waste disposal problems and solutions essay

15 Waste Disposal Problems, and Solutions to Tackle Them

The world’s waste disposal problems aren’t going away, but these 15 solutions could bring them under control.

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Wherever you are in the world, waste is a consistent by-product of daily living. And the massive volumes of waste being rapidly generated at a runaway pace make it an inescapable problem that has the potential to overwhelm us all.

According to the World Bank, the 2 billion tonnes of waste that is currently being generated each year is set to increase by over 70% to 3.4 billion tonnes within the next 20 years. Worse still, at least a third of waste is disposed of in an environmentally unsafe way!

Whichever way you look at it, waste is a big problem. But hopefully, there are solutions. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at 15 waste disposal problems and solutions that could improve our environment.

Waste is a growing problem

Since the latter half of the 20th century, the rate and volume of waste generation have been accelerating. Factors that include economic growth and expanding consumerism, along with urbanization , migration, and smaller and more fragmented households have led to waste generation of at least 2 billion metric tons each year.

The immense quantities of waste that need to be processed require countries to develop expansive infrastructures for waste processing and disposal, which are often beyond the resources of less economically developed nations. Even economically advanced nations are struggling to implement strategies that would lead to adequate recycling levels and more innovative landfill management.

Key sources and types of waste

The types and sources of waste are diverse, adding to the challenge of finding effective waste processing solutions. Waste is generated by every area of a functional society including:

• Residential households
• The commercial sector
• The agricultural sector
• Construction
• Social institutions like schools, prisons, and hospitals

The waste generated can be divided into four major groups :

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

This is the everyday waste generated in residences and by commercial and institutional activity. Major components of MSW include food waste, plastic, paper, metal, glass, and rags. MSW may also include industrial waste from construction and hazardous waste like discarded batteries or medicine.

Industrial Waste 

Industrial Solid Waste is determined by the industrial activity that generates the waste. Materials in industrial waste include demolition waste, packaging, oils, sludges, abrasives, wood, plastic, glass, and solvents. Industrial waste can vary in its hazardousness and environmental toxicity.

Agricultural Waste 

The agricultural sector generates significant amounts of non-hazardous and hazardous waste, which has increased with the expansion of this sector. Waste sources include livestock waste, crop residues, and various by-products of agricultural production and food processing.

Agricultural waste includes liquid and slurry waste that can become a significant environmental pollutant if it is not properly managed.

Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste is generated by sources that include construction, manufacturing, and healthcare. There are hundreds of thousands of toxic chemicals in mainstream use with thousands of novel substances added each year. Hazardous waste requires the most stringent standards of storage and disposal to prevent harm to human health and the environment.

Waste disposal is an urgent issue

The acceleration of global waste generation makes waste disposal an issue that cannot be ignored. As income levels increase, so does the per capita waste volume. By 2050 high-income countries are expected to have a 19% increase in the volume of waste they generate, but low and middle-income countries are projected to generate 40% more waste as their economies advance.

This is because waste generation has a greater increase for incremental increases in income in poorer countries compared to their wealthier counterparts. The largest proportion of the world’s waste (23%) is generated by East Asia and Pacific region countries, with Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia on a course to triple their total waste generation by 2050.

Environmental impacts of waste are mounting

Waste, in its various forms, is a leading environmental pollutant and is negatively impacting human health. One of the biggest environmental issues is the open dumping of unprocessed waste, a primary form of MSW disposal in many poorer nations. Often where waste is not dumped it is inadequately burned leading to a deterioration in air quality. Here are the main types of pollution caused by waste:

• Land pollution : Land is not only affected by the physical presence of rotting waste but also substances that leach into the soil, contaminating it. If hazardous substances or agricultural waste are improperly disposed of, they can cause long-term pollution that makes the land unfit for habitation or cultivation.
• Water pollution: Run-off from agricultural slurry and other wastes can contaminate surface bodies of water like rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. This leads to problems like eutrophication and plant or wildlife die-offs. Groundwater contamination from effluents or chemicals contaminates drinking water, endangering human health. And seas and oceans are affected by the 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of waste plastic they currently contain.
• Air pollution: Up to 1 billion metric tons (41%) of waste are burned worldwide, with open burning of MSW being a significant contributor. Waste burning and the decomposition of landfill and dumped waste releases greenhouse gases and notable air pollutants like methane, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide.

Without intervention, waste becomes a major public health issue with significant loss of habitats and ecosystems. The environmental degradation caused by waste is also a driver of macroeconomic and geopolitical instability as reduced land and resource availability fuels migration and war.

Current waste treatment and disposal methods are not sustainable

Modern waste management methods are limited in their ability to deal with a burgeoning waste mountain that is constantly increasing in size. In most societies, the options for municipal waste management are limited to:

• Compositing
• Incineration
• Chemical and biological treatments

The unsustainable growth in waste, driven by global demographic changes and consumption means that these mature methods of waste treatment and disposal used in most developed nations are already being exhausted by the volumes of waste produced.

For developing countries the hurdle to developing a sustainable waste management infrastructure is even higher, competing with other necessities like clean water and energy provision. However, neglect of waste management will prove to be costly to society, as these tragic cases demonstrate:

• The Quezon City landslide (2000): The collapse of a garbage dump in Quezon City in the Philippines led to a major landslide that killed up to 1000 people and destroyed hundreds of homes.
• Major flooding in Accra, Ghana (2015):  Plastic waste blocking drains on the streets of Accra, was a major contributor to a catastrophic flood that killed 150 people.
• Pneumonic/bubonic plague-like outbreak in Surat, India (1994): Over 5000 residents became ill and 53 people died in Surat, India , because of uncollected waste becoming a breeding ground for disease vectors.

We need to do waste differently

The international community is taking a new approach to waste disposal. The perspective on waste is slowly changing from how to deal with waste after it has been discarded, to how to prevent waste from being generated in the first place. In addition, stakeholders hope that waste can be transformed into a managed resource, that could be beneficial to society.

15 waste disposal problems and solutions

Finding novel solutions to the waste disposal problem requires a shift in thinking about waste. Processing and using waste as a resource coupled with an economic model that favors repair, recycling, and reuse might just bring the runaway waste problem under control. Here are 14 waste disposal problems and solutions:

1. Combat waste plastic by building plastic roads

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, almost 36 million tons of plastic waste are generated each year, with only 5% of this amount being recycled. Plastic is a pernicious problem that has a long-lasting harmful environmental impact. 

But now several companies are offering a revolutionary solution that will not only repurpose large amounts of waste plastic but also improve road quality. Enterprising companies are using waste plastic to create a sustainable alternative to the bitumen that is routinely used for road surfacing.

Plastic road surfaces are smooth, long-lasting, and even recyclable at the end of their lifespans. Local plastic waste can be used to make local roads! These roads and car parks have already been successfully installed in New York City. Plastic road company McRebur hopes that their roads are the start of a plastic economy that can be rolled out across the world.

2. Use black soldier fly larvae to combat agricultural waste

When it comes to agricultural waste, the black soldier fly may be the sector’s secret weapon! According to sustainable poultry consultancy, The Big Book Project , black soldier fly larvae are a nutritional powerhouse for poultry, and it thrives on organic agricultural waste. 

The black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ), is a fly species that is found across Africa, Europe, and Australasia. Its larvae are prolific feeders of food and animal waste, including manure. Not only do the larvae grow into a protein-rich food source for poultry, but they also turn the waste into valuable compost, free of obnoxious odor.

The University of Florida found that 45,000 of these maggots can digest over 24 kg of swine manure within two weeks. Black Soldier Fly larvae are already being adopted in countries like Kenya, with studies underway for large-scale production in the U.S. and Europe.

3. Cut down on waste glass by building with it

Though it is relatively easy to recycle glass , waste glass from demolition in the construction sector often heads straight to the landfill joining the 7.6 million tons of glass that end up there each year. Dots needs to be joined up on end-of-life building glass to save on the tens of millions of tonnes of primary raw materials and energy for producing new glass.

New initiatives for the reuse of end-of-life façade glass are changing things. Building contractors can ensure that waste glass is used as the following new building materials:

• Cullet – a form of crushed waste glass that can be used as an aggregate
• Glassphalt – a novel, durable road-surfacing material
• Composite glass worktops, tiles, and splashbacks
• Glass beads
• Spun or foam glass insulation

Proactive use of waste glass in construction has the potential to create a closed loop with glass being recycled and repurposed indefinitely. Governments can support construction companies in recycling waste glass by removing onerous waste management regulations that may make it easier for contractors to dump glass.

4. Reduce unnecessary packaging through Zero Waste stores

Bags, bottle wrappers, jars, and lids are a seemingly inexhaustible source of non-recycled waste. 95% of the 51 million tons of packaging discarded by Americans in 2021 went straight to landfill.

Little is being done to persuade manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers to reduce packaging, but the Zero Waste grassroots movement is gaining traction in the war on packaging and single-use plastics and helping engaged citizens jettison them altogether.

Zero Waste started as a lifestyle movement on the West Coast of America but has since gone global with Zero Waste stores opening up in towns and cities across the world. These stores offer a novel retail experience as you have to bring your bottles and containers to fill up on goods you dispense from a bulk supply.

