Zero Waste

Management Practices for Environmental Sustainability

Ashok Rathoure, Ashok K. Rathoure

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429602344
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Scienze biologiche
• Subtopic: Conservazione e Tutela dell'Ambiente

Zero Waste: Management Practices for Environmental Sustainability presents approaches for resource management centered on reducing waste and reusing and recycling materials. It aims to save energy by reducing energy consumption associated with extracting, processing, and transporting raw materials and waste, and also to reduce and eventually eliminate the need for landfills and incinerators. This book presents the various principles, methods, and tools that can be used to address different issues in the areas of industrial waste reduction and sustainability. It examines how to eliminate waste at the source and at all points of a supply chain, and how to shift from the current one-way linear resource model to a sustainable "closed-loop" system.

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• Proposes strategies for businesses to reduce and reuse waste with a goal of reaching a zero waste status.

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• Focuses on how mitigating waste and promoting recycling can save vast amounts of energy.

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• Explains how the zero waste approach would be a key measure to ensure environmental sustainability and help to offset global climate change.

1 Introduction to Zero Waste

Management Practices

Ashok K. Rathoure

Contents

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 Types of Waste

1.1.1.1 Gaseous Waste

1.1.1.2 Liquid Waste

1.1.1.3 Solid Waste

1.1.2 Sources of Waste

1.1.2.1 Domestic Waste

1.1.2.2 Industrial Waste

1.1.2.3 Agricultural Waste

1.1.2.4 Municipal Waste

1.1.2.5 Biomedical Waste

1.1.2.6 Nuclear Waste

1.1.3 What is Zero Waste?

1.1.4 Why Zero Waste?

1.2 Zero Waste Management Practices

1.2.1 Cleaner Production (CP)

1.2.2 Minimum Use of Natural Resources

1.2.3 Rainwater Harvesting (RWH)

1.2.4 Organic Waste Composting (OWC)

1.2.5 Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD)

1.2.6 Green Belt Development (GBD)

1.3 Conclusion

References

1.1 Introduction

Wastes are substances which are disposed or intended to be disposed or required to be disposed of by the provisions of national laws. Wastes are unnecessary products for which the generator has no further use for the production, transformation or consumption, and which it will dispose. Wastes are generated from the extraction and the processing of raw materials into intermediate and final products, the consumption of final products and other human activities. Residuals which will be recycled or reused at the place of generation are excluded. Of the many different types of wastes, several are hazardous in nature, causing many diseases (UNEP, 2004).

1.1.1 Types of Waste

Waste comes in many alternative forms and will be classified in a variety of ways. Here, waste can be classified into three types based on physical composition.

1.1.1.1 Gaseous Waste

Gaseous waste is a waste material in gas form which ensues from varied human activities, such as manufacturing, processing, material consumption or biological processes. Gaseous waste that commands in exceedingly closed instrumentality falls into the class of solid waste for disposal functions.

1.1.1.2 Liquid Waste

Liquid waste means wastewater containing fats, oils or grease, liquids, solids, gases, or sludge and hazardous household liquids. These liquids are hazardous or harmful for human health and/or the environment. They are also discarded products classified as liquid industrial waste such as cleaning fluids or pesticides or the by-products of manufacturing processes (Abercrombie, 2013).

1.1.1.3 Solid Waste

Solid waste means garbage, refuse materials or sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, water treatment plant, sewage treatment plant or air pollution control facility and other discarded materials which include solid, liquid, semi-solid or gaseous form and which is resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural operations and from community activities, but it does not include solid or dissolved materials in domestic manure or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation back flows or industrial discharges (DEC, 2014).

Solid waste can be classified into different types depending on their source:

1. Household waste is generally classified as municipal solid waste. This waste includes domestic waste, sanitation waste, waste from streets, construction and demolition detritus that arises through the construction and demolition of buildings and alternative construction activities. With the increase in urbanization, municipal solid waste is forming the bulk of solid waste. The growth of metropolitan cities is even resulting in a huge quantity of municipal solid waste.
2. Industrial waste or hazardous waste is dangerous because it contains toxic substances that are chemical in nature. This type of waste is very dangerous to humans, plants, animals and the overall environment. Improper disposal of the industrial solid waste might cause death, illness and sometimes environmental damage which will continue to future generations. For example, any oil spill in the seas, release of poisonous gases or chemicals into the air and improper disposal of industrial effluents into the soil will lead to destruction of all living species and additionally to environmental harm.
3. Biomedical waste is an infectious waste being generated day in and day out by various hospitals, clinics, research centres, pharmaceutical companies and health care centres. This type of solid waste is most infectious and can spread diseases, viral and bacterial infections among humans and animals if not managed properly in a scientific way. Hospital waste includes solid waste such as disposable syringes, bandages, cotton swabs, body fluids, human excreta, anatomical waste, expired medicines and other types of chemical and biological waste. Hospital waste is equally hazardous and dangerous, just as industrial waste, if not disposed of or managed properly (Prokerala, 2012).

1.1.2 Sources of Waste

1.1.2.1 Domestic Waste

Domestic waste is generated due to various household activities. It includes paper, glass bottles and broken pieces of glass, plastics, cloth rags, kitchen waste, garden litter, cans and so forth. Kitchen waste includes waste food, peels of fruits and vegetables and ashes due to the burning of wood, coal or cow-dung cakes. Domestic waste is classified into subsequent types:

1. Garbage includes peels of fruit and vegetables, leftover food articles, garden litter and so forth. It is organic in nature and might biodegrade quickly.
2. Rubbish includes waste paper, glass and pottery pieces, plastic goods, rubber goods, polythene bags, cloth rags and so forth. These are mostly inorganic in nature.
3. Ash is the main source of solid domestic waste, which is generated due to the burning of wood, coal and dung cakes in the kitchen.
4. Sewage includes the wastewater from kitchen and bathrooms.

