Urban Waste And Other Contemporary Issues

Question 1

State 2 reasons urban waste needs to be managed

Answer 1

-Health issues e.g. cholera. Large killer in LDEs.
-Waste sector accounted for 3% of UK GHG emissions 2021.

Question 2

Give 2 reasons why waste is growing

Answer 2

-Greater disposable incomes.
-Creation of products designed to be disposed of quickly. Consumerist societies.

Question 3

Types of waste: Explain if possible
Domestic
Commercial
Animal/veg
Institutional
Ashes
Bulky
Construction/demolition

Answer 3

-Domestic: Household
-Commercial: Offices/businesses
-Animal/veg: Food waste. Putrid if left.
-Institutional: Schools/hospitals (may need special disposal)
-Ashes; Burnt compound.
-Bulky: Large household goods e.g. white goods/furniture.
-Constructin/demolition: Rubble of earth/waste.

Question 4

Define Municipal Solid Waste.
Explain, if possible:
-Biodegradable
-Recyclable
-Inert
-Electrical
-Hazardous

Answer 4

Domestic waste that varies with location (MSW).
-Bio: Green waste
-Recyclable: Plastic bottles, glass jars, paper
-Inert: Construction/demolition
-Electrical: TVs, light bulbs
-Hazardous: Fertilisers, batteries.

Question 5

Define waste stream

Answer 5

Flow of waste from its source to to its final disposal or recycling.

Question 6

Describe an HIC waste stream
What LIC has started to develop Energy From Waste

Answer 6

-Regulated and managed
Landfill/burial, recycle/recovery, trade or incinerate.
-Kenya (Nairobi) to be more sustainable.

Question 7

LIC waste stream

Answer 7

-No waste treating services and waste is dumped. Unregulated.
-Source (lose recycled materials due to misplacement). HICS too.
-Landfill (leachates can contaminate land/water)
-Energy From Waste burning (air pollution locally with carcinogenic substances).
-Risk respiratory or skin health

Question 8

Singapore Waste Stream Success: Small country large population
Landfill. What is it sealed by to prevent contamination?

Answer 8

-Perimiter sealed by impermeable membrane and clay. Clearly working because mangroves nearby, where the fertile ashes are dumped, are thriving.

Question 9

What % does incinerating a substance decrease the volume by?

Answer 9

90%.

Question 10

Why do LICs only account for 5% of global waste (HICs are highest)?

Answer 10

-Less disposable income/products. More resourceful. Might be issue when they develop in future

Question 11

What is the global waste trade? Who makes most waste? How many million times shipped per day? Describe waste process in LDEs.

Answer 11

-International exchange of refuse for disposal, treatment or recycling.
-Most from HDEs. 50 million tones of electronic waste shipped each day year.
-LDEs have less regulation for health and safety. New Delhi where people deconstruct obsolete computers

Question 12

Manila. Phillipnes. How much of waste if officially recycled? London? Why might more be recycled in Manila than what data says. What is the large dump called?

Answer 12

10 percent officially recycled (more in reality)
London is 52%.
4k waste pickers who sell parts to recycling companies. Smokey mountain. Lots of illness for nearby settlers or workers

Question 13

What is landfill? Give 2 pros and cons. Give 1 that is either a pro or con

Answer 13

-Digging up earth and burying waste. Dumps in LICs but, in HICs, strict controls.
Can be sealed and recreation/vegetation can occur on top eg open golf course in Arizona
Easily managed and relatively cheap
Attracts vermin and flies
Leachates if liners break impacting groundwater
Methane gas (pro if utilised and con).

Question 14

Give 2 pros and cons of incineration (case study is Bristol)

Answer 14

Energy to be used locally
Some fertile ashes eg Singapore . Saves space (90 percent)
Harmful pollutants (carcinogens) such as PM2.5
Costly to manage particulate emissions and scrub pipes.

Question 15

Recycling: What? 2 pros and cons

Answer 15

Single stream recycling then separated

Wheelie bin collection is safe and convenient.
Reprocessing of materials (circular economy). Less space for landfill.
Misplacement
Expensive and safe operations

Question 16

What continent has worst air pollution? Give the worst country and how many x above WHO standard air quality is. Describe Europe

Answer 16

Asia. Bangladesh. 23x above standard.
Europe is most improved region eg Croatia.