Zero Waste stores currently have a strong millennial appeal with stores offering self-serve quantities of pantry staples, cleaning products, toiletries, and beverages. Customers only pay for the weight of products they take, saving money on purchasing large standardized packages in conventional grocery stores.

Prefer shopping on the Internet? Check out our round-up review of the best online zero-waste stores .

5. Cut municipal solid waste by turning waste into energy

Waste is increasingly being viewed as a potential energy source and alternative to finite fossil fuel resources . A ton of MSW can contain as much as 550 kWh of energy that can be used to heat and power homes and businesses. The primary method of energy recovery from waste is incineration .

The United States has 75 facilities that combust waste for energy recovery . This waste processing strategy forms a key part of the long-term management of waste, decreasing the volume of MSW that heads to the landfill and transforming waste into a renewable energy source.

Confined and controlled burning of waste is considered a better option than landfill disposal and waste incineration facilities use a range of technologies to treat exhaust air so that pollutants are minimized. In urban environments or regions (Japan, Sweden) where landfill availability is limited, MSW combustion facilities are much more common.

6. Reuse human waste by converting it to biogas

An enterprising US wastewater company has transformed human waste into a valuable energy source that is fueling municipal vehicles, including garbage trucks. Since 2016, the Persigo Wastewater Treatment Plant of Colorado Grand Junction has been processing millions of gallons of the city’s human waste into a renewable natural gas (RNG) called biomethane.

The biogas is generated from sewage through the activity of anaerobic bacteria. These organisms feed on the waste, transforming it into methane-rich biogas that can fuel vehicles or generate electricity. The multimillion-dollar project pipes the generated RNG from the sewage treatment works to the city fleet’s fuelling station, where it is sold to the city at a profit.

Biogas projects like this are also underway in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Norway. Smaller-scale biogas setups using animals have been used in Southeast Asia and Africa for heating and cooking.

7. Cut down on discarded items via “reduce, re-use, recycle”

Tackling waste generation at the source requires a new approach to how products are manufactured and used. Mass-produced products which have a short life span and cannot be easily repaired end up in landfill and require new resources and energy for manufacturing replacements.

Governments are keen to encourage the adoption of a circular economy that promotes the 3 Rs of waste management – reuse, recycling, and refurbishment of items so that the production and disposal of items are greatly reduced. The promotion of a circular economy, where the longevity and repurposing of products and materials are maximized may also provide new jobs and business opportunities.

8. Reduce landfill environmental impact via sanitary landfill management

Municipal authorities are being encouraged to explore more innovative approaches to landfill use that are sanitary and minimize disturbance of the immediate environment. Sanitary landfills can be trench, area, or ramp landfills that are deliberately designed to maximize the compaction of waste and minimize leaching and gas emissions.

Sanitary landfills harness the consolidation, compaction, and decomposition of waste under pressure to minimize the amount of space used by the landfill. The volume of waste is reduced by adding layers of earth that minimize exposure of the landfill waste to air which accelerates degradation and release of harmful gasses.

Sanitary landfill sites are carefully selected with detailed soil, geological and hydrological assessments. A liner and drainage system prevents leachate from the landfill from penetrating the ground. Sanitary landfills are also smart, integrating Internet of Things technology to monitor leachate composition and gas emissions.

9. Mitigate solid waste generation by waste diversion

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is actively addressing the problem of the high volume of municipal solid waste by implementing waste diversion strategies. Waste (or landfill) diversion encompasses any techniques, policies, or technologies that divert waste generated by the Agency from landfills, including:

• Source reduction (a reduction in the volume, mass, and toxicity or waste generated)

Once waste diversion strategies have been implemented, the success of the strategies is measured by landfill size, with the expectation that landfill size will not increase significantly, over the long term.

The EPA has had some success with waste diversion, with the waste diversion rate increasing from 47.3% in 2008 to over 70% by 2021 . The EPA also found that waste diversion reduced the costs of waste disposal and eased pressure on existing landfills.

10. Eliminate discarded cigarette butts by recycling them instead

They are easy to overlook, but cigarettes are a common source of street litter that simply ends up in a landfill. The cellulose acetate fiber that makes the butts biodegrades slowly, taking up to a decade to completely break down. The wide dispersal of discarded cigarette butts leads to trillions of them polluting rivers, streams, and oceans each year.

Over the last 20 years, efforts have been made to encourage smokers to put used cigarette butts in dedicated bins, but they are not routinely recycled. However, specialist recycling companies like Terracycle have developed facilities that can recycle cigarette butts, with financial support from Tobacco companies.

Cigarette butt recycling involves a thorough cleaning of the butt’s cellulose acetate material, which is then melted and extruded into pellets. The pellets can be mixed with other plastics for manufacturing new products like gutters, pipes, plastic fencing, and window frames.

11. Turn newspaper waste into NewspaperWood

In 2013, Dutch designer Mieke Meijer developed a novel and unique material called NewspaperWood from recycled newspapers. NewspaperWood takes discarded newspapers and glues them into a laminated material that has the appearance and grain of natural wood when it is cut. NewspaperWood is also 100% recyclable when used and can be pulped to produce other paper.

This cleverly reverse-engineered material can be cut, sanded, and milled for use in projects that would use other types of wood. Though this material is not currently mass-produced, it makes a great upcycled addition to a range of interior design and construction projects including use as fire-resistant roof tiles.

12. Tackle pollution with plastic-eating bacteria

One of the big problems of MSW is the large proportion of plastic that simply does not degrade. However, a remarkable discovery by Japanese scientists of bacteria that can break down plastic could be a game-changer for tackling the world’s plastic problem. 

A special bacteria, Ideonella sakaiensis , was discovered in sludge near a bottle recycling facility in Osaka. The bacteria were able to break down the chemical bonds in PET plastic, the type milk bottles are made from.

Though the rate of plastic breakdown by these bacteria is slow, scientists are studying this organism to see if its enzymes can be extracted and used on an industrial scale to digest the surplus waste plastic that easily pollutes the environment. This would require genetic engineering and may take many years to realize.

13. Use carbon engineering to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions from waste

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) makes up just 0.03% of the atmosphere. This gas is essential to life because of its use by plants in photosynthesis to create food. However, in recent times there have been concerns that this dense gas may have an insulating effect that promotes global warming, leading to efforts to reduce the amount of CO 2 that is generated by human activity.

Decomposing waste releases CO 2 and other carbon-rich gases like methane as it is degraded by bacteria. Strategies that reduce this carbon release include the introduction of technology that can capture and fix atmospheric carbon for use as a novel energy source.

This nascent technology, known as carbon engineering sucks CO 2 out of the air and sublimes it with water and other materials for long-term storage deep underground. So far, this carbon capture plan has not been realized, but it could offer mankind control over gas emissions in the future.

14. Clean up nuclear waste with fungal nuclear remediation

Nuclear waste is one of the most hazardous forms of waste and is capable of prolonged environmental contamination with serious implications for human and animal health. The dangers of radioactive waste mean that its disposal is difficult, with high transportation and storage costs.

Scientists have found a remarkable solution to cleaning radioactive waste in the form of mushroom species that can clean up this dangerous form of contamination. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in 2011, mushrooms were planted to reduce the levels of radioactive contamination of the surrounding land.

The mushrooms hyper-accumulate radiation from the surrounding environment in their tissues. The resultant radioactive fungi can then be harvested and incinerated, with the radioactive ash carefully stored in much smaller quantities than other nuclear waste.

15. Cut down on discarded electronics via precious metal recovery

Electronic waste is a pressing waste problem as over 50 million tons of spent electronics are thrown in the trash worldwide every year. Less than 20% of the PCs, laptops, phones, and tablets that are discarded will be recycled. And the quantities are climbing, with levels of discarded electronics exceeding 74 million tons by the end of the decade.

Electronic waste is a big issue for several reasons. Not only is it often hazardous, requiring specialist disposal, but it also leads to the loss of large quantities of precious and rare earth metals that are simply discarded when a computer or phone reaches the end of its lifespan.

A broken mobile phone may not look like it is carrying gold and silver, but these rare and unique metals are essential for the precision functioning of electronic and radio frequency connectors within devices.

Several companies are now paying attention to the vast quantities of precious metals that could be recovered from electronics. Canadian company Excir has partnered with England’s Royal Mint to recover gold, silver, and platinum from old electronic equipment using proprietary methods and technologies.

This clean tech company aims to recover gold and silver from circuit boards using methods that include chemical leaching, pulverization, and smelting.

These methods were also successfully used to recover gold, silver, and bronze for the medals of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

In conclusion

It’s clear that there are many solutions that can impact the world’s waste problem. Over time, source reduction, waste diversion, inventive recovery, and repurposing of materials can gain traction in reducing solid waste levels. 

However, for lasting reductions in waste generation, significant changes in the nature and patterns of consumption may be necessary. While it is still profitable for businesses to use excessive packaging or to manufacture low-quality, short-lifespan goods that can’t be easily repaired, the landfills will continue to get larger. 

Poorer countries need to be supported in developing waste management and sanitation infrastructure that can reduce or eliminate the polluting effects of waste. Targeted investment in projects like waste incineration plants or recycling technology can improve quality of life for local populations and give their economies the momentum they need to grow.

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Climate Action

How our trash impacts the environment.

