Geography CUE: 3.2.3.6 - 3.2.3.7 Flashcards by Aoife Hughes

What is waste in Urban Areas?

Domestic / residential

Generated from all household activities e.g. cooking, cleaning, hobbies, redecoration etc. Categorized as biodegradable, recyclable or inert

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What is waste in Urban Areas?

Municipal

From urban (municipal) activities & services. Includes a huge range from market wastes to abandoned vehicles. This term is commonly applied to include solid domestic & commercial wastes. hence municipal solid waste (MSW) becoming synonymous with urban waste. *

MSw classification = biodegradable (food), recyclable (paper), inert (construction), electrical (light bulbs), composite (clothing / toys), hazardous (paint), toxic (pesticides), biomedical (drugs)

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What is waste in Urban Areas?

Commercial e.g. shops, offices

From offices, retail stores, hotel, restaurants, warehouses etc. Categorised as biodegradable, recyclable or inert

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What is waste in Urban Areas?

Animal & vegetable

Handling, storage, sale, cooking & serving of food. Goes putrid attracting rats, flies etc. requires immediate attention for storage, handling & disposal

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What is waste in Urban Areas?

Institutional

From schools, universities, hospitals & research institutes. Can be waste considered hazardous to public health & the environmental. Hospital waste can be ‘risk’ or ‘non-risk’. ‘Sharps’, infectious, pharmaceutical, chemical & radioactive waste all require specialist disposal inc. incineration.

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What is waste in Urban Areas?

Bulky

Furniture, ‘white goods’, commercial packaging and containers, industrial crates, pallets & metal banding. Requires special collection.

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What is waste in Urban Areas?

Ashes

Residue from the burning of wood, coal, charcoal, coke & other combustible material. Fine powdery residue often mixed with small pieces of metal and glass. Classified as industrial when produced in large quantities at power stations / factories etc

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What is waste in Urban Areas?

Urban services

Consists of earth, stones, concrete plumbing materials, electrical wires etc and if not recycled can make up a significant proportion of landfill / up to 40% of the MSW stream

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What is waste in Urban Areas?

Dead animals

Natural or accidental deaths. If not collected promptly can pose a threat to public health. Waste from slaughterhouses is considered industrial waste.

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What is waste in Urban Areas?

Construction & demolition

Consists of earth, strones, concrete plumbing materials, electrical wires etc and if not recycled can make up a significant proportion of landfill / up to 40% of the MSW stream

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What is waste in Urban Areas?

Industrial (light & heavy)

Covers a vast range of materials unique to each industry. Major generators include; thermal power plants (coal ash), integrated iron & steel works (slag), pulp & paper industries (lime)

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Waste Stream

The complete journey of waste from its source (domestic / commercial / industrial) through to recovery, recycling or final disposal

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Waste production and MSW

Inadequate disposal can be linked to air / ground / water pollution. These can have a negative impact on human health
On average people in HICs produce 10-30 times more waste than people in LICs
Waste is estimated to account for almost 5% of total GHG emissions. Methane from landfill represents 12% of the global methane emissions.
Globally waste increases by about 7% annually. This increase is due due to population ground and economic development. Greater personal waste = increases consumption of goods & services = more waste. Municipal solid waste (MSW) will increase with urbanisation & increased living standards.
Urban Areas produce 2x MSW as rural areas. This is because urban areas are richer and therefore more store-bought items = more packaging and they higher levels of reuse & recycle.

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Waste production and MSW

Year: 2002
Urban Pop: 2.9 Billion
MSW per capita per day: 0.64kg

Year: 2012
Urban Pop: 3 Billion
MSW per capita per day: 1.2kg

Year: 2025
Urban Pop: 4.3 Billion
MSW per capita per day: 1.42kg

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Changes in Waste Generation

Higher in cities Generation
Waste Generation tends to be greater where disposable incomes & living standards are higher
Biggest increase in cities in MICs and LICS due to rapid urbanisation & continued industrialization
Growing fastest in China (overtook the USA as world’s largest waste generator in 2004)

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Reduce

Waste Hierarchy: 1

Preventing and reducing waste in design and manufacture / using minimal hazardous materials

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Reuse

Waste Hierarchy: 2

Repurposing, or rehoming items to be used elsewhere

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Recycle

Waste Hierarchy: 3

Turning waste into a new product, either by composting or other means recycling

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Recovery

Waste Hierarchy: 4

Refers to the processes of recovering energy from the materials. This includes anaerobic digestion, incineration with energy recovery and other energy recovery processes

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Disposal

Waste Hierarchy: 5

Landfill and incineration without energy recovery

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Strategy: UNREGULATED (fly-tipping)

Definition: Uncontrolled or unsupervised by regulation of law

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Breeding ground for insects, vermin & scavenging animals which can pass on air & water-borne diseases. UN-Habitat (2009) found in areas where waste was not collected frequently the incidence of diarrhoea was 2x higher and acute respiratory infections 6x higher.
Contamination of groundwater & surface water by leachate
Air pollution from burning of waste that is not properly collected or disposed of

