WASTEany material that has no further value to its

producerThe Nature of Waste

Ways of classifying wastes:Solid wasteLiquid wasteGas wastesHazardous wasteBiomedical wasteSpecial waste (e-waste, radioactive…)

Why Do We Manage Wastes?wastes are not pleasing to the senses

in early days people threw all wastes (bodily and kitchen scraps) out windows into the street

Many diseases swept through Europe by rats and fleas living on this material.

modern waste management systems are aimed at sanitizing the waste to prevent the spreading of infectious diseases.

History of Waste Managementwaste wasn’t a problem when humans had low

pop’n densityas populations increased so did amount of

wasteMany diseases spread due to waste disposalBubonic Plague (Black Death) in Europe of the

1300’s was spread by a bacterium carried by fleas that lived on rats

spread easily since wastes that rats fed on were abundant

showed the need for waste managementThe Plague

Solid Wasteorganic materials (yard and gardent wastes,

kitchen waste, sewage)cars, furniture, plastics, all consumer

productsrecyclables that are not recycled or at end of

recycling cycle1/3 of all solid waste are mine tailings

produced by mining industryRoad building and construction debris is

another major component

Solid Wastes in Canada

Solid Waste in CanadaIn 2006 Canadians produced 40 million tons

of wasteyearly increase of 8 percent from 2004

Solid Waste by Typeex. Nanimo BC

Methods of Waste DisposalOpen Dumps:unregulated dumps where people drop their

garbageexposed to wind, rain, rats, insects etcmainly found in developing countriesoften people live in/around these scavenging

for recyclables they can sellusually forbidden in developed countriesYouTube - The people in the dump Smokey

Mountain, Manila 1

Landfillswaste disposal regulated and controlledlined with clay/plastic liner to control run offaway from waterways impermeable rock types chosenwaste compacted and covered daily with dirt

layer controls insects and rodentsdirt takes up 20% of spacecities running out of space in landfillsKingston closed East Landfill on Jan 1st HowStuffWorks Videos "Really Big Things:

America's Landfills"

Ocean Dumping25 000 tonnes of packaging/yr dumped at seaGreat Pacific Garbage Patch - floating ‘island’

size of Texas exists in Pacific due to ocean currents converging

Capt. Charles Moore on the seas of plastic | Video on TED.com

many ocean cities still dumping raw sewage into ocean

Victoria BC still dumping, Halifax stopped last year

Exporting Wastemany developed countries ship toxic waste to

developing countries with fewer environmental rules

e-waste commonly shipped to China, Cambodia & India

broken down over open fires with bare hands to get metals in electronics

many countries passing laws to stop shipping of hazardous wastes but still happens

The Wasteland - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Incinerationas landfills get full, burning waste becoming

more popularcommon throughout Europe, less used in

Canadasteam from burning captured used to create

electricity

ash and unburnables ~ 10% of original volume ash taken to landfills for disposalusually contains toxic materialsvery expensive ($100-300 million to build)tipping fees (dumping costs) higher than

landfillsemissions contain CO2 and toxins

Plasmagasification:waste is converted to syngas used for fuel in

engines rather than inceneratedlarge plant near OttawaPlasco Energy Group