Solid Waste Management Pyramid

Apodaca and Azucena

 The Solid Waste Management Pyramid
Most Preferred
Source Reduction (Reduce)

3R’s
} Reuse

Recycle

Resource Recovery

Treatment/
Waste Disposal
} Incineration

Landfilling
Least Preferred
 Source Reduction (Reduce)
• Source Reduction is the first tier of the solid waste management
pyramid.
• Often called waste prevention, means consuming and throwing
away less.
• Includes purchasing durable, long-lasting goods and seeking
products and packaging that are as free of toxics as possible. It
can be as complex as redesigning a product to use less raw
material in production, have a longer life, or be used again after
its original use is completed. Because source reduction actually
prevents the generation of waste in the first place, it is the most
preferable method of waste management and goes a long way
toward protecting the environment.
 Source Reduction (Reduce)
• Source reduction can be applied by companies at the design
and production phases to minimize the amount of materials
in products and packaging, and deliver products using
natural resources as efficiently as possible. Source reduction
can also be applied by food-service and hospitality
establishments through minimizing the use of single-use
disposable containers, providing reusable cutlery and
encouraging the use of reusable take-out containers,
including coffee cups, beverage containers and “to-go”
boxes.
Source Reduction Example
• A laundry detergent flexible pouch weighs 85 percent less
than a plastic bottle. The amount of packaging is 84 percent
less.
 Reuse
• This is simple; reduce waste by not wasting something, but
reusing it.
• It is the action or practice of using something again,
whether for its original purpose (conventional reuse) or to
fulfill a different function (creative reuse or repurposing).
• This can be combined with the top level by replacing
something disposable with something reusable. But most
commonly, it means to quite literally reuse something.
Reuse Example
Advantages of Reuse
• Energy and raw materials savings as replacing many single use
products with one reusable one reduces the number that need to
be manufactured.
• Reduced disposal needs and costs.
• Refurbishment can bring sophisticated, sustainable, well paid
jobs to underdeveloped economies.
• Cost savings for business and consumers as a reusable product is
often cheaper than the many single use products it replaces.
• Some older items were better handcrafted and appreciate in
value.
Disadvantages of Reuse
• Reuse often requires cleaning or transport, which have environmental
costs.
• Some items, such as freon appliances, infant auto seats, older tube TVs
and secondhand automobiles could be hazardous or less energy
efficient as they continue to be used.
• Reusable products need to be more durable than single-use products,
and hence require more material per item. This is particularly
significant if only a small proportion of the reusable products are in
fact reused.
• Sorting and preparing items for reuse takes time, which is
inconvenient for consumers and costs money for businesses.
• Special skills are required to tweak the functional throughput of items
when devoting them to new uses outside of their original purpose.
 Recycling
• It is the process of converting waste materials into new
materials and objects. It is an alternative to "conventional"
waste disposal that can save material and help lower
greenhouse gas emissions.
• Recycling can prevent the waste of potentially useful
materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw
materials, thereby reducing: energy usage, air pollution
(from incineration), and water pollution (from landfilling).
 Recycling
• It is the preferred option when reuse is not an option, if an
item is broken, or in a poor condition that means it can't be
reused.
• Recycling contrasts with reuse in the fact that recycling
tends to break an item down to its raw materials before
making them into something else. In the milk bottle
example, reusing involves washing and refilling, while
recycling would involve grinding the glass and melting it
again, turning the raw material into a different grade of
glass.
Recycling Example
 Treatment And Disposal of Solid Waste
• Treatment:
– Incineration
– Gasification and Pyrolysis
– Open Burning
• Disposal
– Sanitary landfills
– Controlled dumps
– Bioreactor landfills
• Other
– Composting
– Recycling
 Resource Recovery
• Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is
the process of generating energy in the form
of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment
of waste.
• WtE is a form of energy recovery.
• Most WtE processes produce electricity and/or heat directly
through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel
commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or
synthetic fuels
Waste-to-Energy (WtE) Plant
• a facility that uses solid waste materials (processed or raw)
to produce energy.
• WtE plants include incinerators that produce steam for
district heating or industrial use, or that generate electricity;
they also include facilities that convert landfill gas to
electricity.
 Incineration
• the most common WtE implementation
• a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of
organic substances contained in waste materials.
• Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment
systems are described as "thermal treatment".
• Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash,
flue gas, and heat.
• Incinerators are used for this process.
Incineration