• How Our Trash Impacts…

February 28, 2019

By Austin Downs, Richard Acevedo and Kennedi Humble

Due to the mass amounts of unsustainable, human-generated waste entering our environment, the detrimental effects of pollution have continued to negatively impact numerous ecosystems around the world. Different types of waste, such as microplastics, are continuously polluting our oceans and landfills due to the lack of biodegradable and recyclable materials within these pollutants. A recent study found that out of the  400 million  metric tons of plastic waste produced annually, only  9%  is successfully recycled. (Find out  more about plastic pollution  and how you can help  reduce your own waste .) In 2017, for instance, the Environmental Protection Agency calculated the United States’s total generation of solid waste to be around  267.8 million tons , ultimately representing a  5.7 million  waste increase since 2015. All together, unsustainable waste has negatively impacted the environment through its contribution to worsening the climate crisis, wildlife population, and our very own public health. 

Climate Change

The way our society disposes of waste is not only extremely troubling, but has become increasingly irresponsible as well. Our government leaders have failed to implement sustainable foundations into action to allow our environment to successfully mitigate and adapt to climate change. For example, when looking at the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and landfills, researchers found that  20%  of the total human-driven methane emissions have been produced from waste landfills, and  91% of these landfill methane emissions  have been caused by open-trash incineration. Considering that approximately  65%  of the United State’s waste is being discarded in this manner, the crucial lack of sustainable government regulations and involvement on the waste disposal process continues to contribute large-scale risks to both our atmosphere and the people that live near these burning sites.

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Ecosystems vary widely from location to location. However, one of the most dire consequences of our global waste problem manifests itself in relation to our marine life and waterways. In other words, human-generated waste affects mass amounts of aquatic beings that are dependent on the ocean for their livelihood. Numerous marine species consume mass amounts of plastic or solid waste due to their inability to distinguish between food and waste and are continuing to have traces of pollutants within their body. Researchers have found  microplastics  in 100% of turtles, 59% of whales, 36% in seals, and even 90% in seabirds they examined. Not to mention, waste pollution is often deadly, resulting in over  100,000  marine mammals to be killed annually. When it comes to biodiversity, our waste problem is severely plaguing the health of the world’s species.

Public Health

Human health is at risk through our lack of environmental awareness and action. If our society continues to produce large amounts of trash without proper disposal, it will be the downfall of humanity, wildlife and ecosystem well-being. We cannot prevent or promote longevity if humankind does not adapt sustainable behaviors toward our Earth. If emissions from waste disposal continue to increase, climate will not only be negatively impacted, but human health as well. Through environmental contamination, one can develop  diseases , such as asthma, birth defects, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and more. These issues will continue to increase if environmental action is not established in the near future.

Austin Downs is the coordinator for the Great Global Cleanup. 

Richard Acevedo is a Fall 2019 intern.

Kennedi Humble is a Fall 2023 intern

Earth Day Network

Related stories, earthday.org’s interview with two youth climate activists, end plastics, angry birds are angry at plastic, our plastic ocean.

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Essay on Waste Management

• Updated on  
• May 11, 2023

Every year, the amount of waste is doubling because of the increasing population around the world. The 3Rs, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle should be followed to help in waste management. Waste management is the need of the hour and should be followed by individuals globally. This is also a common essay topic in the school curriculum and various academic and competitive exams like IELTS , TOEFL , SAT , UPSC , etc. In this blog, let us explore how to write an essay on Waste Management.

This Blog Includes:

Tips for writing an essay on waste management , what is the meaning of waste management, essay on waste management in 200 words, essay on waste management in 300 words .

To write an impactful and scoring essay, here are some tips on how to manage waste and write a good essay:

• The initial step is to write an introduction or background information about the topic
• You must use a formal style of writing and avoid using slang language.
• To make an essay more impactful, write dates, quotations, and names to provide a better understanding
• You can use jargon wherever it is necessary, as it sometimes makes an essay complicated
• To make an essay more creative, you can also add information in bulleted points wherever possible
• Always remember to add a conclusion where you need to summarise crucial points
• Once you are done, read through the lines and check spelling and grammar mistakes before submission

Waste management is the management of waste by disposal and recycling of it. It requires proper techniques while keeping in mind the environmental situations. For example, there are various methods and techniques through which the waste is disposed of. Some of these are Landfills, Recycling, Composting, etc. These methods are useful in disposing of waste without causing any harm to the environment.

Sample Essays  on Waste Management

To help you write a perfect essay that would help you score well, here are some sample essays to give you an idea about the same.

One of the crucial aspects of today’s society is waste management. Due to a surge in population, the waste is generated in millions of tons day by day and affects the lives of a plethora of people across the globe. Mostly the affected people live in slums that are extremely close to the waste disposal areas; thus, they are highly prone to communicable and non-communicable diseases. These people are deprived of necessities to maintain a healthy life, including sanitation and proper hygiene. 

There are various methods and techniques for disposing of waste including Composting, Landfills, Recycling, and much more. These methods are helpful in disposing of waste without being harmful to the environment. Waste management is helpful in protecting the environment and creating safety of the surrounding environment for humans and animals. The major health issue faced by people across the world is environmental pollution and this issue can only be solved or prevented by proper waste management so that a small amount of waste is there in the environment. One of the prominent and successful waste management processes, recycling enables us not only in saving resources but also in preventing the accumulation of waste. Therefore it is very important to teach and execute waste management.

The basic mantra of waste management is” Refuse, Reuse, Reduce, Repurpose, and Recycle”. Waste management is basically the collection or accumulation of waste and its disposal. This process involves the proper management of waste including recycling waste generated and even generating useful renewable energy from it. One of the most recent initiatives taken by various countries at the local, national and international levels, waste management is a way of taking care of planet earth. This responsible act helps in providing a good and stable environment for the present and future generations. In India, most animals get choked and struggle till death because they consume waste on the streets.

So far many lives are lost, not only animals but also humans due to a lack of proper waste management. There are various methods and techniques for disposing of waste including Composting, Landfills, Recycling, and much more. These methods are helpful in disposing of waste without being harmful to the environment. Waste management is helpful in protecting the environment and creating safety of the surrounding environment for humans and animals. This process of waste management evolved due to industrialization as prior to these inventions simple burying was sufficient for disposing of waste.

One of the crucial things to control waste is creating awareness among people and this can only be achieved only when the governments and stakeholders in various countries take this health issue seriously. To communicate with various communities and reach each end of the country, the message can be communicated through media and related platforms. People also need to participate in waste management procedures by getting self-motivated and taking care of activities of daily living. These steps to create consciousness about waste management are crucial to guarantee the success and welfare of the people and most importantly our planet earth.

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We hope this blog has helped you structure a terrific essay on waste management. Planning to ace your IELTS, get expert tips from coaches at Leverage Live by Leverage Edu .

Sonal is a creative, enthusiastic writer and editor who has worked extensively for the Study Abroad domain. She splits her time between shooting fun insta reels and learning new tools for content marketing. If she is missing from her desk, you can find her with a group of people cracking silly jokes or petting neighbourhood dogs.

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Recycling Problems and Its Solutions Essay

Introduction, problems of recycling, solutions to recycling problems, works cited.

The sustainability of global economies and the survival of all living species primarily depends on how clean their surrounding environments are. Clean ecosystems ensure that all living organisms thrive well within their ecosystems, something rare in present times due to increased environmental pollution and degradation.

When comparing the past and present world, it is not wrong for one to argue that there are likelihoods of extinction of all living species if pollution continues with the present rate. This is because considering the rate at which human practices are destroying the environment, soon or later, there may be nothing that can sustain life, which may eventually lead to extinction. Although nature has tried to replace destroyed habitats and decomposes pollutants, the rate of disposal and environmental destruction outweighs its efforts.

The un-decomposability of some wastes and their destructive nature compounds this, hence making environmental preservation harder. This is because these un-decomposable wastes remain embedded in the environment leading to dire harm to the peaceful balance in world ecosystems.

One funny thing that has always amazed individuals fighting to preserve the environment is that, although human beings have experienced calamities resulting from environmental pollution, they still propagate the practice. This has greatly jeopardized protection efforts, hence resulted in many calamities that have caused immense destruction of property and lives.

It is possible humans may blame nature for is the inability to decompose wastes; assuming that is its main function. However, one fundamental question that all individuals should ask themselves is; environmental protection is whose duty? After a critical examination of this question, again all individuals should ask themselves this; what is the ere contribution to environmental pollution?

Also, which efforts have they put in place to control the practice? Although technologically one may lack an advanced mechanism of curbing pollution, there is a simple methodology that all can embrace; Recycling. This paper will discuss concepts of recycling problems and their solutions as pertains to environmental preservation.

Environmental conservation encompasses the little efforts that all individuals do to ensure the environment remain safe and sound for the sustainability of life. Having complex systems of waste handling do not guarantee that the environment will always remain clean but rather, the achievement of a clean environment depends on waste disposal practices adopted by individuals. Almost all sources of environmental pollution originate from human practices; something individuals can reverse if they are willing.

Primarily, most products used by human beings originate from forests, mines, and farms. Also, one important thing that individuals have failed to recognize is that even the most complicated embed systems and computer technologies come from the ecosystem. This is because components of these systems originate from nature.

In this regard, it is not wrong for one to argue that, after their use, these materials can be recycled to avoid them accumulating in the environment considering complexities associated with them. In this sense, it is important to note that recycling just needs simple common sense use owing to the simplicity associated with it (Shimada p.1).

