Global environmental challenges: Waste management

Question 1

True or false; Avg uk household produces 1 tonne of waste per year

Answer 1

True

Municipal solid waste is the rubbish put out for collection

Question 2

Give various ways waste has been dealt with

Answer 2

Burning waste(incineration) - Converts it to gas and injects most of it into the atmosphere

Storing waste in dumps, impoundments, and recently, sanitary landfills

Disposal by injection or burial deep underground in rock cavitie

Question 3

Describe environmental hazards associated with waste incineration

Answer 3

ash disposal and the generation of
hazardous materials:
* Heavy metals
* Dioxin (linked to birth defects and cancers)

Incineration is the most costly method - 400–
500$/metric ton compared to
landfill at 60–270$/metric ton

Question 4

Give information about the Veolia Marchwood incineration plant

Answer 4

Operational since 2004

processes non-recyclable waste to supply up to
16MW of electricity.
(enough for around 22,600 homes)

Question 4

Describe the EU’s targets for waste

Answer 4

EU want to reuse and recycle 60% of municipal waste

EU want to deposit 10% or less of waste in landlifss

Question 5

Describe laws and subsidies which hinder the recycling sector against the raw materials sector

Answer 5

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that global fossil fuel subsidies was over $5 trillion in 2020. - Indirectly undercutting the recycling industry in price.

Question 6

Define composting

Answer 6

Composting is a way of returning to the soil the nutrients contained in organic matter such as yard waste and food scraps

Question 7

What gas do landfills produce and how is it environmentally harmful

Answer 7

Methane is released from landfills in the form of landfill leachate. The dissolved methane is then released into the air.

Methane is responsible for around 30% of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution.