Overview of Waste Management Options: Their Efficacy and Acceptability

KIT STRANGE

1 Introduction

Managing solid wastes in society has been a challenge for as long as people have gathered together in sufficient numbers to impose a stress on local resources. In bygone centuries (and nowadays in poorer countries) waste from homes and industries could be dealt with simply by hauling it to crude dumps where it could be buried, eaten by animals and burned.

Household waste and other waste streams needed to be removed from the human environment to avoid nuisance and public health problems, and the wider environment provided an ample sink for these negative effects of human life. Growth in population and in individual prosperity have since combined to put greater pressure on the environment, at the same time as permitting a growth in people's appreciation of that environment. Consequently waste management policy and practice in industrialised countries developed rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, to ensure that, while public and occupational health risks are minimised, environmental resources are protected.

Since the 1980s one of the driving forces in shaping waste policy, along with many other aspects of life in society, has been the over-arching goal of sustainable development. Within this broader ambition, approaches to waste management have changed, embracing the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. In practical terms, sustainable waste management has been equated with integrated waste management, the judicious application of a range of options to achieve a broadly optimal system of waste management and resource recovery.

2 Key Issues

The main challenge for a modern, industrial country is to break the historic link between waste creation and wealth creation. Over the years, per capita waste arisings and wealth (expressed as GDP) have appeared to grow inexorably – with waste production outstripping economic growth. Total reported waste generation within the EU and the European Free Trade Area increased by 10% between 1990 and 1995. Over this period, economic growth was 6.5% in constant prices. The EEA has demonstrated a close correlation between economic activity and municipal waste generation.

Although limited data hinder the development of projections for future waste trends, it is considered that most waste streams will probably increase over the next decade.

The European Union's 5th Environment Action programme Towards Sustainability set a target of stabilising municipal waste generation at the 1985 level of 320 kg/capita/annum by 2000. However, there has been little progress and it is clear that this was not met. In fact MSW generation within the EU averaged 400–450 kg per person in 2000, representing a growth of about 30% between 1985 and 2000 (an average annual growth of about 2%). The European Union's 6th Environment Action programme Environment 2010: our future, our choice changed from capping individual waste generation rates to setting targets for landfill diversion. This is arguably easier to achieve and is certainly easier to measure.

It remains very difficult to improve the way society uses resources, improving efficiency and reducing the environmental impacts associated with the flow of unwanted materials and energy. This is not because of any particular technical barriers, but is rather a matter of costs and acceptability. While holes in the ground are relatively abundant, more sustainable waste management options can seem unreasonably expensive alternatives, particularly when there is no agreement over who should bear those costs.

3 What Is Waste?

Definitions

The report focuses generally on municipal solid waste (MSW). The definition of MSW varies, but typically includes waste arising from private households to that collected by or on behalf of local authorities from any source. MSW therefore includes a proportion of commercial and non-hazardous industrial waste. Depending on the country, the definition can include some or all of:

• household wastes (collected waste, waste collected for recycling and composting, and waste deposited by householders at household waste disposal sites)

• household hazardous wastes

• bulky wastes derived from households

• street sweepings and litter

• parks and garden wastes

• wastes from institutions, commercial establishments and offices

In Britain, municipal waste is defined as waste collected by, or on behalf of, local authorities and includes all the waste types listed above, although the trade waste component tends to be limited. In most countries, municipal waste is taken to be a broader and more encompassing definition than simply household solid waste.

Depending on definitions, a study by the Dutch Environment Ministry (VROM), in 1997, found that the ratio of household waste to municipal waste varies dramatically from 45% (Norway) to...