The whole recycling process involves the re-processing of used products into a form that is reusable or modification of waste products to forms that have fewer impacts on the environment in terms of degradation. One best thing with recycling is that some of its measures require little efforts; hence, any individual can participate in the practice, owing to its importance to reversing currently existing environmental problems.

Correct implementation of recycling measure can help to reduce the accumulation of waste materials in landfills or incinerator. Apart from conserving the environment, recycling has other benefits, which include saving of funds and energy.

For example, considering the volumes of thrash or wastes that industries emit, it is very hard for the environment to contain all of them because some are very toxic and harmful. Therefore, this makes it necessary for industries to adopt recycling mechanisms, which will not only ensure that industries reduce expenses associated with buying new products, but also reduce the toxicity of their waste products (Admeg p.1).

Although recycling is an important process of reducing environmental pollution, like any other process it has associated problems. This problems either result during pre-processing or after the re-processing process is over. Primarily recycling should progress in three main steps, namely: collection and separation of waste products, re-processing of new products, and the re-use of such products. A simple analysis of these three steps can make one say that the whole recycling process is simple, something which is ever the case.

For example, consider a process like recycling of solid wastes primarily plastics. Their collection and sorting out is a very simple exercise that any individual can undertake. However, things become complicated when it comes to recycling.

From research findings presently, there is no appropriate mechanism of conducting their melting and re-processing owing to the complexity of the process involved. Also, although their recycling process can help to ensure they are reusable, many negative effects result from it, hence making it equally worse as their presence in the environment (Heimlich p.1).

One main problem associated with recycling is the complexity of the entire process. Recycling of product s such as garden wastes is a simple process owing to the fact that they are easily decomposable, hence needs simple damping measures. Contrary to this most solid wasted require the complicated process to decompose or make them reusable, something that most individuals or communities cannot afford.

It is important also to note that some solid wastes are not easily modifiable or even if they are modifiable, it takes a series of complicated steps to obtain their final re-usable product. In this regard, considering costs incurred in the entire process it is better one had purchased new ones, which again posses one important question; where will the obsolete one go?

Another problem that makes recycling a complicated process is the nature of costs incurred in re-processing some wastes. For example, the recycling of curbside is very expensive to levels that many communities have opted to buy unsullied curbside than use re-processed curbside. This case is not different with industries dealing with the re-processing and re-selling of curbside.

Most of these industries have opted to stop the re-processing of curbside products because of more costs incurred during re-processing as compared to proceeds from sales of the re-processed products. For example, during the fiscal year, 1995 Washington D.C municipality spent approximately $ 3.7 million to re-process curbside, a figure that was far much below what it gained ($ 1 million) from sales proceeds of the same (Grindel, Snover and Hopkins p.1).

Noting this variation therefore, it is one thing to collect and sort wastes but another complicated thing to re-process the same wastes. The New York City municipal council proved the same, hence banning the recycling of glass and plastic materials because it could incur more costs than to buy new glass materials.

Other common products that require many funds in their recycling are pressure-sensitive adhesives. Individuals use adhesives to stick together papers; hence, in the reprocessing of papers getting them off is a major problem considering that most pulp industries use water as the main dissolving medium.

Stickies (resultant products after dissolving paper), may cause weakness on paper; hence, making the recycling process useless and invaluable; this translates to increased expenses incurred by industries, a low outcome or poor quality outcomes (Cal Recycle p.1).

Recycling also has energy wastage problems. Considering the three processes involved in the recycling process, collection and sorting processes are simple. However, the entire re-processing procedure that will ensure the re-formulation of usable products requires a lot of energy; which is costly as compared to benefits that result from such recycled products. It is important to note here that, primary sources of energy are fossil fuels, which primarily are non-renewable and major pollutants.

Consider, for example, the decomposition of plastic requires a lot of energy, whose main form can be nuclear or fossil fuel energy. The same applies in during aluminum’s recycling because for smelting and casting to occur the entire process needs a lot of energy, which is usually in the form of heat.

In this regard, although recycling plastic will reduce pollution due to the un-decomposability of plastic, on the other hand, the recycling process will result to more environmental damages depending on the source of energy used (Center for sustainability: Aquinas College p.1). Also, to wastage of energy during processing, garbage collecting companies use a lot of energy in the form of fuel used by lorries; hence resulting to increased pollution, a problem the companies aim to alleviate.

Chemical discharges are other main and most harmful pollutants to the environment. This is because their effects take long periods to leave the environment; hence, adverse owing to the fact that most of them are untreatable and are irreversible. In this regard, chemicals used during recycling jeopardize environmental conservation efforts, hence contradicting the main goals of recycling.

Take, for example, for a paper recycling company to be able to recycle waste papers; it requires chlorine as one of the basic chemicals for bleaching. Chlorine in its aqueous compound form is one of the most dangerous pollutants due to its corrosive and bleaching action on any material it contacts.

Another common problem with the recycling of some products is the nature of emissions released from recycling plants. For example, research findings have proved that most steel recycling industries produce dioxin, a very dangerous gas to living organisms’ survival. Also, the entire steel recycling process results in products, which are less durable; hence wear out easily.

This translates to the increased cost of production, and fewer returns from sales; hence, economical the process is wasteful and not profitable. In addition to emissions resulting from steel processing, plastic re-cycling industries also produce a lot of fumes because plastic is a product of petroleum; a product of fossil fuels that are very harmful to the environment when burnt or decomposed.

Although all the above problems exist, individuals or organizations can alleviate them by employing correct precautionary measures, which should not only reduce their economic needs but also reduce their impact on the environment.

Organizations dealing with the issue of curbside recycling can alleviate its related economic problems by employing practices such as a collective collection of recyclables, whereby the collection center should have compartments for different types of wastes. This entire process can ease the process of garbage collection; hence, making sorting easier. Also, this will enhance the recycling process by making all individuals responsible for their acts.

The second major solution to recycling is responsibility. Poor handling of thrash is one of the main contributors to increasing pollution. This results from poor or no recycling efforts, a practice embraced by most individuals. Most industries use plastic containers to pack their foods, something, which has contributed greatly to increasing pollution because individuals dispose of these papers poorly after use.

However, individuals have the potential of reversing this, because instead of throwing away the plastic containers, individuals can use them for other house purposes, for example, gardening. With continuous re-use of them, gradually as time advances the resultant pollution will reduce; hence, a cleaner environment.

This strategy has worked with big organizations such as McDonald’s; whereby it uses recycled material to not only to renovate old food stores but also to build new ones. Examples of materials it uses include old worn out tires, furniture, and drinking bottles, which it collects from its surrounding environments when dumped by its customers (Grindel, Snover and Hopkins p.1).

Individuals or organizations also can alleviate the problem of plastic recycling by embracing the use of bioplastics (packing plastic products manufactured from vegetable oil or cornstarch), which are easily biodegradable.

Considering the non-biodegradable nature of plastics obtained from petroleum products, this technology can help to alleviate problems that may result from poor plastic disposal methods, because bioplastics can breakdown regardless of their position; either in composite pits or landfills (Problems of plastic recycling p.1).

In addition to reducing problems resulting due to plastic recycling, industries can alleviate or reduce problems caused by high-energy consumption by using radiations in the incineration process (mixing of waste products, with other polymers whose combustion produces enough heating or recycling energy). This is because radiations have potentials of going through most solid materials, hence easily decompose them using minimal energy.

This technology not only reduces the energy required for decomposition of materials but also aids the process of chemical recycling, hence reducing associated adverse effects of chemical treatment. For example, organizations that deal with aluminum and plastic recycling can use gamma rays, whose action on many solid wastes results to biodegradable materials, which are of more importance and use (Clough pp. 4-6)

In conclusion, although recycling seems one of the major environmental conservation mechanisms, it has very many associated dilemmas. This, therefore, calls for the need for formulation of correct measures or adoption of recycling processes that minimize pollution, while maximizing profits from any recycling effort taken by either individuals or organizations.

On the other hand, due to the failure of some recycling efforts, there is a need for all individuals to adopt measures that will ensure they reduce the use of non-biodegradable materials. This is because their reduction at least guarantees environmental safety because all individual at one time handles non-biodegradable materials.

Admeg. Science clarified recycling. 2010. Web.

Cal Recycle. Pressure-sensitive adhesive; a sticky recycling problem. Cal recycles. 2010. Web.

Center for Sustainability: Aquinas College. Problems with current recycling methods. CAQ. 2010. Web.

Clough, Richard. Polymer recycling; potential application of radiation technology. Web.

Grindel, Ryan, Snover, Candace and Hopkins, Keith. Recycling, 1997. Web.

Heimlich, Joe. Recycling. Ohio State University. 2010. Web.

Problems of plastic recycling . Greenlaunches, 2009. Web.

Shimada, Savithri. Recycling and its importance, 2001. Web.

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107 Waste Disposal Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on waste disposal, 💡 simple waste disposal essay titles, 👍 good waste disposal research topics & essay examples, 🎓 most interesting waste disposal research titles, ❓ research questions about waste disposal.

