Households in the UK each generate around one tonne of waste per year, and the successful management and disposal of this waste is becoming an increasingly important issue. In many cases, recycling is the most sensible option, and the UK government has set a target to recycle a quarter of all household waste by the year 2000. This book gives an overview of the waste management and disposal options currently available, and provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of how recycling could develop. The author – one of the UK's leading experts – looks at how much of the waste is potentially recyclable, shows the various ways in which recyclable materials can be separated and reprocessed, and assesses the existing markets for recyclable materials. He gives an in-depth account of the important subject of packaging recycling, and compares the UK's progress and performance with what is happening elsewhere in Europe. He also discusses how the performance of current recycling schemes can be measured and costed, and forecasts future developments in the industry. Dr Richard Waite is a former Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Environment Select Committee and is currently a consultant with Coopers & Lybrand. He established one of the first commercial MRFs in the country, and has advised many local authorities, central government departments (including the European Commission) and private sector organisations on recycling issues. Originally published in 1995

A practical guide for the identification and management of a range of hazardous wastes, Waste Management Practices: Municipal, Hazardous, and Industrial integrates technical information including chemistry, microbiology, and engineering, with current regulations. Emphasizing basic environmental science and related technical fields, the book is an i

In a world where waste incinerators are not an option and landfills are at over capacity, cities are hard pressed to find a solution to the problem of what to do with their solid waste. Handbook of Solid Waste Management, 2/e offers a solution. This handbook offers an integrated approach to the planning, design, and management of economical and environmentally responsible solid waste disposal system. Let twenty industry and government experts provide you with the tools to design a solid waste management system capable of disposing of waste in a cost-efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Focusing on the six primary functions of an integrated system--source reduction, toxicity reduction, recycling and reuse, composting, waste- to-energy combustion, and landfilling--they explore each technology and examine its problems, costs, and legal and social ramifications.

Solid waste management issues are a highly emotive topic. Disposal costs need to be balanced against environmental impact, which often results in heated public debate. Disposal options such as incineration and landfill, whilst unpopular with both the public and environmental pressure groups, do not pose the same environmental and health risks as, for example, recycling plants. This book, written by international experts, discusses the various waste disposal options that are available (landfill, incineration, composting, recycling) and then reviews their impact on the environment, and particularly on human health. Comprehensive and highly topical, Environmental and Health Impact of Solid Waste Management Activities will make a strong contribution to scientific knowledge in the area, and will be of value to scientists and policy-makers in particular.

This book surveys existing literature from both waste management and behavioural sciences to offer a complete overview of how economic agents relate to a central matter in the policy making agenda: that of waste prevention and recycling. Environmental behavioural economics is a growing field of research, yet investigation in this area concentrates mostly on energy savings or pollution reduction. The authors highlight the importance of the role of waste management, analysing the effect of monetary and non-monetary incentives and motivations, and explores the complex interplay between motivations, recycling, minimisation and waste policies to affect consumer behaviour. This book will be of interest to researchers and policy-makers in the fields of waste management and environmental economics.

Solid waste was already a problem long before water and air pollution issues attracted public attention. Historically the problem associated with solid waste can be dated back to prehistoric days. Due to the invention of new products, technologies and services the quantity and quality of the waste have changed over the years. Waste characteristics not only depend on income, culture and geography but also on a society's economy and, situations like disasters that affect that economy. There was tremendous industrial activity in Europe during the industrial revolution. The twentieth century is recognized as the American Century and the twenty-first century is recognized as the Asian Century in which everyone wants to earn ‘as much as possible’. After Asia the currently developing Africa could next take the center stage. With transitions in their economies many countries have also witnessed an explosion of waste quantities. Solid waste problems and approaches to tackling them vary from country to country. For example, while efforts are made to collect and dispose hospital waste through separate mechanisms in India it is burnt together with municipal solid waste in Sweden. While trans-boundary movement of waste has been addressed in numerous international agreements, it still reaches developing countries in many forms. While thousands of people depend on waste for their livelihood throughout the world, many others face problems due to poor waste management. In this context solid waste has not remained an issue to be tackled by the local urban bodies alone. It has become a subject of importance for engineers as well as doctors, psychologist, economists, and climate scientists and any others. There are huge changes in waste management in different parts of the world at different times in history. To address these issues, an effort has been made by the authors to combine their experience and bring together a new text book on the theory and practice of the subject covering the important relevant literature at the same time.

Rapid global urbanization and increases in living standards in recent decades have led to changes in the household hazardous waste (HHW) generation characteristics due to increases in buying power and easier access to products that are convenient but not always safe. In recent years, the amount of diversified hazardous materials and/or potentially hazardous materials, such as cleaning products, medicines, personal care products, packaging and container products, phthalates, and antibacterial agents, poses a serious threat to the environment and public health. As a result developed countries have adopted well-functioning policy measures and innovative technologies to deal with HHW. On the other hand, developing countries have weak institutional structures and poor policy performance and have adopted ad hoc approaches to manage HHW. The book contains five chapters covering topics of household hazardous waste management and exposure assessment. This book will be useful to many research scientists, solid and hazardous waste managers, administrators, librarians, and students in the scope of development in solid and hazardous waste management program including sources of household hazardous waste, exposure assessment, and government policies on waste generation and treatment and processing of HHW.

Waste: A Handbook for Management gives the broadest, most complete coverage of waste in our society. The book examines a wide range of waste streams, including: - Household waste (compostable material, paper, glass, textiles, household chemicals, plastic, water, and e-waste) - Industrial waste (metals, building materials, tires, medical, batteries, hazardous mining, and nuclear) - Societal waste (ocean, military, and space) - The future of landfills and incinerators Covering all the issues related to waste in one volume helps lead to comparisons, synergistic solutions, and a more informed society. In addition, the book offers the best ways of managing waste problems through recycling, incineration, landfill and other processes. - Co-author Daniel Vallero interviewed on NBC's Today show for a segment on recycling - Scientific and non-biased overviews will assist scientists, technicians, engineers, and government leaders - Covers all main types of waste, including household, industrial, and societal - Strong focus on management and recycling provides solutions