Waste Management

Waste- Definition & Classification• Any material which is not needed by the

owner, producer or processor. • “Wastes are substances or objects which are

disposed of, or are required to be disposed of by national law” (Basel Convention)

Classification• Domestic waste• Factory waste• Waste from oil factory• E-waste• Construction waste• Agricultural waste• Food processing waste• Bio-medical waste• Nuclear waste

The majority goes to a landfill

What is a landfill?

• “In a landfill, the waste is put on or in the ground and is covered with earth. Because there is no burning, and because each day’s fill is covered with at least six inches of earth, air pollution and population of vermin are kept down.”

Landfills• Landfills are a quick-fix solution. There is only a fixed volume of

garbage that can be accepted within a landfill.• Existing Landfills create a slue of environmental problems.

• This is especially true for older landfills.• Problems with landfills include

• Leaching: things like old batteries, household products, paint, solvents, etc leak out of their containers and contaminate the ground water

• Methane production – anaerobic decomposition of organic waste generates methane gas, which is highly flammable. Flames bolting out of landfills are not uncommon.

• Incomplete decomposition = some things just never breakdown. Plastics for examples may be around forever.

• Settling = Buildings are sometimes constructed on old landfills. For example the Inorbit Mall and other Raheja Commercial Complex at Malad (West) Link Road. Building on landfills is not as structurally sound as one might originally think.

Landfills• When all the refuse is collected and deposited in

one location, the concentrated garbage creates a slue of environmental problems.

• Newer landfills must consider these environmental consequences when being built. The contamination of the groundwater is especially important, and modern landfills are required to be built 20’ above the existing water table.

• The following illustration diagrams some of these environmental problems.

Garbage Incinerators• One solution to eliminating waste is to

incinerate it.• Incinerators burn garbage in a furnace at

very high temperatures, which dramatically decreases the volume.

• The burning of garbage can be used to generate electricity (Waste-to-Energy; WTE), similar to coal-burning power plants.

Waste-To-Energy Incinerator

Benefits of Incinerators• Incinerators have several advantages over landfill waste

disposal (wikipedia.org)• Can be used to generate electricity

• Garbage incinerators burn cleaner and generate less dioxins than coal-burning power plants.

• Significantly reduces the volume of garbage• Modern incinerators have “scrubbers” to purify the emissions and

the ash is tested routinely for hazardous waste.• Medical waste and biohazard materials are sterilized and

pathogens are destroyed• In densely populated areas, incinerators eliminate the need to

build new landfills, which are unsightly and generate a slue of environmental problems of their own.

Arguments Against Incinerators

• From Wikipedia.org• Waste from incinerators maybe a health hazard:

• Dioxins and furans• Incinerators generate pollution

• Air pollutants include: hydrogen chloride, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, & CO2

• Solid pollutants:• Fly Ash = the ash from incinerators released to the air can be contaminated

with lead, cadmium, copper, and zinc.• Bottom Ash = sundry toxic materials.

• The solid pollutants still need to be disposed of• Incinerators are expensive to build (especially when you consider the

lower cost to build landfills)• WTE incinerators require energy to “scrub” the emissions• If paper and other flammables are recycled, the WTE plants may have

to be augmented with natural gas to continue generating power. This might counter efforts to recycle.

• Incinerators generate odor.

Landfills and Incinerators: Are they the only choices?

• Both landfills and incinerators are less than ideal. They generate environmental, economic, and health concerns. What then? What do we do with all the waste?

• Landfills and incinerators are couched within the philosophy that we need better ways of eliminating or removing garbage.

• Reduce the amount of garbage that has to be disposed. By reusing and recycling materials (and by encouraging and supporting these behaviors), we may be able to reduce the amount of waste.

• Buy products with less packaging-send a message to manufacturers by supporting companies that package products with minimal packaging. The cost of packaging is passed on to the consumer by existing garbage taxes and new taxes to pay for new landfills or incinerators.

• We may also need to curb our spending habits.

Waste is a strategic issueBecause:

• Companies are facing intense competition which leads to strategies that seek to reduce costs through minimising all types of waste

• National and international regulation and legislation is increasing

• Customers are increasing concerned with the

environmental impact of products and services

Managing Waste

Recycling: Processing of a waste item into usable forms.

Benefits of recycling:-Reduce environmental degradation-Making money out of waste-Save energy that would have gone into waste handling &

product manufacture

Saving through recycling:-When Al is resmelted- considerable saving in cost-Making paper from waste saves 50% energy-Every tonne of recycled glass saves energy equivalent to

100 litres of oil

Recycling not a solution to all problems!

Recycling is not a solution to managing every kind of waste material

For many items recycling technologies are unavailable or unsafe

In some cases, cost of recycling is too high.

The Waste Management Hierarchy

Refuse

The 5 R’s of Waste Management

Refuse – Do not use non bio-degradable materials is the process in the first place

Eg. No Plastic bags as packaging for consumer products.

Reduce – don’t manufacture goods that will be discarded in the first place.

