVALUATE THESE STRATEGIES
 Reusable
bottle

Reuse
Shop local shopping
bags

Reduce the
impact of
poor waste
disposal

Avoid single
use Recycle
containers

Composte
waste
What other ways can we manage impacts of waste
disposal?

???
 Methods

Reduce, reuse and recycle

Biodegradable plastics
Food waste for animal feed
Composting
Fermentation
Use of waste to generate energy
Education
Financial incentives and legislation
 Reduce, reuse, recycle

- Reduce means to cut back on the amount of trash we generate. Reuse

means to find new ways to use things that otherwise would have been
thrown out. Recycle means to turn something old and useless (like
plastic milk jugs) into something new and useful (like picnic benches,
playground equipment and recycling bins).
- Question - How will this manage the impact from waste disposal?
Explain your answer
 Biodegradable plastics

• Biodegradable plastic aids in directing waste away from landfills

and to composting facilities. This not only decreases the burden
placed on landfills but also lowers methane emissions. Looking at
alternative solutions to recycling will become more important in light
of recent global events.
• How good is this? Are there any negatives?
 Food waste for animal feed

• With proper and safe handling, anyone can donate food scraps to
animals. Food scraps for animals can save farmers and companies
money. It is often cheaper to feed animals food scraps rather than
having them hauled to a landfill. Companies can also donate extra
food to zoos or producers that make animal or pet food.
• How effective is this? Could this be done anywhere else or given to
anyone else?
 Composting

• Organic waste in landfills generates, methane, a potent greenhouse

gas. By composting wasted food and other organics, methane
emissions are significantly reduced. Compost reduces and in some
cases eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers. Compost promotes
higher yields of agricultural crops.
• Do you think this will effectively manage waste disposal issues? How
can the compost be used effectively?
 Fermentation

• How can fermentation reduce food waste?

• Essentially, it uses salt or a 'starter culture' to kill off the bad bacteria
in food. The yeasts and good bacteria left behind then turn sugars into
acids, gases or alcohol. This results in a longer shelf life and a
transformation of tasty flavours.
 Use of waste to generate energy

• Combustion: Burning up what’s left behind

• First up, combustion. This is where heat produced by burning waste produces heat,
driving a turbine to generate electricity. This indirect approach to generation
currently has an efficiency of around 15-27%, albeit with a lot of potential for
improvements. Whether any approach to generating energy from waste can be
considered sustainable depends on the ‘net calorific value’ of the waste going into
the process. Where incineration of waste is concerned, that figure must be 7 MJ/kg,
meaning the likes of paper, plastics and textiles are best suited to the combustion
method of generating energy from waste.
• Of course, combustion produces emissions – 250-600 kg CO2/tonne of waste
 processed – but this is offset by the fact that fossil fuels don’t need to burned. There
are, however, other pollutants emitted from combustion in the form of flue gas.
Gasification: waste’s a gas

• Gasification, rather than being the business of driving turbines directly, is about the
production of gas from waste. Our everyday rubbish, consisting of product packaging,
grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, appliances and so on, is not a fuel as much as
the feed for chemical conversion at very high temperature. The rubbish is combined with
oxygen and/or steam to produce ‘syngas’ – synthesised gas which can then be used to
make numerous useful products, from transport fuels to fertilisers or turned into electricity.
• But a problem here is that gasification is often followed by combustion, leading to some of
the same emissions issues as combustion. The same issue can apply to what happens after
the pyrolysis of waste.
• Gasification is also not a particularly efficient mechanism of producing energy, as the pre-
processing requires a lot of energy and the reactors need to be closed down for regular
cleaning.
 Education
• Educating people when they are young – will have a lifelong effect
• Eco schools
• Waste disposal methods in schools
• Composting schemes in schools
• Involve staff and students
• Is this very effective? Can it make a big difference outside of school or
education environments?
 Financial incentives and legislation

• Providing people with financial incentives will increase the likelihood

they will do something
• If you have a legislation then you have to follow it as it is a legal
requirement
• How effective are these methods in reducing issues associated with
improper or poor waste disposal?