Question 17

Give 4 sources of urban water pollution

Answer 17

-Domestic waste water (grey)
-Rainwater runoff
-Leachates from poorly managed/illegal landfill.
-Industrial effluent

Question 18

Give 3 issues with water pollution

Answer 18

-Waterborne diseases like cholera
-Micropollutants on tarmac roads eg heavy metals/oils that last a long time in water and require intensive treatment
-Industrial effluent can be toxic and impact aquatic ecosystems if not treated

Question 19

Managing water pollution: (Governance link) The European Commission UWWDT. When was it made? Revised? Give 2 standards. Give 2 successes and failures

Answer 19

-1991. Recently revised
-Collect/treat wastewater in areas where pop >2k
-Reuse treated wastewater when appropriate
Success:
>90 percent of urban wastewater dealt with in line with standards
Benefits>financial costs
Failures:
Pollution not addressed in smaller areas
Requires lots of GHG for process. Conflicting objectives.

Question 20

Non-sewer solution: What is the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation doing?

Answer 20

Janicki Omniprocessor in S African city. Remove pathogens from waste and generating electricity and safe drinking water.
Donated 75million for managing water pollution.

Question 21

Describe UK waste management. How many liters of waste per day? What is combined sewerage/legal spills of sewage?

Answer 21

-11 billion liters per day.
-Surface water collection, combined sewerage (runoff, grey water and sewage) and foul drainage
-Combined sewerage needs to account for local weather fluctuations. Connected to combined sewer overflows to discharge waste in heavy rainfall conditions (legal). Dry spills are where sewage is dumped under normal conditions.
-Grit chambers filter out gravel
-Biosolids can be extracted for fertilizer from settling tanks.
-Chemivaks added to sludge for aeration. Then advance treatment and it’s safe to put into streams.

Question 22

How many hours of sewage spills in 2023? Who is to blame? Why are dry spills bad?

Answer 22

3.6 million. Water companies/OFWAT criticized. Windermere
Dry spills cause eutrophication (excessive algae growth due to nutrient rich waters. kills off other species).

Question 23

Labour’s solution to waste water

Answer 23

Automatic and severe fines for wrongdoings of water companies

Question 24

Define sustainability. What are the 4 pillars.

Answer 24

Satisfying needs and wants of today without sacrificing needs and wants of future generations.
Social (education, healthcare, green spaces and the 15 minute city that you can easily access hence the name. But some low skilled limited to these local areas.)
Economic - reduced inequalities and thriving businesses with ethical jobs
Environment and green/blue spaces. Policies to help environment.
Physical buildings/ land use

Question 25

How have the Phillipines aimed to improve environment with waste management?

Answer 25

Raise awareness of recycling in schools and local communities meaning less waste to landfill. Effectiveness?

Question 26

What are the 4 parts of an ecological/carbon footprint? How much greater are footprints in HICS compared to LICs. How to measure global sustainability

Answer 26

-Food, home, stuff, travel. 10x greater in HICS. Global sustainability measured by global hectare - average productivity of land and sea area.

Question 27

Define live ability of a place? Measured 0- what? Who measures? What type of data? Give 3 egs of measures? What city has the highest?

Answer 27

Described natural, physical, social and economic measures of here and now in urban areas. Social cohesion and equity.0-100. Calculated. Quantified QoL. Vienna was 98.4. Intolerable to ideal Health/wellbeing, education, economic. Done by expert analysts. Quantitative and qualitative. But doesn’t account for other QoL measures such as racial tolerance and is an average of an area

Question 28

Give 4 things impacting liveability (external events)

Answer 28

Wars, economic development, natural disasters and political parties

Question 29

BedZED: Sustainable urban Living - smallscale Where, when. Give 3 features of this area. Evaluate its success

Answer 29

2002. Suburbs of London. On brownfield site. Largest UK, small urban village. -ZEDcars are electric cars for the residents with charging points (like Oslo). -Buildings are well insulated meaning it is warm year round and natural light can enter (proven to make people happier). -Biomass from wood chips from locally sourced dead trees. Sense of place and community cohesion -Is it scalable? Costs incurred were large to start with and it’s only small. Technical issues eg not treating food waste /securing it well meant there were rat infestations. Good locally, socially and good sense of liveabilty.

Question 30

How are buildings measured for energy sustainability? Are filament bulbs efficient?

Answer 30

Install building codes rated from A+++ downwards based on efficiency. Filament waste 90% as heat energy. Have others such as LEDs instead

Question 31

Give some examples of social sustainability

Answer 31

Focusing on local communities. Schools, health, green houses, recreation

Question 32

Where is Bristol? What L is it trying to improve locally? Give 2 aims of the local council and does data suggest they’re being met?

