Urban Waste Flashcards
Why is urban waste seen as a problem?
Because globally, urban residents produce around 2x as much waste as rural residents.
Why do rural residents generally have less waste?
Because rural dwellers seem to be poorer, purchase fewer shop bought products (so less packaging), and they also reuse and recycle more.
Where does waste generation tend to be greatest?
In areas where disposable incomes and living standards are higher.
Where is set to see the greatest increase in waste generation over the next decade? Why?
Low and middle income countries as a result of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation.
What are the issues cause by waste? (4)
- increasingly expensive to deal with because space for landfill if running out and incineration is costly
- inadequate waste disposal is linked to air and water pollution, negative impacts on human health
- waste is estimated to account for almost 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions
- methane from landfills represents 12% of global methane emissions
Globally, how much does waste increase by year on year?
7%
Why is the amount of waste increasing?
- population growth
- economic growth (greater personal wealth increases the consumption of goods leading to more waste).
- urbanisation
- rising living standards
What does MSW stand for?
Municipal solid waste
What is MSW?
Rubbish predominantly consisting of food waste, market and street waste, plastic etc. However the composition of MSW varies between countries and over time.
Factors that affect the nature of waste and its journey from source to its disposal
- economic characteristics
- lifestyles
- attitudes
How have landfills been changed to reduce negative impacts to the environment.
- they have linings of plastic to prevent leachate from running out. This is collected in pipes and transferred to leachate ponds where it can be treated.
- gases eg methane which are produced as the waste decomposes are collected and reused as a fuel.
- netting surrounding it to prevent wing blowing waste away.
Advantages of landfill?
- it’s designed & built to store waste - it’s a safe containment of our waste
- closed landfill sites can be used for other purposes eg golf courses, housing.
Disadvantages of landfill?
- unattractive so reduce house prices around them
- attract vermin (however can be controlled by birds of prey)
- its odour can be detected outside of its property border
- space for landfill is running out
- older landfills are unlined (thus releasing leachate). Rainwater can then wash this water into aquifers then our drinking water
- houses built on landfills have been known to subside
Advantages of recycling?
- creates jobs
- lowers costs for industries because of lower costs of products made from recycled materials vs new
- less need to extract new materials
Disadvantages of recycling?
- need for large capital investment e.g. equipment, factories
- some items can’t be cycled down forever eg paper is unusable after a few cycles
- can be uneconomic due to costs of transport, collecting, processing etc
