Solid Waste Management Program - Term Paper Example

? Solid Waste Management Program Introduction The ‘use and throw’ consumerism together with modern lifestyle-changes has drastically contributed to the increased disposal of industrial wastes, particularly solid wastes. Hazardous solid wastes raise potential challenges to human race and to the environment as a whole. In addition, waste dumping practices can have adverse effect on a nation’s economic growth. In order to address waste dump issues, today many industrially developed nations including the United States export their refuse to the Third World. Evidently, this unfair practice has been negatively affecting cultures and ecosystems throughout the globe for decades. However, today nations around the globe give particular focus to better solid waste management practices. Solid waste management programs vary from country to country or even from region to region in accordance with geographical variances and resource availability. Such programs are driven by the combined efforts of national governments, public organizations, private companies, and other community interest groups. This paper will evaluate the quality of the solid waste management program in Mississauga with reference given to cost-benefit relationship. The paper will provide some real world recommendation for making essential changes to the current policy framework. Solid Waste Management By the end of the 19th century, processes like globalization broadened the world of consumers and the situation in turn led to the generation of huge volume of complex waste substances. Evidently, solid wastes have more immediate health effects on human beings. Solid wastes can be of several types including household waste, industrial waste, and biomedical waste. Considering the alarming threat of waste dumping practices, the concept of solid waste management is of particular importance in today’s world. According to the Legal Information Institute, “the term solid waste management means the systematic administration of activities which provide for the collection, source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, treatment, and disposal of solid waste” (Legal Information Institute). Reduce, reuse, and recycle are the central concepts of solid waste management. It is commonly believed that solid waste management is a state function. Although the government has the obligation to lead solid waste programs in the country, combined efforts of people, communities, and organizations are necessary to address this issue successfully. Authors like Nemerow et al opine that solid waste management is a complex process that comprises of many technologies and disciplines (177). Solid waste management is not such a big deal in villages because most of the waste materials except plastic wastes can be managed through composting and recycling. However, it is a great challenge for local governments in developing countries as they lack adequate transportation facilities and other equipments. Recently, a concept called integrated solid waste management has been developed for managing municipal solid waste through a number of interrelated activities. Solid Waste Management Programs in the Region of Peel Comprehensive solid waste management programs are being implemented in the Region of Peel, City of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The region’s solid waste management is based on a ‘5Rs Waste Hierarchy’ where the 5Rs are ‘rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover’ (Region of Peel). First, people must rethink about their waste management practices and try to adopt environmentally-friendly purchase habits. For instance, people may buy rechargeable batteries instead of single use batteries and buy fewer other single use products. Secondly, individuals must try to reduce the waste they generate. For this, it is better to use reusable lunch boxes, travel mugs, and products with less packaging if possible. Third, people have to reuse their products in different ways or to share them with others. To illustrate, scrap papers and used envelops can be used to make writing pads. Fourth, people should recycle unwanted goods and materials. They can approach recycling organizations to make special deals by which they would be paid for their products recycled. Finally, individuals must try to recover energy from the waste generated. As part of this strategy, the Region of Peel is striving to develop an energy-from-waste technique as a long term solution for waste disposal. Composting is the main strategy used by this region to manage its solid wastes; and, projects like Heart Lake Community Recycling Centre and Clarkson Community Recycling Centre are currently under construction (Region of Peel). The Region of Peel provides curbside waste collection services to the people so as to make the area ‘green’(Region of Peel). People can place the garbage containers at the curb by 7 a.m. and this will be collected by the workers concerned. There is a well defined set of collection services and schedules given in the website of the Peel region. Similarly, it is interesting to see that the Region of Peel offers special event recycling services to its citizens. This service pays particular attention to “larger community events that generate considerable recyclable materials and do not have access to curbside recycling” (Region of Peel). Due to equipment and staff limitations, this service is provided on a ‘first-come, first served’ basis. Two organics containers such a blue box and green box are provided as part of collecting garbage generated in a special event. There is a particular standard to suggest people what to put in each box and what do not. According to the Recycling Guide, items such as cardboard food containers, wooden utensils, paper towels or napkins, and food scraps should put into the green box whereas the blue box is used to collect items like plastic bottles, steel and aluminum beverage cans, milk cartons and juice boxes, glass bottles, printed papers and newspapers, and polystyrene foam/Styrofoam packaging (‘Organic Guide’), (Recycling Guide). In addition, the ‘reuse, recycle & donation’ policy also better serves the Peel to reduce waste dumping issues. Through this program, authorities try to collect gently used household items from people and deliver them to a new home or charitable organizations. It is obvious that a variety of recyclable waste materials such as paper glasses and plates, cardboard boxes, and other paper wastes are dumped during a community event. Generally, solid wastes remain in the event site for several weeks and the situation in turn causes harms to human health and ecology. Therefore, the special event service offered by the Region of Peel is greatly helpful to handle solid wastes in this area. While analyzing the 2012 budget document prepared by the Peel’s Waste Management Division, it is clear that the region spend a considerable amount on solid waste management activities. However, the region’s spending on waste management seems to be reasonable because the Waste Management Division’s revenues are greatly improved over time. To illustrate, proposed total revenues for 