Waste management

[12][13] Electronic waste (ewaste) includes discarded computer monitors, motherboards, mobile phones and chargers, compact discs (CDs), headphones, television sets, air conditioners and refrigerators.Each phase in this lifecycle presents unique opportunities for policy intervention, allowing stakeholders to rethink the necessity of the product, redesign it to minimize its waste potential, and extend its useful life.Optimizing this stage can involve reducing packaging, choosing more sustainable transportation methods, and improving supply chain efficiencies to lower the overall environmental impact.Policies and practices that encourage responsible use, regular maintenance, and the proper functioning of products can extend their lifespan, thus reducing the need for frequent replacements and decreasing overall waste.Through optimizing product designs, manufacturing processes, and end-of-life management, LCA aims to maximize the use of the world's limited resources and minimize the unnecessary generation of waste.[20] Throughout most of history, the amount of waste generated by humans was insignificant due to low levels of population density and exploitation of natural resources.In the UK, the Nuisance Removal and Disease Prevention Act of 1846 began what was to be a steadily evolving process of the provision of regulated waste management in London.[25] The Metropolitan Board of Works was the first citywide authority that centralized sanitation regulation for the rapidly expanding city, and the Public Health Act 1875 made it compulsory for every household to deposit their weekly waste in "moveable receptacles" for disposal—the first concept for a dustbin.Such systems are capable of sorting large volumes of solid waste, salvaging recyclables, and turning the rest into bio-gas and soil conditioners.The three streams are collected with the curbside "Fantastic 3" bin system – blue for recyclables, green for compostables, and black for landfill-bound materials – provided to residents and businesses and serviced by San Francisco's sole refuse hauler, Recology.The city's "Pay-As-You-Throw" system charges customers by the volume of landfill-bound materials, which provides a financial incentive to separate recyclables and compostables from other discards.Incineration is a controversial method of waste disposal, due to issues such as the emission of gaseous pollutants including substantial quantities of carbon dioxide.Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) are broad terms for facilities that burn waste in a furnace or boiler to generate heat, steam, or electricity.Particular concern has focused on some very persistent organic compounds such as dioxins, furans, and PAHs, which may be created and which may have serious environmental consequences and some heavy metals such as mercury[43] and lead which can be volatilised in the combustion process..[46][47] The most common consumer products recycled include aluminium such as beverage cans, copper such as wire, steel from food and aerosol cans, old steel furnishings or equipment, rubber tyres, polyethylene and PET bottles, glass bottles and jars, paperboard cartons, newspapers, magazines and light paper, and corrugated fiberboard boxes.[48] In July 2017, the Chinese government announced an import ban of 24 categories of recyclables and solid waste, including plastic, textiles and mixed paper, placing tremendous impact on developed countries globally, which exported directly or indirectly to China.Pyrolysis and gasification are two related forms of thermal treatment where waste materials are heated to high temperatures with limited oxygen availability.Water removal is the primary means of weight and volume reduction, while pathogen destruction is frequently accomplished through heating during thermophilic digestion, composting, or incineration.Air-drying and composting may be attractive to rural communities, while limited land availability may make aerobic digestion and mechanical dewatering preferable for cities, and economies of scale may encourage energy recovery alternatives in metropolitan areas.Multiple factors affect which countries produce waste and at what magnitude, including geographic location, degree of industrialization, and level of integration into the global economy.Family organized, or individual manual scavengers are often involved with waste management practices with very little supportive network and facilities with increased risk of health effects.Incorporating life cycle assessments, the report contrasts scenarios from maintaining the status quo to fully adopting zero waste and circular economy principles.To prevent the direst outcomes, the report calls for immediate action across multiple sectors, including development banks, governments, municipalities, producers, retailers, and citizens, providing targeted strategies for waste reduction and improved management practices.The major components such as kitchen waste, paper and rubber & plastics in different eastern coastal cities have fluctuation in the range of 52.8–65.3%, 3.5–11.9%, and 9.9–19.1%, respectively.[101] Despite all these changes, Debbie Raphael, director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment, states that zero waste is still not achievable until all products are designed differently to be able to be recycled or compostable.In Zambia, ASAZA is a community-based organization whose principal purpose is to complement the efforts of the Government and cooperating partners to uplift the standard of living for disadvantaged communities.ASAZA is also at the same time helping alleviate the problems of unemployment and poverty through income generation and payment of participants, women, and unskilled youths.[105] A record 53.6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21 percent in just five years, according to the UN's Global E-waste Monitor 2020, released today.This makes e-waste the world's fastest-growing domestic waste stream, fueled mainly by higher consumption rates of electric and electronic equipment, short life cycles, and few options for repair.This means that gold, silver, copper, platinum, and other high-value, recoverable materials conservatively valued at US$57 billion – a sum greater than the Gross Domestic Product of most countries – were mostly dumped or burned rather than being collected for treatment and reuse.