• Food Waste Management
• Municipal Solid Waste Management
• Poor Solid Waste Management: The Health Effects
• Waste Disposal: Environmental Issue
• Waste Management and Recycling in Poor Communities
• Construction Waste Management
• Waste Management in Hospitality and Tourism Management
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• Waste Management in Urban Sprawls The paper discusses the waste dilemmas in the cities, waste management approaches in urban sprawls, and urban sustainability and how each can be solved.
• Economic Examination of US Waste Disposal Programs The environmental policies of the United States include programs aimed at cleaning up land by recycling and establishing requirements for solid waste disposal.
• Locating Landfills for Waste Management in Northern Ghana Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is an emerging tool for effective waste management as well as an efficient method for sitting landfills and other dumpsites.
• Food Waste Management Importance The world is gradually losing its beauty and is constantly coming under pressure from different problems every other day.
• Urban Solid Wastes Management in the USA After the USA realizing the crisis to which most urban areas were exposed as far as solid wastes management was concerned, there were several policies formulation designed.
• Environmental Management Approaches and Waste Audit The current research provides a comprehensive analysis of environmental management approaches in terms of conducting a full-spectrum waste audit.
• Hazardous Waste and Its Management Methods The primary purpose of the following paper is to outline and analyze some of the major hazardous waste characteristics and methods of its management techniques.
• Waste Management Inc.: Accounting Principles Waste Management Inc. was one of the organizations that violated these standards while being accused of financial manipulations and fraud.
• Gabon’s Nuclear Waste Management The paper contributes to the Gabon region’s sustainable development, technological advancement, and promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear technology.
• The Law on Hazardous Waste Management System The law on hazardous waste management systems was published in the Federal Register in 2012. It was designed to make some changes to the hazardous waste identification rules.
• Waste Management: Component of Resource Management This paper aims to offer the most appropriate solutions for waste management by analyzing the working environment and applying 5S principles for workplace management.
• Vapi Pharmaceutical Firms: Strategies for Toxic Waste Disposal Vapi (India) pharmaceutical companies’ strategies on toxic waste products don’t satisfy and comply with laws and legislation on toxic waste management.
• Wastewater Management Systems in Orange County Wastewater management systems in the Orange County water district have become an illustration of potential solutions for areas where droughts are severe.
• Wastewater Management Technological Advances In this report, attention is paid to new technologies that have been recently introduced in the field of wastewater treatment and management.
• Sanergy Waste Management Company: Reverse Logistics Sanergy Waste Management Company utilizes various methods to track its waste bins and trucks as they transport and deposit materials at various designated locations.
• Municipal Waste Disposal as Social and Ecological Issue The study aims to ban the location of the waste incineration industry within the urban zones. This topic covers both social and environmental issues.
• Waste Management in Acres Homes of Houston, Texas This proposal suggests ways of cleaning up trash and maintaining hygiene in the dumpsites with an aim of reducing carbon gases emission known to cause various diseases.
• United Kingdom Environmental and Waste Management Policies United Kingdom made significant progress in increasing recycling and minimising landfills, but there is the need for more and faster action.
• Nuclear Reprocessing, Waste Disposal and Transportation The paper reviews advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy and analyses nuclear reprocessing as a strategy making nuclear a sustainable source of energy.
• Altered Waste Disposal System in Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease
• Can Downstream Waste Disposal Policies Encourage Upstream Design for the Environment?
• Solid Waste Management: Addressing the Hazards and Measures to Tackle Waste Disposal
• Greater Toronto Area Waste Disposal Crisis
• Various Waste Disposal Problems and Some Fantastic Solutions
• Best Waste Disposal Methods to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• The Ocean: Our Chemical Waste Disposal
• Improper Waste Disposal and Community Health Issues
• Optimal Environmental Tax, Waste Disposal Charge, and Illegal Waste Disposal
• Improper Household Waste Disposal in Rural Territory
• Household Demand for Solid Waste Disposal Options in Malaysia
• Environmental Problem: Buried Waste Disposal Sites
• Waste Disposal and Management: All You Need to Know
• Assessing Incentive-Based Environmental Policies for Reducing Household Waste Disposal
• Analyzing Mumbai’s Waste Disposal Problems
• Waste Disposal and Decentralization: A Welfare Approach
• Illegal Waste Disposal: Enforcement Actions and Decentralized Environmental Policy
• Waste Disposal Practices Among Community Pharmacies
• Estimating the Optimal Scale of Public Investments: The Case of Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facilities
• New Standard for Waste Disposal Across the World
• The Capacitated Distribution and Waste Disposal Problem
• Analyzing Trends in Solid Waste Disposal Management
• Waste Management: Solutions for Sustainable Waste Disposal
• Social Sustainability Through Nuclear Energy and Waste Disposal
• Climate Change and Local Waste Disposal Problems
• Community-Based Problem: Improper Waste Disposal
• Vegetable Waste Disposal and Management in Cebu City Public Markets
• Environmental Policy with Collective Waste Disposal
• Danger Underground: Nuclear Waste Disposal in Yucca Mountain
• Nuclear Waste Disposal in the United States
• Optimal Environmental Policy for Waste Disposal and Recycling When Firms Are Not Compliant
• What Is the Importance of Effective Waste Disposal
• Engineering and Hazardous Waste Disposal: Impacts on Society
• Solid Waste Disposal and Its Relationship with Economic Development in Rural China
• Innovative Waste Disposal Landfill Sites
• Solid Waste Disposal in Chinese Cities: An Evaluation of Local Performance
• Upstream Pollution, Downstream Waste Disposal, and the Design of Comprehensive Environmental Policies
• Talking Trash: Waste Disposal Services in Malaysia
• Best Tips for Implementing Responsible Waste Disposal Practices in the Company
• Rural Waste Disposal Issues Within Urban Borders
• Municipal Solid Waste Disposal by Using Metallurgical Technologies and Equipment
• Food Waste Disposal and Reduction
• The Environmental Impact of Waste Disposal Problems
• What Method of Waste Disposal Is Best for the Climate?
• Exchange Relationships and the Environment: The Acceptability of Compensation in the Siting of Waste Disposal Facilities
• Industrial Solid Waste Disposal Management in Dubai
• Nuclear Waste Disposal: How the Concerned Public Is Involved in Decision Making
• The Ideal Site for Radioactive Waste Disposal
• Hazardous Waste Disposal and the Hudson River Valley Watershed
• Municipal Solid Waste Management in India
• What Are the Modern Methods of Waste Disposal?
• How Does Waste Disposal Relate to Genetics?
• What Are the Elements of Integrated Solid Waste Disposal?
• What Is the Classification of Waste Disposal by Origin?
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• Why Is Waste Disposal of Nuclear Materials a Serious Problem?
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• What Are the Difficulties of Disposal of Radioactive Waste?
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• What Technologies Can Be Used for Waste Disposal?
• How Is Disposal of Waste From Landfills?
• What Methods of Waste Disposal Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions?
• What Are the Causes of Illegal Waste Disposal?

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These essay examples and topics on Waste Disposal were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 9, 2024 .

Plastic factories like this one in China are increasing production of virgin plastic, even as plastic pollution sweeps into the oceans in record volumes.

Plastic pollution is a huge problem—and it’s not too late to fix it

Correcting our plastic waste problem requires a fundamental change in thinking about how plastics are made, used, and discarded, two new studies say.

The global campaign to gain control of plastic waste is one of the fastest-growing environmental causes ever mounted. Yet it hasn’t been enough to make a dent in the growing tonnage of discarded plastic that ends up in the seas.

In the next 10 years, the waste that slides into waterways, and ultimately the oceans , will reach 22 million tons and possibly as much as 58 million tons a year. And that’s the “good” news—because that estimate takes into account thousands of ambitious commitments by government and industry to reduce plastic pollution.

Without those pledges, a business-as-usual scenario would be almost twice as bad. With no improvements to managing waste beyond what’s already in place today, 99 million tons of uncontrolled plastic waste would end up in the environment by 2030.

These two scenarios, the result of new research by an international team of scientists, are a far cry from the first global tally published in 2015, which estimated that an average of 8.8 million tons flow into the oceans annually. That was a figure so startling to the world when it was published five years ago, it helped invigorate the plastic trash movement.

Jenna Jambeck, the University of Georgia engineering professor who calculated that number, also came up with a vivid analogy to put it in context. It would be the equivalent of one dump truck tipping a load of plastic into the ocean every minute every day for a year. Jambeck is also part of the team that came up with the new calculations. But coming up with a new way to visualize 22 to 58 million tons proved a challenge.

“I don’t know. We’re getting into the realm of what’s incomprehensible,” she says. “How about a football stadium filled with plastic every day? Or enough plastic to cover Rhode Island or the country of Luxembourg ankle deep?”

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Neither of these new analogies, while accurate, capture the magnitude of what’s at stake. (More: We're drowning in plastic—find out why. )

Like climate change, a lot rides on how the global community responds in the next couple of decades. And, though the parallels between the problem of plastic waste and climate change are obvious—both are rooted in oil, the basic ingredient to make plastics, they are dissimilar in one key way: plastic’s persistence. While there is some possibility, however remote, that technology and restoration of natural ecosystems could remove CO 2 from the atmosphere, there is no such analog for plastic. Virtually indestructible, it doesn’t disappear.

