What are the Solutions? Wipeout waste

We live in a throwaway world and we are great at making garbage! There are 6.5 billion people on planet earth. Imagine if we keep getting new stuff, using it, then throwing it on the rubbish tip. We will end up living in one big landfill. What a stink! But I have a solution – make less rubbish!

What is waste?

Waste is rubbish, refuse, litter, trash, garbage, junk, scrap and muck.

What can waste be made of?

Heaps of things! It is made from everything we don’t want. Waste can be plastic, orange peel, wood, DVD’s, TV’s, toys, weeds, cars, rags, old clothes and bad water.

Where does waste go?

Many places including rubbish dumps, landfill sites, incinerators, compost heaps, down the drain, into rivers and oceans.

At home we throw waste in the rubbish bin and put it on the street for collection. A truck takes it to a landfill site, a huge hole in the ground where everything is buried.

People have buried rubbish for hundreds of years. In most countries in the world, it is still the most popular way to get rid of waste. In the old days, rubbish dumps where set up in old quarries and other mining sites.

Running a landfill can be quite cheap and environmentally friendly too but in time better methods will need to be found as land is being used up for other things like houses, factories, farms and shopping centres.

Some waste is burned. Burning waste is often called incineration. Other names include “waste to energy” and “thermal treatment”. 

Individuals and large industries incinerate waste. Incineration on an individual scale can be burning off dead leaves in the backyard. Incineration on an industrial level is a good method for getting rid of hazardous waste materials like the waste that comes from hospitals.

“Thermal treatment” as an incineration process which doesn’t just mean burning the rubbish. After thermal treatment rubbish takes up less space, it makes energy that can be collected and can leave materials behind that can be reused. The ash after burning may be toxic and needs to be disposed of safely.

We are getting better at handling waste. We are also getting better at burning it, collecting useful products and stopping toxic gases from polluting the air. Governments have made very strict rules on how to do it and keep it safe for people and safe for the environment.

Do you know?

1. More than 3.4 litres (3/4 gallon) of oil are needed to make one new laser cartridge. For each refill of toner one less cartridge is made and this amount of oil is saved.
2. Energy from burning can be used to make steam. The steam can drive an electrical generator to create electricity. 
3. Toxic ash is melted with electric plasma torches to make non-toxic glassy pebbles. The pebbles are very useful for making concrete. France and Germany invented this process in the mid 1990’s.
4. Composting is a way to dump organic rubbish like food scraps and garden clippings. The process of composting turns scraps into good quality dirt that can be used in gardens.
5. There can be problems with burning and burying rubbish. Buried rubbish can leak toxic substances into the ground and burning rubbish pumps toxic gases into the air. Either way the rubbish lets off chemicals that are bad for the environment.
6. On average, 80% of what we throw away can be reused or recycled.

So the key is to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Learn all about Reducing waste.