Important Points Regarding Incineration
• Supplying of solid waste should be continuous.
• Waste should be proper mixed with fuel for complete
combustion.
• Temperature should not be less than 670 ˚C.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Incineration
Advantages
• Most hygienic method.
• Complete destruction of pathogens.
• No odor trouble.
• Heat generated may be used for
steam power.
• Clinkers produced may be used for
road construction.
• Less space required.
• Adverse weather condition has no
effect.
Disadvantages
• Large initial expense.
• Care and attention required
otherwise incomplete
combustion will increase air
pollution.
• Residues required to be
disposed which require
money.
• Large no. of vehicles required
for transportation.
Gasification and Pyrolysis
• are two similar methods, both of which decompose organic
waste materials by exposing waste to low amounts of oxygen
and very high temperature.
• Pyrolysis uses absolutely no oxygen while gasification allows
a very low amount of oxygen in the process.
• Gasification is more advantageous as it allows the burning
process recover energy without causing air pollution.
Gasification
Pyrolysis
Open Burning
• a legacy thermal waste treatment that is environmentally
harmful.
• The incinerators used in such process have no pollution
control devices.
• They release substances such as hexachlorobenzene,
dioxins, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, volatile
organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic compounds, and
ash.
• Unfortunately, this method is still practiced by many local
authorities internationally, as it offers an inexpensive
solution to solid waste.
Open Burning Example
 Landfilling
• A landfill site is a site for the disposal of waste materials by
burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment.
• Historically, landfills have been the most common methods
of organized waste disposal and remain so in many places
around the world.
• The dumping is done with layers of 1- 2 m.
• The layer is covered with soil of 20 cm thickness.
Modern Landfill
Advantages and Disadvantages of Landfilling
Advantages
• Simple method.
• No costly plant required.
• No residues or by products
need to be disposed.
• Separation not required.
• Unused land can be used.
• Methane gas can be used
ass fuel.
Disadvantages
• Large land required.
• Proper dumping site may not be
available.
• Odor problem.
• Use of insecticides required.
• Leachate should be collected
regularly.
• Methane gas should be collected
properly.
• Green house gas problem.
Sanitary Landfills
• provide the most commonly used waste disposal solution.
• These landfills are desired to eliminate or reduce the risk of
environmental or public health hazards due to waste disposal.
• These sites are situated where land features work as natural
buffers between the environment and the landfill.
• For instance, the landfill area can be comprised of clay soil which
is quite resistant to hazardous wastes or is characterized by an
absence of surface water bodies or a low water table, preventing
the risk of water pollution.
• The use of sanitary landfills presents the least health and
environmental risk, but the cost of establishing such landfills is
comparatively higher than other waste disposal methods.
Sanitary Landfills
Controlled Dumps
• are more or less the same as sanitary landfills.
• These dumps comply with many of the requirements for
being a sanitary landfill but may lack one or two.
• Such dumps may have a well-planned capacity but no cell-
planning.
• There may be no or partial gas management, basic record
keeping, or regular cover.
Controlled dumps
Bioreactor landfills
• are the result of recent technological research.
• These landfills use superior microbiological processes to
speed up waste decomposition.
• The controlling feature is the continuous addition of liquid
to sustain optimal moisture for microbial digestion.
• The liquid is added by re-circulating the landfill leachate.
• When the amount of leachate is not adequate, liquid waste
such as sewage sludge is used.
Composting
• It is a process in which organic matter of solid waste is
decomposed and converted to humus and mineral
compounds.
• Compost is the end product of composting, which used as
fertilizer.
• Three methods of composting:
• (a) composting by trenching
• (b) open windrow composting
• (c) mechanical composting
(a) Composting by Trenching
• Trenches 3 - 12 m long, 2 – 3 m wide and 1- 2 m deep with
spacing 2 m.
• Dry wastes are filled up in 15 cm. On top of each layer 5 cm
thick sandwiching layer of animal dung is sprayed in semi
liquid form.
• Biological action starts in 2- 3 days and decomposition
starts.
• Solid waste stabilize in 4- 6 months and changed into brown
colored odorless powdery form known as humus.
(a) Composting by Trenching
(b) Open Windrow Composting
• Large materials like broken glass, stone, plastic articles are
removed.
• Remaining solid wastes is dumped on ground in form of piles of
0.6 – 1 m height.
• The width and length of piles are kept 1- 2 m and 6 m
respectively.
• Moisture content maintained at 60%.
• Temp. increases in side pile.
• After pile for turned for cooling and aeration to avoid anaerobic
decomposition.
• The complete process may take 4- 6 week.
(b) Open Windrow Composting
(c) Mechanical Composting
• It requires small area compare to trenching and open
windrow composting.
• The stabilization of waste takes 3- 6 days.
• The operation involved are reception of refuse segregation
shredding stabilization marketing the humus
(c) Mechanical Composting