“For me, the biggest issue is the question of permanence,” says George Leonard , the Ocean Conservancy’s chief scientist and a member of the team that produced this newest forecast. “If we don’t get the plastic pollution problem in the ocean under control, we threaten contaminating the entire marine food web, from phytoplankton to whales. And by the time the science catches up to this, perhaps definitively concluding that this is problematic, it will be too late. We will not be able to go back. That massive amount of plastic will be embedded in the ocean’s wildlife essentially forever.”

The power of two

Royal Dutch Shell will produce plastic pellets like these at its new plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The plant will create more than a million tons of the tiny pellets. Many in the Pittsburgh area see it as an economic engine, but others worry about the long-term environmental harm.

The analysis is the second in recent weeks to look ahead to the future of the plastic economy and conclude that correcting the waste problem—40 percent of plastic manufactured today is disposable packaging—requires a fundamental change in thinking about how plastics are made, used, and discarded.

The new findings were made by a team of scientists funded by the National Science Foundation through the University of Maryland’s National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center ( SESYNC ). The other project, which looks ahead to 2040, was led by the Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ, a London-based environmental advisory and investment firm, and was first made public in July. Both studies were published together in the journal Science in September.

What’s unusual is that two independent scientific working groups, using differing methodologies and timelines, reached the same broad conclusions. Both laid blame for the rising tonnage of plastic in the seas on the growth of plastic production that is outpacing the world’s ability to keep up with collecting plastic trash. They also agreed that reducing surging waste requires reducing surging production of virgin plastic.

“The magnitude of the problem is the same. The difference is in methodology,” says Stephanie Borrelle, a marine biologist in New Zealand and lead author of the SESYNC study. “We have to do something about this and do it soon. Our annual count of leakage doesn’t account for what’s already in the oceans.”

Both projects also concluded that plastic waste could be significantly reduced, though not eliminated, using existing technologies. That includes improving waste collection and recycling, redesigning products to eliminate packaging made from unrecyclable plastics, expanding refillables, and in some cases substituting other materials. But solutions such as recycling, now globally hovering around 12 percent, would also require a massive scaling-up with many additional recycling facilities that don’t exist.

The SESYNC project also calls for cleaning up plastic waste from shorelines, where possible. To give an idea of the scale involved in achieving that goal, it would require a billion people to participate in the Ocean Conservancy’s annual beach cleanup that now attracts about one million volunteers.

“The inconvenient truth now is that this business-as-usual growth in production of new plastics is not compatible with ending plastics in nature,” says Ben Dixon, a former sustainability manager at Royal Dutch Shell and partner at SYSTEMIQ. “That’s the inconvenient truth both studies get to the heart of. We may see more pressures from investors, customers, and a changing of the world underneath the feet of these companies.”

Both projects captured the attention of the plastics industry, which was quick to praise the research, but dismissed the idea of reducing production of virgin plastic as “highly counterproductive and impractical,” in the words of the American Chemistry Council, a trade group for the petrochemical industry. In emailed responses, ExxonMobil and Dow Chemical, two of the world’s leading manufacturers of polyethylene, agreed.

“Reducing production to solve the waste problem will, in turn, aggravate the carbon and climate problem as alternative materials have higher emissions,” Dow said.

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The manufacturing of plastic emits less CO2 and uses less water than for glass or aluminum. Some argue that such accounting doesn’t always factor in all the costs, such as environmental cleanup and weight. Glass manufacturing emits less CO2 per gram, but glass bottles are heavier. And, in the marine world, they say, it’s beside the point: Turtles eat plastic bags, not glass bottles and aluminum cans.

Todd Spitler, an Exxon spokesman, said the company’s focus will be on “increasing plastic recyclability, supporting improvements in plastic waste recovery and minimizing plastic pellet loss from our operations."

The SESYNC study calls for setting global limits on the production of virgin plastic, a recommendation unlikely to be realized. At the last United Nations Environmental Program meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2019, negotiations to pass a resolution calling for phasing out single-use plastic by 2025 and to draft a legally binding treaty on plastic debris ended in a stalemate.

The Pew/SYSTEMIQ study calls for reducing virgin production by 11 percent, arguing there is enough waste plastic that could be recycled and remade into new plastic to satisfy demand. The problem is that virgin plastic—new resin created from natural gas or oil—is so cheap to make that it undermines the economics of the recycling market. It is simply less expensive to manufacture new plastic than to collect, sort, and process disposable plastic into new feedstock. Especially now, with the collapse of oil prices. (Read more on the SYSTEMIQ study here.)

Plastic production to increase by 2050

In fact, production is forecast to more than double by 2050—increasing to 756 million tons anticipated in 2050 from 308 million tons produced in 2018, according to a report published by the American Chemistry Council in 2019. In the United States, $203 billion has been invested in 343 new or expanded chemical plants to produce plastics, according to ACC figures published last February. Production capacity for ethylene and propylene is projected to increase by 33 to 36 percent, according to an estimate by the Center for International Environmental Law.

Keith Christman , the ACC’s managing director of plastics markets, says the demand for plastic products, such as lightweight automobile parts and materials used in home construction, including insulation and water piping, is only going to grow.

“New technologies is the direction that we see the industry going,” he says.

Historically, plastic production has increased almost continuously since the 1950s, from 1.8 million tons in 1950 to 465 million tons in 2018. As of 2017, 7 billion of the 8.8 billion tons produced globally over that whole period have become waste.

The industry attributes future growth to two factors: the increasing global population and demands for more plastic consumer goods, fueled by the increasing buying power of a growing middle class. The UN projects that the world’s population, now about 7.8 billion, will add about two billion more by 2050, primarily in Asia and Africa. Globally, the middle class is anticipated to expand by 400 million households by 2039—and that is where the plastics market growth will occur.

Africa, to cite one example, shows the complications that lie ahead for gaining control of plastic waste in the coming decades. The continent today generates waste at a low rate by global standards, according to a UN report published last year. It also has limited environmental regulations, weak enforcement, and inadequate systems in place to manage waste. But as its population explodes and becomes more urban, and as buying habits change with higher standards of living, sub-Saharan Africa is forecast to become the dominant region producing municipal waste.

“Everyone is going to need to play a role along the whole value chain,” says Guy Bailey , a leading plastics analyst at Wood Mackenzie, a consulting firm specializing in energy, chemicals, mining and other research.

“If you are a recycler, it is difficult to make an investment when oil prices completely destroy the economics of your business. If you are a packing company, you are faced with so many choices of materials, it’s hard to know which to pick. If you are a chemical company, you clearly can see the reputational challenge. They risk losing their social license to operate if things go too far. They want to address those challenges.”

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, founded last year by 50 industry titans, committed to investing $1.5 billion in creating solutions to improve methods for collecting plastic waste and recycling into new products. So far, it has launched 14 projects, many in Southeast Asia and Africa, including in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Ghana.

Jacob Duer, president and CEO, said the new report “reiterates the necessity and the urgency in addressing the issue and underlines the importance of a paradigm shift.”

As the organization, based in Singapore, matures, he says the number of projects and capital investment will grow. But it opposes reducing virgin plastic production.

Both Duer and Martyn Ticknet, head of the Alliance’s project development, see similarities between tackling plastic waste and global efforts to close the hole in the ozone layer that began in the 1970s. Last year the hole had shrunk to its smallest size on record since its discovery.

“We’ve solved major crises before,” Ticknet says. “It takes some time to get going.”

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Essay on Recycling for Students and Children

500+ words essay on recycling.

Recycling is a method of procedure that includes the collection and breaking down of waste material to create something new out of it. The process was introduced sot that the non-biodegradable materials can be melted or break down to create something useful. After the effects of global warming and pollution have become known to men the process of recycling has become more important.

Why We Need Recycling?

We need recycling for many reasons. But most importantly, it will help us to save our planet. Besides, recycling saves the earth by facilitating the reprocess of paper which will save millions of trees.

Also, recycling saves a lot of energy because many things that we recycle can easily be converted into virgin materials. In addition, it saves a lot of resources too.

Moreover, recycling reduces the burden of the environment. As we save energy the number of greenhouse gases and oxides are produced in less quantity. Because most of the toxic gases are produced by factories.

In addition, recycling reduces the amount of waste, that takes years to decompose. Also, the recycled material can be sold. We use this recycled material for the manufacturing of many new products. So, ultimately recycling saves money.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

The Process of Recycling

The various materials that we recycle have to go through a process that refines and purifies them. Besides, different materials go through a different process and in this topic we will discuss the recycling process of various materials.

Paper- It is the most used material on the earth. Paper is made up of two materials water and wood. For recycling paper firstly they break it down in small pieces and dissolve it into water. After that, they add chemicals that filter out the ink and dirt from it. In addition after filtering the paper takes the form of a mush called the pulp and this pulp is later converted into clean paper.

Metals-  The metals are first shredded into small pieces and then they were melted and after that remolded into new shapes.

Glass- The recycling of glass is the easier they just break it into pieces and then they melt it and recast them.

Plastic- They also follow the same process as plastic. But, the process of plastic recycling is a little bit complex because they have to sort out the different types of plastics. As there is a diverse variety of plastic with different properties.

How Can We Contribute to Recycling?

Almost everything that we use can be recycled whether it is household materials like paper, plastic, metal, glass, furniture, toys, artifacts, vehicles, etc. Besides, opt for things from the market that can easily be recycled. Also, try to use merchandise that is made up of recycled products.

In addition, sort your waste and dump your recyclable waste in the recycle bin so that the authorities can recycle it.

