WASTE REDUCTION - What’s it all about?

[Fionnuala Fox]

Each household in Northern Ireland contributes around one tonne of waste and this amount is increasing! Our current lifestyle, based on convenience and over packaged products, means we are producing more waste than ever. At the moment the most common way of managing waste is through landfill. Not only are we running out of space in landfill sites, but new legislation from Europe is obliging us to find better ways of dealing with waste.

The Waste Strategy groups developed joint management plans to meet European targets, using the principles of the waste hierarchy. This shows that the best way to manage waste is not to produce it at all, or at least reduce the amount which needs disposed of, with final disposal as a last resort.

Waste represents the squandering of our natural resources, it is unsightly and costly to remove or dispose of. The majority of waste goes to landfill, where materials with the potential for re-use or recycling are lost. While the waste which is buried in landfill breaks down it begins to release Methane which is a harmful greenhouse gas. A liquid called leachate is also produced which has the potential to pollute our ground water.
Here in Northern Ireland, there was a household recycling rate of around 9.8% and a composting rate of approximately 4.7%. This must continue to grow or the future for Northern Ireland could be bleak.

Waste Reduction Is.....

* Reduction or elimination of the amount of waste produced in the first place,
* Being economical with materials, energy and money,
* Development of products or production techniques to minimise waste generation
* Reprocessing waste material for reuse

We are running out of locations suitable for waste disposal and the amount of waste we produce is increasing every year

Take a good look at the waste you produce and ask yourself a few simple questions;

*Is there anything which may be of use to someone else?
*Is there anything which may be of use with a little modification?

There are many different ways to minimise your waste here are some tips:-

Old T- shirts make great dusters or cloths,
Share trips to the recycling centre with another family,
Buy loose fruit and veg,
Give old toys to the local playgroup,
Print and photocopy on both sides of paper where possible,
Carry out a simple waste audit. Where is the waste produced in your workplace and how could you reduce it?
Use e-mail instead of leaving paper notes,
Take lunches in a reusable box instead of using sandwich bags.
Provide recycling facilities for waste paper, cans, glass, etc.
Use ‘junk’ (egg cartons, yoghurt pots etc) for craft work,
Swap books with friends,
Say ‘no thanks’ to a carrier bag when out shopping: take your own,
Choose products with minimal packaging or packaging that can be returned for recycling,
Buy refillable bottles that can be used again,
Buy in bulk to reduce packaging waste,
Sign up with the mailing preference service or put a sign on your door requesting no junk mail,
Have your milk delivered in returnable bottles: plastic-coated cartons are difficult to recycle.
Take left over tins of paint to your local RE-PAINT scheme,
Old furniture and household appliances can be refurbished and passed on to community groups or those in need.
Collect oil from DIY car maintenance and take to your local civic amenity site: it can recycled into boiler fuel and lubricants,
Buy recycled products: they are of good quality and support the market for raw materials from waste.

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In Conclusion

The waste hierarchy is the best way to address the problem. Create less waste, recycle more rubbish and dispose of the remainder in a safe,
environmentally friendly way.

We can use the energy held in waste to generate power and heat. A number of techniques have been created to produce energy from waste.

Landfill Gas: Methane, a potent greenhouse gas may be collected and burnt to produce energy
which can create heat and electricity.
Combustion of landfill gas therefore reduces volumes of methane which would otherwise be emitted.

Mass Burn Combustion: Untreated waste is incinerated, steam is produced and passed through a turbine to create electricity and low temperature heat, which can then be used in nearby buildings.

Anaerobic digestion - Kitchen waste (raw vegetables, peelings etc) or agricultural waste (dairy, beef and sheep slurry or chicken litter) is placed in a heated airtight container where bacteria start to break down the material converting it to Biogas – used to generate heat and/or electricity which may be used on site or the electricity may be sold to the national grid
Fibre – can be used as a soil conditioner
Liquor – may be pasteurised and used as a liquid fertiliser.
This process is used successfully in Germany and Denmark and now the first ‘Centralised Anaerobic Digestion Plant’ has been set up in Devon, England.

Gasification - A thermo-chemical process in which waste is heated in an environment with a limited amount of oxygen. A low-energy gas is produced containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane which can then be used as a fuel in a turbine or combustion engine to generate electricity.

Pyrolysis - Waste is treated in the complete absence of oxygen. Gas, olefin liquid and char are produced in various quantities. The gas and oil can be processed, stored and transported, if necessary and combusted in an engine, gas turbine or boiler. Char can be recovered from the residue and used as a fuel, or the residue passed to a gasifier and the char gasified.

Refuse Derived Fuel- Separating the combustible waste from the non combustibles such as glass or metals means they then be recycled.

This leaves plastics, paper, wood etc which can be shredded and compacted making it more efficient to burn and easier to transport.
As the waste has been separated before incineration, there will be less chance of noxious gasses such as heavy metals being released.

The use of waste as an energy resource frees up a lot of space in our landfills and puts less of a strain on the world’s finite resources such as oil, coal and natural gasses.

Although the waste that does not decompose may not release by-products it takes up space and will be around for hundreds of years.

It is time to Wake Up To Waste!!!

Please feel free to comment on what is happening in your area.

Till Next time

Fionnuala
N Ireland
http://homebizhaven.com
http://homebizhaven.ning.com