Domestic waste is often seen lying in the streets and along the roads in heaps. This makes the environment unhygienic and it may be the breeding ground for mosquitoes and other different harmful organisms.

1.1.2.2 Industrial Waste

Almost all kinds of industries use raw materials to manufacture finished expendable goods. In this method any leftover material, which is of no use, is called industrial waste. It includes general plant rubbish, packaging waste, demolition and construction waste, damaged parts of machines and tools and so forth. This can cause toxicity within the air, water and soil. It is harmful to human beings and the environment. The waste generated by a number of industries is given below:

1. The mining and other metallurgical type industries generate ash from coal, rocks of no value, furnace slag, metallic waste and so forth.
2. The chemical industries generate harmful chemicals like acids, toxic gases, oils, alkalis, and many types of synthetic materials.
3. The waste material from oil refineries and petrochemical industries are petroleum gases, hydrocarbons, oils and other toxic organic chemicals.
4. The cement factories generate suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the form of coarse and fine particles which can pollute the air and cause respiratory disorders.
5. The waste from the industries of cellulose fibre, paper scraps, bleaching powder, alkalis and so forth. About 40% wood or bamboo used in the production of paper generally goes to waste.
6. The construction companies use a variety of construction material like cement, sand, bricks, stone, wood, limestone and so forth for construction of buildings. The waste is discharged within the form of debris.

1.1.2.3 Agricultural Waste

The waste generated throughout the varied processes of crop production and livestock rearing is called agricultural waste. It is generally of the following types:

1. Plant remains include husk and straw, wood and rubber waste, cotton and tobacco waste, coconut waste products, nutshells and so forth. These are common plant remains which are produced during agricultural practices.
2. Animal waste includes heaps of animal waste that are left unattended, which emit a foul smell and are the breeding ground for many harmful microorganisms. Managing the massive quantity of animal waste generated in rural areas is a major task.
3. Processing waste includes food crops processed for the preparation of rice from paddies, flour from wheat and jowar, dal from pulses, edible oils from oilseeds and so forth. A huge quantity of husks are produced as waste. Improper handling might degrade the environment and can harm the health of people involved in the process. Agricultural activities include ploughing, sowing, harvesting, threshing, winnowing, poultry farming, dairy farming and so forth. Threshing and shifting are waste generating activities of agriculture. Modern agricultural practices use chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, weedicides, fungicides and herbicides on a large scale to enhance crop production. Excessive use of agrochemicals is harmful for crops and the environment.

1.1.2.4 Municipal Waste

Municipal waste is waste from municipal areas which is managed by the municipal corporation of the concerned area. It includes domestic waste, community waste and commercial waste. The waste collected from educational institutes and hospitals sweeping of the streets, lanes and roads are called community waste. Sewage is the foul-smelling, grey liquid which contains waste organic matter from towns or cities and is carried off in underground drains.

Commercial waste is generated from the business institutions like shops, offices, godowns (storage area), stores, markets and so forth. They include packaging materials, paper, spoiled or discarded goods and so on. The waste can be organic or inorganic. Fish and vegetable markets additionally generate a huge amount of waste.

1.1.2.5 Biomedical Waste

Waste generated from hospitals, pathological laboratories, clinics and so forth are called biomedical waste. These wastes are hazardous for human beings and the environment. They include syringes, needles, blades, scalpels, empty plastic bottles, polythene bags, gloves, tubes, expired medicines, pathological wastes and waste from surgeries and autopsies. They are toxic and hazardous. Biomedical waste falls underneath two main classes: infectious and non-infectious wastes. The infectious waste contains large number of pathogens, which are dangerous. Most biomedical waste is non-infectious, which gets mixed with infectious waste. Biomedical wastes are more hazardous than most of the other wastes.

1.1.2.6 Nuclear Waste

Radioactive wastes from the nuclear power plant and weapons industries are a matter of great concern. The waste from the spent nuclear fuel comprises unconverted uranium, plutonium and other radioactive elements. The waste remains radioactive for thousands of years. There is no safe and proper method for enduring disposal of nuclear wastes (Jain, 2019).

1.1.3 What is Zero Waste?

Zero waste means the conservation of all resources of accountable production, consumption, reuse and recovery of all goods, packaging and materials, and not burning them or discharging them to land, water or air that would threaten the surroundings or human health. Zero waste refers to waste management and designing approaches that emphasize waste interference as opposed to end-of-pipe waste management. It is a full systems approach that aims for a massive change in the way materials flow through society, resulting in no waste (Snow and Dickinson, 2001). Zero waste encompasses eliminating waste through recycling and reuse and focuses on restructuring production and distribution systems to reduce waste (Davidson, 2011). Zero waste is additional of a goal or ideal instead of a tough target. Zero waste provides guiding principles for frequently operating towards eliminating wastes (Spiegelman, 2006).

1.1.4 Why Zero Waste?

Day by day, the increase in population leads to an increase in food demand and other necessities, so it increases waste. Waste can cause serious problems: for example plastic waste produces toxic substances and it harm animals as well as aquatic cultures and environments. If waste is incinerated, gases from incineration may cause air pollution while ash from incinerators may contain heavy metals and other toxins. Domestic waste tends to produce microbial pathogens which leads to infectious and chronic diseases....