To Sum it up, recycling is a small step by humans to save the environment . But this small step is very effective in the long run. Also, before throwing away the waste we should check it to see if there is a recyclable product in it or not.

FAQs about Essay on Recycling

Q.1 List some benefits of recycling. A.1 There are many benefits to recycling like:

• It reduces the amount of waste produced by us.
• Conserves natural resources such as water, wood, and minerals.
• It prevents the overuse of resources and helps in preserving them.
• In addition, it saves energy.

Q.2 Give an important fact related to recycling. A.2 An important fact can be that recycling reduces the amount of waste which goes to landfills. Also, lesser density in landfill means less amount of methane and other gases is released into the air.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Waste Management — Waste Disposal Management: Stimulating The Solicitude of The Students

Waste Disposal Management: Stimulating The Solicitude of The Students

• Categories: Environmental Issues Pollution Waste Management

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Words: 1553 |

Published: May 17, 2022

Words: 1553 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, background of the study, review of related literature, statement of the problem, a. environmental awareness, b. proper or solid waste management, c. effects of improper waste management, d. methods and practices of implementing waste management.

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The plastic waste problem explained

Plastic is a life-changing resource, but the same qualities that make it useful—alongside poor waste management—have created a global waste challenge. Here’s what you need to know.

Plastic in our daily lives

In many applications, plastic is virtually irreplaceable because it is cheap, strong, lightweight, and resistant to corrosion. The most common uses of plastic are in packaging and building components, such as piping. In the medical industry, plastic is often key to contamination and infection control. Syringes, pipettes and gloves used in healthcare and biomedical research cannot be reused. While the excessive use of plastic packaging is concerning, some form of packaging is often necessary to maintain the hygiene or freshness of food, or maintain the integrity of a product during freight. Small or travel-size toiletries and personal hygiene products are sometimes seen as wasteful, but are  vital in providing affordable sanitation options for some of our most vulnerable communities , such as the homeless or low-income families. With an estimated  70% of the world’s population living on less than US$10 a day , toiletries in single-serve sachets provide an affordable sanitation option in developing markets.

Replacing plastic with other materials is neither simple nor straightforward, mainly due to the challenge of finding an alternative that combines all the most desirable plastic properties. Biodegradable alternatives—such as special plastics, paper, or cardboard—may well have a higher greenhouse footprint because of the amount of water or natural resources consumed in their production.  A study conducted last year by the Nanyang Technological University  in Singapore found that reusable plastic bags are more eco-friendly than paper and cotton alternatives, but only in cities and countries with a well-structured waste management system that prevents leakage.

The plastic waste problem is a waste management problem

While plastic is durable, this also means plastic waste can be trapped in our environment for centuries, if not managed well. While plastics deteriorate into fragments easily through wear and tear, their polymer chains only break down into other smaller components at very high temperatures, such as during some chemical recycling  processes. However, today only  15% of plastic waste is recycled .

The world still largely operates on the ‘linear economy’ model—sometimes known as ‘take-make-discard’—where raw materials are used to manufacture products, only to be disposed of at the end of their short lifetimes.

Transitioning to a more sustainable model is not rocket science, if we can remember the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle—in that specific order of priority!

1.  R educing  our overall consumption is about respecting our natural resources, only using what we need, and refusing unnecessary excess. Take the Japanese ‘ Mottainai’ lifestyle approach —which teaches respect for the planet and its natural  resources by reducing wasteful behaviour, using only what is needed.

2.   Reuse  is key to increasing the lifespan of the things we use. This includes repairing or upcycling our items to give them a new lease on life.

3. Recycling  the waste we eventually generate is key to closing the loop in a circular economic model.

A second life for plastic waste

Plastics can be sorted into two broad categories: easily recycled and hard-to-recycle. Easily recyclable plastics—such as PET in most bottles, or HDPE in pipes and containers—can be washed, ground into a powder, melted, and then extruded into pellets ready for reheating and remoulding. This process is known as mechanical recycling.

For other hard-to-recycle plastics—such as LDPE, polyethylene film, or contaminated plastics like unwashed food containers—they can sometimes be recycled by using chemical recycling. This is a process where the polymer structure of the plastic is changed and converted into feedstock that can replace virgin materials used in the production of plastics.

What do we do now?

Plastic recycling is a crucial step towards a circular economy, but achieving circularity calls for action at every point in the lifetime of a product: from design to waste management. At the Alliance, we focus on six action areas that advance our trajectory toward a circular economy and ending plastic waste in the environment. They are:

1. Front-end Design Designing products that can last long and are easy to repair, and eventually can be recycled.

2. Access to Collection Providing basic infrastructure enabling convenient and necessary recovery of waste, preventing leakage into the environment.

3. Participation and Engagement Raising awareness and inspiring participation in sustainable practices and clean-up.

4. Sorting The first step of any recycling system is sorting waste according to type, wet or dry; recyclable or non-recyclable; plastic, paper, metal, or glass. Sorting like this can happen right inside your home, or at a formal waste management facility.

5. Processing Scaling solutions of new advanced recovery and recycling methods, including both mechanical and chemical recycling.

6. End Markets Growing market demand for recycled materials from all recycling methods.

The world is beginning to accept that it is time to tackle the plastic waste problem. This also requires addressing the lack of proper waste management systems. Currently, more than 30% of the world does not have access to proper collection and disposal of waste.

There is no silver bullet solution. It’s not about swapping from one single-use lifestyle to another, but instead about changing our behaviour to balance convenience and sustainability, and asking industry and governments to work together to drive the best environmental solutions. Businesses ranging from the fashion to hospitality industries are pledging to be more circular, redesigning packaging, or using recycled materials; while researchers develop and improve ways to make, sort, and recycle plastics; and governments are re-evaluating their waste management systems, making recycling more accessible for their citizens.

We need to build and scale other solutions concurrently. All these efforts help divert plastic waste from the environment and move us toward a sustainable circular economy—unlocking the value of our waste. It’s an ambitious task, but with collective action it can certainly be achieved.

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The causes and effects of waste disposal on the school ambient environment and the residents of Chingola: a case study of Chikola Township

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Improper Disposal of Waste

18 Jun 2022

Format: APA

Academic level: High School

Paper type: Essay (Any Type)

Words: 1149

Downloads: 0

The planet Earth and its natural processes are seen to be a delicate system. With harsh environmental problems facing the earth, the species that live on the globe are suffering. Since animals, humans, as well as plants all depend on water sources and clean air for survival, the problem of contaminating the world is a serious issue that must be dealt with. Improper disposal of waste leads to unsanitary conditions which result in pollution together with spreading different diseases and infections. It is among the difficulties faced by many nations around the world. The lack of adequate collection, treatment or recycling as well as uncontrolled disposal of waste products in dumps can result in severe hazards, for instance, environmental pollution and health risks like cholera, eye infections, malaria, diarrhea as well as typhoid. 

The level of productivity and health status of individuals are strongly affected by the state of the environmental condition in which they live. Sanitation in the environment is a vital issue globally and a serious problem in a variety of urban areas in developing countries (Mamady, 2016). This is the consequence of a substantial increase in the number of persons living in urban cities combined with increasing per capita incomes which have resulted in the increasing per capita generation of both liquid and solid wastes, and rising levels of waste products that are improperly disposed of. Sanitary condition in urban cities is imperative in promoting good health, quality of life and tourism for economic development and growth. 

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There are many expenses associated with solving the issue of improper disposal of waste products. The first expense is that a lot of labor is required to address the issue. The government has tried to establish training programs to create structures that can control the disposal of waste in different areas of the community. The creation of task forces or committees is helpful as it provides a lot of labor in dealing with the environmental issue. These people are to work hand in hand with the public to attain objectives like facilitation of the participation of the public, environmental and food hygiene, cultural and leisure services as well as increasing awareness of the importance of waste disposal following regulations. Public areas like schools, centers for recreation, and bus terminals require proper management to monitor waste disposal methods that are considered to be inappropriate. This needs a lot of labor as many people will be employed to monitor such places. Furthermore, a lot of labor is required in setting up waste recovery programs and controlling industries and industrial sites to avoid dumping their waste products in appropriate areas. 

The second expense is finance and cost recovery. The creation of a sanitary landfill site symbolizes a significant investment, and it may be hard to prioritize it over other demands on resources. The need for adequate funding can make municipalities to rely on loan agencies or donors that apply so much pressure to reach high, possibly unachievable disposal standards. There might be the availability of finances in the short term for creation for a disposal site. However, revenue that is reliable is required for long-term costs that are recurrent (Farahbakhsh, 2013). This is very difficult to supply if the residents of a given area are not willing to pay taxes for the disposal of waste products. 

The third expense is the issue of infrastructure. Creating infrastructures that can assist in the management of waste is very expensive. A lot of investments are needed to come up with or upgrade waste treatment and sorting facilities, create or refurbish landfills, close dumps, and supply bins, trucks, transfer stations as well as dumpsters. Municipalities depend on massive investments to come up with necessary infrastructure that is critical to waste management. Advertising is also another expense whereby a lot of resources are required in advertising the importance of proper disposal of wastes and its advantages to our health together with environment. It is usually costly to come up with advertisements on bill boards and the media. Municipalities need to pay a lot of money if they want to advertise their products which become a challenge as finances may not always be available. 