Answer 32

SW England. Liveability. Trying to reduce MSW to landfill. Yes. Increase recycling to 50%. Getting close

Question 33

Avonmouth Energy From Waste/recycling plant: Give 3 pros of this and 3 cons

Answer 33

-200k tones if MSW annually treated. -60k tones recycled. Electricity for homes BUT -300mil installment with ongoing costs -Eyesore/visual pollution -EfW only contributes minute amount to total energy supply

Question 34

Green biomethane terminal: Describe process of treating bio waste Dec____

Answer 34

-Manure/wastes crops given to bacteria that anaerobically respire and produce biomethane as fuel for HGVs. Meets government target. De-carbonizing.

Question 35

Give 2 other local Bristol initiatives concerning education/ targets. Evaluate them

Answer 35

Educating youth with experts. Will it be effective? Need more time Set targets for private businesses recycling. Good because public community is quite vocal. Bad because there are no legal sanctions

Question 36

Define dereliction. Give 2 causes. Why is it bad?

Answer 36

Place becoming abandoned/dilipidated. Deindustrialisation and changing urban activity eg suburbanization. Environmental issues eg dangerous chemicals left from industry untreated can have harmful long term impacts on human health Social issues as people break into houses and fear of crime Out migration due to loss of place

Question 37

Why might it be difficult to build on Derelict dock land?

Answer 37

Too costly to decontaminate/soil wash. Neighboring land may be sewage or treatment which isn’t ideal

Question 38

Give 2 benefits of brownfield redevelopment eg RAD

Answer 38

Reduce urban sprawl and pressure on green belt Build houses to improve urban environment

Question 39

Why do most companies try to dispose waste properly?

Answer 39

Avoid sanction and show environmental stewardship for customers

Question 40

Why is irrigation using polluted water bad?

Answer 40

May bio-accumulate pollutants in food impacting pregnant/ young impacting long run growth

Question 41

Give example of causality with improved drainage systems and disease spread

Answer 41

Improving drainage can reduce standing water and thus potential breeding sites for mosquitoes. This reduces malaria cases.

Question 42

Basel Convention in 1990s (Governance): What did this aim to do concerning waste trade? Evaluate

Answer 42

Aimed to limit waste transport from HDEs to LDEs particularly hazardous. Signficantly reduced but there has been illegal trafficking in Europe **eg UK sending plastics to Malaysia 2016**. Uneven

Question 43

Where did a river turn red in January due to the dumping of chemicals? South American capital

Answer 43

Buenos aires

Question 44

In Lancashire, what have locals suffered from, February, due to toxic landfill fumes?

Answer 44

Nosebleeds and awful stench

Question 45

Freiburg: A sustainable city. Give a brief background of when and where 2 social, economic and 4 environmental benefits

Answer 45

SE Germany. 1970 set a goal of long term sustainability. Seen as an excellent model. Social: Local people have been involved in the decision making process Big focus on ensuring houses are affordable Econ: 1500 environmental based businesses that employ 10k people 400 solar panel installations Env: 90% recycling SUDs like green rooves 40% of the city is forested Integrated tram and cycling network.

Question 46

Cons and conclusion for Freiburg

Answer 46

Freiburg, Germany, is often called a model for sustainable urban living. However, like any city, it faces challenges. Social Challenges 1. Affordable Housing Due to Freiburg’s popularity and high environmental standards, housing demand has risen, leading to high property prices and rent, making it harder for lower-income residents to afford living there. 2. Social Inclusion Some sustainability initiatives (like car-free zones) can unintentionally exclude people who rely on cars, such as the elderly, people with disabilities, or residents in surrounding rural areas. Economic Challenges 1. High Investment Costs Building green infrastructure (like solar systems, public transport, eco-housing) demands large upfront investments, which can strain public budgets and require careful financial planning. 2. Economic Inequality The shift to a green economy mainly benefits sectors like renewable energy and tech, but traditional industries or low-skill workers might not share equally in the city’s economic growth. Environmental Challenges 1. Urban Sprawl As Freiburg limits dense inner-city development to protect green spaces, urban sprawl happens at the edges, leading to longer commutes and more land use. 2. Climate Resilience Even with green planning, Freiburg faces rising temperatures and extreme weather from climate change, challenging its infrastructure and urban designs to adapt fast enough. Overall Conclusion Freiburg is one of the most sustainable cities in the world, with strong commitments to renewable energy, eco-friendly transport, and participatory urban planning. Despite real social, economic, and environmental challenges, Freiburg’s long-term vision, citizen engagement, and innovative solutions make it a leading example of urban sustainability. However, to remain a true model, Freiburg must continue working to balance affordability, social equity, andb climate resilience as it grows.