1,720,973 research outputs found
Sustainable waste management – what and how?
No full textHistorically, 'developed' societies have adopted a linear approach to the use of resources, with natural assets being processed, used and ultimately discarded as wastes with little if any thought being given to the capacity of the environment either to maintain the supply of resource at one end or receive the waste at the other. Although governments and the public are now more aware of the problems this creates, the current focus is often on meeting legislative targets rather than the more fundamental goals of sustainable resource management and care for the environment. This paper argues that 'waste' should be viewed as part of a resource cycle that includes extracting materials and energy from the environment, refining raw materials and producing goods, consuming and using goods and then eventually returning materials to the environment. Each process has inputs (materials and energy) and outputs (products, energy and waste). Waste outputs from one process can sometimes be used as resource inputs to another, or even the same, process. Sustainability principles require that resources are used with maximum efficiency while they are within the human part of the cycle, and that they are returned to the environment in a way that enables them to be extracted and used again—something that at present happens only rarely, haphazardly and on a geological timescale. Options for sustainable resource management are reviewed and appraised, with reference mainly to household waste. It is argued that the management of interim and residual 'wastes' should be based on the most energy or resource efficient option for individual components of the waste stream; this might involve reuse, materials recovery, energy recovery or safe disposal of different components at different stages of the resource cycle
Measuring the resource potential in commercial and industrial wastes from food related businesses
No full textEnergy footprint analysis: does recycling reduce the environmental impact of domestic waste management?
No full textEnergy and materials flow modelling of MSW: options for management of the plastics fraction in household waste
No full textThis paper describes a model developed to analyse the energy footprint associated with the collection, separation, processing and disposal of Municipal Solid Waste, allowing evaluation of the different options for its management. The model starts from the point where material becomes ‘waste’ and follows it through until disposal and/or processing, determining the energy consumption for each stage. The analysis is illustrated using a case study of the plastics fraction within household waste, and the results show that the major source of energy savings from recycling is through increased use of recycled plastics in the manufacture of new plastic goods. There is a maximum reduction of between 45.5 – 54.9 %, depending on collection method, when compared to the base-case scenario.
The waste management option that gives the lowest energy footprint is dependent on the collection method, what plastics are being recycled, and the level of incineration of the residual waste stream. Generally, at low-medium levels of incineration the best option would be a combination of recycling plus incineration. Conversely, at high incineration levels, the best option would be incineration without recycling of the plastics
Energy footprint analysis: comparison of waste management options for the processing of the glass and paper/card components of domestic refuse
No full textStrategies and Technologies for Sustainable Urban Waste Management: Commercial and Industrial Waste Audit of SMEs
No full textEnergy footprint analysis: waste management options for the processing of the paper and card fraction of household waste
No full textEnergy and material flow of waste-processing operations
No full textAlthough waste continues to be produced in large quantities—the rate of increase in waste production being more or less in line with the rate of growth in the economy—society is still grappling with the problem of sustainable waste management. One of the best ways to assess sustainability is in terms of mass and energy balance. A project at the University of Southampton looked at the ‘energy footprint’ for waste management. The project brought together data from existing work on waste quantities, materials flow and mass balance studies for a range of materials including paper, glass, plastics, metals and organics. These data have been combined with information on the energy requirements for different types of collection and processing systems for reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal of such materials. Taking into account energy benefits from any of these options, the information has been used to produce an energy and materials balance, and the results show the energy footprint and materials output of the current waste management practices in Southampton. This work allows exploration of alternative methods and highlights areas where insufficient information is available, or where improvements in collection or processing technologies could have a significant impact on the final energy and material balance. The greater Southampton area was used as a case study, but the methods developed could be applied to other areas by modifying the input data
Use of energy footprint analysis to determine the best options for management of glass from household waste
No full text
- …