Eg. Reduced packaging for consumer products.Re-use – use materials over again for the original

intended purpose or for a new purpose.Eg. Plastic grocery bags can be reused for

groceries or you can use them as a lunch bag or something else.

Recycle – break down materials and reform them into new products. Requires much less energy than manufacturing products from raw materials.

Eg. Pop cans. Aluminum is melted down

and made into new pop cans, storm doors,etc.

Recover – recover as much energy as possible before a material is discarded.

Eg. Some places will burn garbage, then

use the heat to generate electricity before disposing of the ash.

Waste Management Hierarchy Methods

Prevent •Clean Design•Design for: manufacture, assembly, maintenance, dismantling, standardisation•Extend product life expectancy•Manufacturing technology e.g. near net-shape forming.•Lean Manufacturing, Just-in-Time Manufacturing•Total Quality Management •Process monitoring and control•Environmental management systems (EMS)

Reuse (no physical or chemical changes necessary)

•Primary / secondary function•After use•Repair

Recycle (changing the physical or chemical properties)

•Remanufacture•Reclamation of materials•Regeneration•Composting•Material recovery

Energy recovery Incineration to produce energy

Safe disposal •Incineration without energy recovery •Landfill

e-Wastes• Typically, e-waste or Waste Electrical and

Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is waste consisting of any broken or unwanted electrical or electronic appliance that has been disposed off either after its usable life ends, or as unwanted byproducts generated during manufacturing.

• It includes electrical and electronic devices like entertainment electronics, computers, mobile phones, refrigerators, lamps and their components.

• A preliminary investigation by the WEEE taskforce has estimated that the total WEEE generation in India is approximately 1,46,000 tones per year.

WEEE management challenges in India • Rapidly increasing e-waste volumes include domestically

generated as well imports that are disguised as second-hand computer donations towards bridging the digital divide or simply as metal scrap.

• There are no accurate estimates of the quantity of e-waste generated and recycled.

• Awareness amongst manufacturers and consumers regarding the hazards of incorrect e-waste disposal is low.

• Widespread e-waste recycling in the informal sector using rudimentary techniques such as acid leaching and open air burning is resulting in severe environmental damage.

• E-waste workers have little or no knowledge of toxins in e-waste and are exposed to serious health hazards.

• Inefficient recycling processes result in substantial losses of material value.

• ‘Cherry-picking’ by recyclers who recover precious metals and improperly dispose of the rest is a cause for concern.

Some Solutions to e-Wastes• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). EPR is seen as a useful policy as it

internalized the end-of-life costs and provided a competitive incentive for companies to design equipment with less costs and liabilities when it reached its end-of-life.

• There is no expressed legislation in India that is taking care of E-waste in India. The Government of India has reiterated its commitment to Waste Minimization & Control of Hazardous Wastes, both nationally and internationally. The general environmental laws are indirectly touching the aspects of E-waste.

• The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes & Disposal was signed by India on 15th March 1990, ratified and acceded to in 1992, and amended in 2003. A ratification of this convention obliges India to address the problem of trans-boundary movement and disposal of dangerous hazardous wastes through international cooperation. As per the Basel Convention, India cannot export hazardous wastes listed in Annex VIII of the Convention from the countries that have ratified the ban agreement. However, the convention agreement does not restrict the import of such wastes from countries that have not ratified the Basel Convention. It is through the orders of the Hon. Supreme Court that the import of such wastes is now banned in the country. The legal basis, therefore, is regulated in the Hazardous Waste Management & Handling Rules (1989 / 2000 / 2003 amended).

• Despite being the largest producer of E-waste, the US has refused to sign the international Basel Convention to prevent the transfer of hazardous waste from developed to developing countries.

WHAT IS BIOMEDICAL WASTE? BIOMEDICAL WASTES are wastes, which are generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals or in research activities pertaining thereto or in the production or testing of biological. Bio-medical wastes are infectious and hazardous - need to be managed carefully.

BIOMEDICAL WASTES REGULATIONS• BIOMEDICAL WASTES (M&H) RULES 1998 - E(P) ACT

1986 as amended in 2000, 2003• MOE&F- NODAL AGENCY• PRESCRIBED AUTHORITY-IMPLEMENTATION

These rules provide a system for regulating handling BMW which includes collection, segregation at source, norms for packaging labeling and options for treatment and disposal along with the standard for treatment technologies.• For proper management & Handling of Bio-Medical

Waste.

• Applicable to all persons who generate, collect, receive, store, transport, treat, dispose or handle bio-medical waste in any form.

Bio-Medical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules,1998

As per Rule 8 , Every Occupier of an institution generating, collecting, receiving, storing, transporting, treating, disposing and /or handling bio-medical waste in any other manner, except such occupier of clinics, dispensaries, pathological laboratories, blood banks providing treatment / service to less than 1000 (one thousand) patients per month, shall make an application in Form I to the prescribed authority for grant of authorization.