Strategy: RECYCLING

Definition: Materials can be reprocessed into new products

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Saves energy e.g. recycling aluminium requires 95% energy that virgin production requires
‘Urban mining’ process of removing compounds and elements that would otherwise be left in landfill
Energy may be required in material recovery = GHG emissions
Informal recycling by waste pickers have little GHG emissions except the processing of materials for sale or reuse which can be high if improperly burned plastic of copper wires and other metal recovery from e-waste

Strategy: RECOVERY

Definition: Selective extraction of disposed materials for a specific next use e.g. recycling, composting, energy generation

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Saves energy e.g. recycling aluminium requires 95% energy that virgin production requires
‘Urban mining’ process of removing compounds and elements that would otherwise be left in landfill
Energy may be required in material recovery = GHG emissions
Informal recycling by waste pickers have little GHG emissions except the processing of materials for sale or reuse which can be high if improperly burned plastic of copper wires and other metal recovery from e-waste

Strategy: INCINERATION

Definition: Waste is burned at high temperatures & controlled conditions to produce electricity & heat - ‘energy from waste’

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Reduce volume of waste by 90%
Without energy recovery still common but creates pollution
GHG emissions from burning of the waste
Open-burning of waste = low temperature combustion which results in severe air pollution (common in LICs)

Strategy: BURIAL Definition: Waste is placed in the ground as a place of disposal

- LICS - can be a simple hole in the ground & open dumping / HICs have stricter regulations with only certain types of material able to go to landfill. - In the UK most landfill sites now control and collect the gases released by decomposing waste, often using it to generate electricity. - Methane produced by rotting organic matter - Negative impact on local air quality from chemicals e.g. ammonia can produce toxic gases / dust & other non-chemical contaminants - Toxic chemicals from landfills can leach out and contaminate groundwater / rivers etc

Strategy: SUBMERGENCE Definition: Material is disposed of in oceans / on the ocean floor. BAnned by international convection

- UN States that radioactive and other hazardous materials which can damage ocean ecosystems have been dumped into coastal waters off Somalia as the country lacks strong governance

Strategy: Definition: Waste can be bought or sold by countries (often HICs to LICs)

- Toxic / hazardous wastes often taken to LICs without safe processes or facilities and are not properly disposed of or treated = contamination / damage local environments - International laws such as the Basel Convention prevent transponders movement of hazardous waste, but evidence suggests it still happens

LANDFILL V INCINERATOR Type of disposal: Landfill Advantages

- Facilities are properly sites with necessary controls - Different types of waste are accepted

LANDFILL V INCINERATOR Type of disposal: Landfill Disadvantage

- Unsightly - Often opposed by neighbouring residents - Potential leaching of chemicals threatens groundwater supply - Decaying matter produces methane, a strong greenhouse gas which is explosive - Landfill takes up a lot of space - High transportation costs - Produce more GHG than incineration on the whole but plastics produce more CO2 when burnt as opposed to buried

LANDFILL V INCINERATOR Type of disposal: Incineration Advantages

- Can reduce volume of waste needing disposal by 90% - Can inactivate disease agents - Can reduce toxicity of waste - Can be used to produce energy - Incinerator bottom ash can be recycled as a secondary aggregate

LANDFILL V INCINERATOR Type of disposal: Incineration Disadvantages

- Expensive - Not all waste is combustible - Poses challenges of air pollution and incinerator bottom ash disposal - Capacity limitations - Unpopular with local residents - 2017 - UK - incinerators produced approx. - 11m tonnes of CO2

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) By how many times did waste increase each decade since the 1960s?

2 times every decade 1900 --> 2700 tones / day

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) How many waste incinerators are there in Singapore?

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) What source of debris is non-incinerable?

Sludge

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) What is used to line the 7km bund?

Rock bund, marine clay

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) What was the total cost of the project?

$610 million

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) What size is the landfill?

350 hectares

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) When is it estimated to be completely filled?

2045

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) What is the National Environment Agency striving to achieve?

Zero landfill and waste

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) By what % is the volume of waste reduced through incineration?

90%

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) What do they hope will reach 70% by 2030?

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) List some leisure activities taking place on Semakau?

Bird watching, sport fishing

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) Educational tours enable young people to learn about waste management with the desire to extend what?

Pro-long the life of Semakau landfill

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) In 2015 what % of waste was a. Sent to landfill b. Incinerated c. Recycled

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) Name a rare species that now lives on Semakau

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) How long do incinerators last before needing replacing?

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) Pollution control systems cannot do what?

SEMAKAU ISLAND (SINGAPORE) Waste increased from 1260 tonnes in 1970 to what in 2015?

Factors Affecting Waste Components and Waste Streams Economic Characteristics / Development HICs produce 10-30 times more waste than LICs

Factors Affecting Waste Components and Waste Streams Lifestyles

Factors Affecting Waste Components and Waste Streams Attitudes Ease of access is important - 52% of people living in flats in urban areas report being able to recycle compared to 74% of people living in rural areas

Geography CUE: 3.2.3.6 - 3.2.3.7 Flashcards

(51 cards)