Urban Waste/disposal

Question 1

Examples of residential waste:

Answer 1

Food waste
“E waste” = electronic items e.g. batteries
Plastic packaging
Garden waste

Question 2

Examples of industrial waste:

Answer 2

Scrap metal
Chemical waste
Off cuttings of material

Question 3

Examples of commercial waste:

Answer 3

Food waste
Plastic/cardboard
Old products

Question 4

Examples of construction waste:

Answer 4

Plastic
Scrap metal
Old materials

Question 5

Examples of institutional waste:

Answer 5

Medical waste e.g. old syringes
Food waste in schools
Old resources e.g. pens, books

Question 6

Examples of urban services waste:

Answer 6

Littering on streets
Green waste (grass cuttings/tree branches)
Chemical waste
Sludge/dust

Question 7

Why is E waste particularly dangerous?

Answer 7

Has dangerous chemicals in batteries

Question 8

Why is it bad if uncollected waste starts building up in a city?

Answer 8

Attracts rats and other animals that can spread diseases

Question 9

What are some problems of waste?

Answer 9

• risk of infection
• selling items only creates a small income
• toxic waste can lead to illness

Question 10

What are some opportunities created by waste?

Answer 10

• waste items can be recycled or sold
• very little gets wasted
• reduces the size of land fill dumps

Question 11

Sometimes the uk will pay for plastic waste to be sent to LIC countries by ships, why do some LIC govs allow this?

Answer 11

• as they can use these materials to make items (recycling) then they can sell them and make money off of them, generating a small profit for them
• they get a sum of money to be sent it in the first place because it’s doing HIC a favour

Question 12

What is municipal solid waste?

Answer 12

Rubbish from peoples homes, does not include waste from farms/factories

Question 13

What is a waste stream?

Answer 13

The journey an item has when it is thrown away to when it ends up somewhere (e.g. house to landfill dump)

Question 14

Where doe waste usually travel from?

Answer 14

High income counties to low income counteries

Question 15

Why do low income countries want the metal from E waste?

Answer 15

Because they are valuable and can be sold

Question 16

What is the global waste trade?

Answer 16

The legal and sometimes illegal setting of waste such as from one country to another

Question 17

What is leachates?

Answer 17

Liquid created when waste rots - it leaks out and then contaminates soil and rivers

Question 18

What are heavy metals?

Answer 18

Dense metals on periodic table that are toxic, like cadmium and mercury

Question 19

What are the arguments FOR landfill?

Answer 19

• easy to do
• often used to fill in old quarries
• when its full, covered with soil and grass is put on top
• not much maintainace needed

Question 20

What are the arguments AGAINST landfill?

Answer 20

• attracts rate, flies and seagulls
• wind blows litter into rivers
• smell is worse in summer

Question 21

What are the arguments FOR incineration?

Answer 21

• burning rubbish creates energy
• the ash left can be used in many things
• makes money
• decreases size of landfill
• lasts a longtime
• reduces smell of landfill

Question 22

What are the arguments AGAINST incineration?

Answer 22

• puts smoke particles in the air
• gas emissions are toxic
• co2 released
• not everything can be burnt

Question 23

What are the arguments FOR recycling?

Answer 23

• easy to collect
• putting all recyclable materials into one bin makes locals more likely to get involved
• les goes to landfill
• creates jobs
• conserves natural resources
• organic waste can be used again

Question 24

What are the arguments AGAINST recycling?

Answer 24

• recycle bins get too full
• if having to separate out stuff, people cant be bothered
• some recyclable items are toxic
• jobs in recycling plants are low paid

Question 25

What are the main sources of waste?

Answer 25

- over 60% of all waste in the uk comes from construction/demolition - commercial waste makes up roughly 15% of waste - household waste accounting for 10%

Question 26

How does construction waste link to a rising population?

Answer 26

A more houses/buildings are having to be built/old buildings knocked down to make more modern places, creating a lot of waste material e.g. plastic, wood

Question 27

How has food waste cost changed from 2006 to 2016?

Answer 27

In 2006 it was 2.2 billion… in 2016 this has risen to 2 billion

Question 28

What percentage of food waste is from veg/fruit? Why

Answer 28

44% Because it doesn’t last long, people don’t eat it quickly enough… some people buy it to “look healthy” or like to think they will eat it but end up not

Question 29

What is the waste hierarchy?

Answer 29

A diagram showing the best to worst forms of dealing with waste

Question 30

What is the waste hierarchy from best to worst?

Answer 30

Reduce Reuse Recycle Recover Landfill Incineration

Question 31

How can reusing or up cycling actually help people?

Answer 31

Good for the environment and for people as you can save money by not having to buy nw products, and also you could make a profit by selling items online e.g. eBay

Question 32

Why do cities like London find it difficult to make landfill dumps?

Answer 32

There is not enough open space which isn’t surrounded by houses/buildings that would have to experience the smell and noise of it

Question 33

How are supermarkets trying to help shoppers reduce plastic bags?

Answer 33

By making them more expensive (less likely to buy them) and also selling bag for life’s that are reusable

Question 34

Why is it good for the long term if gov make education on reclycing mandatory on the national curriculum in primary schools?

Answer 34

They will become aware of the importance of it and get into good habits which would mean they are more likely to take these on with them later in life