DEADLINES FOR SETTING UP BIOMEDICAL WASTE TREATMENT FACILITIES

According to BMW Rules 1998 deadline for setting up of treatment facilities: Metros with population >30 lakhs -30.06.2000 Cities with population < 30 lakhs Hospitals and Nursing Homes >500 beds -30.06.2000 Hospitals and Nursing Homes 200-500 beds -31.12.2000 Hospitals and Nursing Homes 50-200 beds -31.12.2001 Hospitals and Nursing Homes <50 beds -31.12.2002 All others -31.12.2002

BIOMEDICAL WASTE CATEGORIES

10 WASTE CATEGORIESCAT1 HUMAN ANATOMICALCAT2 ANIMALCAT3 MICROBIOLOGY &BIOTECHNOLOGYCAT4 WASTE SHARPSCAT5 CYTOTOXICDRUGS & DISCARDED MEDICINES CAT6 SOILDWASTECAT7 SOLID WASTECAT8 LIQUID WASTECAT9 INCINERATIONASHCAT10 CHEMICAL

COLOUR CODING AND TYPE OF CONTAINER FOR DISPOSAL OF BIO-MEDICAL WASTE

Colour Coding Type of Container Waste

Category Treatment options

Yellow Plastic Bag Categories 1, 2, 3 & 6. Incineration deep burial Red.

Plastic Bag Categories 3, 6, 7

Autoclaving/Micro-waving Chemical Treatment

Blue/White Transluce

nt

Plastic Bag /punctproof containers Cat. 4, Cat. 7 Autoclaving/Micro-waving/ Chemical Treatment

& Destruction / shredding

Black Plastic Bag Categories 5, 9, 10 Disposal in secured landfill.

HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT

HAZARDOUS WASTE

NIMBY – Not In My Back YardDuring the 1980s, developed countries witnessed the rapid growth of a powerful environmental movement. One key international issue was the transport of hazardous waste from developed to developing countries. Economists argued that developing countries should have the freedom to seek economic development in ways that they considered appropriate. Environmentalists and individual citizens decried the ethical implications of these “Toxic exports”

Basel Convention • The Basel Convention (Basel Convention on the Control of

Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal) is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs). It does not, however, address the movement of radioactive waste. The Convention is also intended to minimize the amount and toxicity of wastes generated, to ensure their environmentally sound management as closely as possible to the source of generation, and to assist LDCs in environmentally sound management of the hazardous and other wastes they generate.

• The Convention was opened for signature on March 22, 1989, and entered into force on May 5, 1992. Of the 170 parties to the Convention, Afghanistan, Haiti, and the United States have signed the Convention but have not yet ratified it.

DEFINITION OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

• In India it was first defined as “Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 1989” which contained a schedule list of 13 categories

• India signed Basel Convention on 15.03.1990• Ratified on 24.06.1992• Acceded on 22.09.1992• Basel Convention defines Hazardous Waste in Article 2

as • “Waste are substances or objects which are disposed of or are

intended to be disposed of or are required to be disposed by provisions of National Law”

DEFINITION OF HAZARDOUS WASTESupreme Court regarded Hazardous Waste as:Any substances, whether in solid, liquid or gaseous form, which has no foreseeable use and which by reason of any physical, chemical, reactive, toxic, flammable, explosive, corrosive, radioactive or infectious characteristics causes danger or is likely to cause danger to health or environment, whether alone or when in contact with other wastes or environment whether alone or when in contact with other wastes and environment and should be considered as such when generated, handled, stored, transported, treated and disposed of. This definition includes any product that releases hazardous substance at the end of its life, if indiscriminately disposed of.

HAZARDOUS WASTE CLASSIFICATION

• Hazardous Waste classification in Indian mainly classified in two categories as follows:• Organic Waste : 57%• Acid/Alkali, Slurry Waste : 13%• Waste containing Water soluble

Compounds of Heavy Metals : 8%• Off spec. discarded products : 6%• Waste Oil inclusion : 5%

Types of Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT)• Why do we have hazardous materials?

• HAZMAT can be byproducts created from the production of other substances• HAZMAT are used to perform certain tasks:

• Dry-cleaning• Cleaning electronic equipment• Building products• Pesticides• Enhance gasoline• Insulating electronics• Laboratory chemicals for analyses and testing• Etc

• HAZMAT are classified into substances that are• Ignitable (gasoline, alcohol)• Corrosive (acids)• Reactive (may explode or produce fumes• Toxic or carcinogenic

• The following slide shows placards used to transport various toxic substances.

Types of HazardousMaterials

French aircraft carrier Clemenceau

French aircraft carrier Clemenceau• December 12, 2005, Clemenceau, Ghost ship nobody wants• 27,000-ton warship full of asbestos, PCBs, lead, mercury, and

other toxic chemicals• Indian scrapyard of Alang (Bhavnagar district, Gujarat) , a place

where environmental regulations are lax and workers' rights are practically nonexistant

• In most shipbreaking nations proper waste management is absent. There are no rules and regulations. And where rules exist, they're unlikely to be enforced.

• Basel Convention (1989) is an international treaty which prohibits the export of hazardous waste from rich to poor countries

• Greenpeace raised awareness campaigned against the ship in India as well as in France

• French President Chirac has announced a dramatic recall of the asbestos-laden warship Clemenceau