2012 was $31.8 million, which indicated an increase of $2.3 million or 7.9% as compared to the previous year budget (2012 budget document). However, the proposed net expenditure still represents a huge figure ($90.7 million) and which has to be raised from external sources. Finally, it is identified that the Peel region’s solid waste management policies rely on scientific advancements. In other words, the region particularly focuses on technological innovations to improve its waste management efficiency and to trim down operational costs thereby. Staff shortage is the major limitation of various programs implemented. Due to this issue, the Region of Peel often fails to achieve the anticipated outcomes. Policy Change Recommendations According to the Waste Management Division’s 2012 budget document, the region’s waste management operations still run at a huge net expenditure although its revenues are improving constantly. In this context, it would be difficult for the region to perform its waste management operations efficiently for a long time. Therefore, it is particularly important for the Peel region to explore some newer and potential sources of revenue that can improve its net expenditure. Here, it is recommendable for the Peel region to focus more on waste to energy, or interchangeably energy from waste, technologies. Waste to energy can be simply referred to a process where energy is generated in the form of heat or electricity through the incineration of waste. Incineration is “the process of reducing combustible waste to inert residues by high temperature combustion” (Thomas-Hope 191). In contrast to traditional incineration operations where huge amount of pollutant gases were emitted, modern incineration plants are eco-friendly and release little toxic gases. As per Ramboll report, modern incinerators can reduce the volume of waste by approximately 95 to 96% depending on the kind of waste material incinerated. Many countries have been successfully employing the incineration technique to convert their municipal wastes into energy for several years. An RDF is burnt during the incineration process to boil water and to power stream generators. As a result, electricity is generated and it is potential for home as well as business use (“Waste-to-Energy..”). Hence, the waste to energy method would not only assist the region to manage its solid waste but also increase revenues by selling the electricity generated. In addition, this technique will help the Peel region to meet its growing energy needs without huge investments. According to Salkever, most of the waste-to-energy techniques are energy neutral and this feature adds to the potentiality of the policy. Earlier, the practice of solid waste incineration for the generation of electricity was criticized because it contributed to acid rains and thereby environmental damages. In response to such environmental concerns, municipalities used technologies like lime scrubbers on smokestacks. A New York Times report says that modern incineration plants are really eco-friendly. The report particularly points that “many times more dioxin is now released from home fireplaces and backyard barbecues than from incineration” (Rosenthal). In order to make things better, today improved technologies have been developed that facilitate generation of electricity from waste materials without depending on direct combustion. Most of those technologies are potential to generate more amount of electricity using the same of volume of solid waste. Therefore, modern waste-to-energy plants are more potential in terms of efficiency and productivity. It seems that the proposed policy equally serves the interests of all citizens and assists them obtain electricity at cheaper rates. Evidently, the waste to energy policy greatly enhances environmental sustainability as promotes effective solid waste management and develops a greener source of electricity. Considering the significance of solid waste management and energy efficiency, industrially developed countries like China and Japan have built a number of waste-to-energy plants over the past few years. Although the Region of Peel needs to make huge investments initially, this project would greatly benefit the region in the long term. The region’s Waste Management Division is particularly responsible for raising adequate funds for the development of the proposed plan. For this, it is important to depend on government funds, social welfare funds, businesses, and private contributions. It is recommendable for the bodies concerned to conduct some waste to energy campaigns so as to convince the people about the potentiality of the plan. Undoubtedly, the effective implementation of this project would assist the Waste Management Division to improve its net expenditure level significantly. Conclusions From the above discussion, it is clear that the Region of Peel has developed some well structured practices to address its solid waste management needs. Curbside waste collection, special event waste recycling, waste reuse services are the major activities of the region’s Waste Management Division. Although the region’s solid waste management seems effective, it runs at huge net expenditure and the situation may threaten the operational efficiency of the region in the long run. The situation points to the need of rapid move both in terms of strategies and financial planning. It is recommendable for the Peel Region to adopt advanced waste to energy technologies, for this approach would reduce the costs associated with its operation to a great extent. This proposed policy is energy neutral and hence it can promote environmental sustainability in the long run. Waste to energy method would assist the region to increase its revenues and to meet the growing electricity demand in the region. In order to convince the people regarding the necessity of this project, the region’s Waste Management Division must organize public awareness campaigns. Finally, the Peel Region must be vigilant in choosing proper waste to energy technique, because some of those methods like direct combustion can have adverse impacts on the environment. Works Cited Elizabeth, M and Thomas-Hope. Solid Waste Management: Critical Issues For Developing Countries. Canoe Press, 1998. Legal Information Institute, 1992. Web 06 March 2013 Nemerow, Nelson.L and Agardy, Franklin. J. Environmental Engineering: Environmental Health and Safety for Municipal Infrastructure, Land Use and Planning, and Industry. John Wiley & Sons, 2009.  Organics Guide. Web 06 March 2013 Region of Peel. Public works Waste Management. Web 06 March 2013 Ramboll.”The most efficient waste management system in Europe”. Web 06 March 2013 Rosenthal, Elizabeth. “Europe Finds Clean Energy in Trash, but U.S. Lags”. New York Times (2010, April 12). Web 06 March 2013 Recycling Guide. Web 06 March 2013 Salkever, Alex. “Converting human waste to energy, here today; dung farms booming tomorrow”. Daily Finance, (2009, Sep 16). Web 06 March 2013 Waste Management – 2012 Budget Document. Web 06 March 2013 “Waste-to-Energy: A Technical Review of Municipal Solid Waste Thermal Treatment Practices”. Stantec, (2011). Web 06 March 2013 Read More