Another expense is collecting and transporting. Proper collection of waste is critical for the protection of public safety, health, as well as environmental quality. It is an activity that is labor intensive, accounting for roughly three-quarters of the overall cost of waste management. Employees in the public sectors are frequently given the task, however, sometimes it is more economical for organizations that are private to do the job under a contract with the municipality or for collectors of a private nature to be paid by personal home owners. The work of choosing a route for optimal collection is a complex issue, particularly for urban cities. A route is considered to be optimal if it leads to the most efficient utilization of equipment and labor, and choosing such a course needs the application of computer analyses that contribute to the number of variables in design in a complex and a vast network. 

If a solution is not found to the issue of improper disposal of wastes, the economy will be significantly affected. Countries with wastes lying around everywhere will be avoided as these are breeding places for other adverse problems like environmental strains and diseases. Improper disposal of waste products also costs a country more to deal with the negative impacts, for example, a crisis in health, environmental programs as well as the lack of employment muscle because of death. People may die as a result of diseases associated with improper disposal of wastes hence there would be no labor to improve the economy. It cripples the citizens of the state that would otherwise be very productive in the society. For this reason, it crucial that measures are taken to deal with the problem of harmful waste. 

The economic benefits of finding a solution to the issue of improper disposal of wastes are that waste management techniques will make the economy healthy by generating a lot of annual revenue. It also leads to the creation of employment opportunities where many people will be employed hence providing labor that will contribute to the state economy (Sohrab Hossaina, 2011). The government will also spend less on health care programs as many people will not suffer from diseases that come as a result of improper disposal of wastes. The citizens will be very healthy to provide labor for the country hence strengthening the economy. As a result, the government will mainly benefit from proper management of wastes. 

In a nutshell, improper disposal of waste leads to unsanitary conditions which result in pollution together with spreading different diseases and infections like cholera, typhoid as well as diarrhea. Many countries are concerned with waste management. Improper disposal of waste is a major challenge in many countries especially the developing countries. The environmental state affects the level of productivity and health status of people. The expenses associated with solving the issue of improper disposal of waste include labor, finance and cost recovery, infrastructure, advertising, collecting as well as transportation. Finding a solution to the problem of improper management of wastes will significantly strengthen the economy as the government will be able to generate more revenues and employment. 

References 

Farahbakhsh, R. E. (2013). Systems approaches to integrated solid waste management in developing countries. Waste Management , 988-1003. 

Mamady, K. (2016). Factors Influencing Attitude, Safety Behavior, and Knowledge regarding Household Waste Management in Guinea: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of Environmental and Public Health , 111-115. 

Sohrab Hossaina, A. S. (2011). Clinical solid waste management practices and its impact on human health and environment–A review. Waste Management , 754-766. 

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The best way to understand other cultures is to work for a multinational organization. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Some people believe that studying at university or college is the best route to a successful career, while others believe that it is better to get a job straight after school. discuss both views and give your opinion, in their advertising, businesses nowadays usually emphasize that their products are new in some way. why is this do you think it is a positive or negative development, is freedom of speech necessary in free society agree or disagree, in the future, nobody will buy printed newspapers or books because they will be able to read everything they want online without paying. to what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement.

One problem for renewables: Not enough rare earths. One solution: recycling. But there’s a hitch.

By Maddie Stone | April 22, 2024

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Editor’s note: This story was originally published by Grist . It appears here as part of the  Climate Desk  collaboration.

To build all of the solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries, and other technologies necessary to fight climate change, we’re going to need a lot more metals . Mining those metals from the Earth creates damage and pollution that threaten ecosystems and communities. But there’s another potential source of the copper, nickel, aluminum, and rare-earth minerals needed to stabilize the climate: the mountain of electronic waste humanity discards each year.

Exactly how much of each clean energy metal is there in the laptops, printers, and smart fridges the world discards? Until recently, no one really knew. Data on more obscure metals like neodymium and palladium, which play small but critical roles in established and emerging green energy technologies, has been especially hard to come by.

Now, the United Nations has taken a first step toward filling in these data gaps with the latest installment of its periodic report on e-waste around the world. Released last month, the new Global E-Waste Monitor shows the staggering scale of the e-waste crisis, which reached a new record in 2022 when the world threw out 62 million metric tons of electronics. And for the first time, the report includes a detailed breakdown of the metals present in our electronic garbage, and how often they are being recycled.

“There is very little reporting on the recovery of metals [from e-waste] globally,” lead report author Kees Baldé told Grist. “We felt it was our duty to get more facts on the table.”

One of those facts is that some staggering quantities of energy transition metals are winding up in the garbage bin.

Two of the most recyclable metals found abundantly in e-waste are aluminum and copper . Both are slated to play essential roles in the energy transition: Copper wiring is prevalent in a range of low- and zero-carbon technologies, from wind turbines to the power transmission lines that carry renewable energy. Aluminum is also used in some power lines, and as a lightweight structural support metal in electric vehicles, solar panels, and more. Yet only 60 percent of the estimated 4 million metric tons of aluminum and 2 million metric tons of copper present in e-waste in 2022 got recycled. Millions of tons more wound up in waste dumps around the world.

The world could have used those discarded metals. In 2022, the climate tech sector’s copper demand stood at nearly 6 million metric tons, according to the International Energy Agency , or IEA. In a scenario where the world aggressively reduces emissions in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), copper demand for low-carbon technologies could nearly triple by 2030.

Aluminum demand, meanwhile, is expected to grow up to 80 percent by 2050 due the pressures of the energy transition. With virgin aluminum production creating over 10 times more carbon emissions than aluminum recycling on average, increased recycling is a key strategy for reining in aluminum’s carbon footprint as demand for the metal rises.

For other energy transition metals, recycling rates are far lower. Take the rare-earth element neodymium, which is used in the permanent magnets found in everything from iPhone speakers to electric vehicle motors to offshore wind turbine generators. Worldwide, Baldé and his colleagues estimated there were 7,248 metric tons of neodymium locked away in e-waste in 2022—roughly three-quarters of the 9,768 metric tons of neodymium the wind and EV sectors required that year, per the IEA. Yet less than 1 percent of all rare earths in e-waste are recycled due to the immaturity of the underlying recycling technologies , as well as the cost and logistical challenges of collecting rare earth-rich components from technology.

“It’s a lot of hassle to collect and separate out” rare-earth magnets for recycling, Baldé said. Despite the EV and wind energy sectors’ fast-growing rare-earth needs , “there is no push from the market or legislators to recover them.”

The metals present in e-waste aren’t necessarily useful for every climate tech application even when they are recycled. Take nickel. The lithium-ion batteries inside electric vehicles gobble up huge amounts of the stuff—over 300,000 metric tons in 2022. The amount of nickel required for EVs could rise tenfold by 2050, according to the IEA. But while the world’s e-waste contained more than half a million metric tons of nickel in 2022, most of it was inside alloys like stainless steel. Rather than getting separated out, that nickel gets “recycled into other steel products,” said Kwasi Ampofo, the lead metals and mining analyst at energy consultancy BloombergNEF. Some of that recycled steel could wind up in wind turbines and other zero-emissions technologies. But it won’t directly help to fill the much larger nickel demands of the EV battery market.

In other cases, e-waste might represent a significant supply of a specialized energy transition metal. Despite being present in tiny amounts, certain platinum group metals—found on printed circuit boards and inside medical equipment—are already recycled at high rates due to their value. Some of these metals, such as palladium , are used in the production of catalysts for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, said Jeremy Mehta, technology manager at the Department of Energy’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office. “Recycling palladium from e-waste could help meet the growing demand for these metals in fuel cell technologies and clean hydrogen production, supporting the transition to clean energy,” Mehta said.

For the energy transition to take full advantage of the metals present in e-waste, better recycling policies are needed. That could include policies requiring that manufacturers design their products with disassembly and recycling in mind. Josh Blaisdell, who manages the Minnesota-based metals recycling company Enviro-Chem Inc., says that when a metal like copper isn’t getting recycled, that’s usually because it’s in a smartphone or other small consumer device that isn’t easy to take apart.

In addition to design-for-recycling standards, Baldé believes metal recovery requirements are needed to push recyclers to recover some of the non-precious metals present in small quantities in e-waste, like neodymium. To that end, in March, the European Council approved a new regulation that sets a goal that by 2030, 25 percent of “critical raw materials,” including rare-earth minerals, consumed in the European Union will come from recycled sources. While this is not a legally binding target, Baldé says it could “create the legislative push” toward metal recovery requirements.

Harvesting more of the metals inside e-waste will be challenging, but there are many reasons to do so, Mehta told Grist . That’s why, last month, the Department of Energy launched an e-waste recycling prize that will award up to $4 million to competitors with ideas that could “substantially increase the production and use of critical materials recovered from electronic scrap.”

“[W]e need to increase our domestic supply of critical materials to combat climate change, respond to emerging challenges and opportunities, and strengthen our energy independence,”  said Mehta. “Recycling e-scrap domestically is a significant opportunity to reduce our reliance on hard-to-source virgin materials in a way that is less energy intensive, more cost-effective, and more secure.”

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Keywords: Earth Day , e-waste , electronic waste , rare earths , recycling , renewables Topics: Climate Change , Special Topics

Maddie Stone

Maddie Stone is a Philadelphia-based science writer.... Read More

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