Solid Domestic Waste

What have you thrown away this weekend?

• Make a list of all the items that you personally have thrown away this weekend

• Add items to your list (in a different colour) to show the items that the college community will have discarded this weekend

• Categorise the waste into groups based on the materials that they are made of

Waste is material that has no value to its producer. If it is not recycled it becomes a

problem to be disposed of. We create waste in most of the processes we carry

out – energy production, transport, industrial processes, construction, selling of goods and services, domestic activities.

Waste Statistics1. The UK produces more then 100 million tonnes of waste every year. In less than two hours, the waste we produce would fill the Albert Hall in London. Every eight months it would fill Lake Windermere, the largest and deepest lake in England!

2. On average, each person in the UK throws away their own body weight in rubbish every seven weeks.

3. The average household in the UK produces more then a tonne of waste every year. Put together, this comes to a total of 31 million tonnes per year, equivalent to the weight of three and a half million double-decker buses, a queue of which would go around the world two and a half times.

4. Every year we produce about 3% more waste than the year before. This might not sound much but, if we carry on at this rate, it means that we will double the amount of waste we produce every 25 years.

5. Most of the world's waste is produced by people from the 'developed' world (which includes Britain), even though these people only make up about 5% of the world's population.

Waste produced by sector in the UK

Waste produced by sector in the EU

What happens to our waste?LandfillLandfill is the main method of disposal in the UK. Waste is taken to a suitable site and buried there. The sites for landfill are specially selected to avoid proximity to highly populated areas and away from water courses and aquifers.

The pit is lined with a special plastic liner to prevent leaching (release of liquid waste), the liquid is collected in pipes.

Methane is produced as a result of organic decomposition. The gas is either collected and used to generate electricity or vented into the atmosphere.

On a weekly basis soil is pushed over the top of the waste to trap the material, reduce smells and reduce pests such as rats and sea gulls.

Finding suitable sites for landfill is becoming more difficult.

Dutch landfill concerns

IncineratorsWaste is burnt at high temperatures (2000°C). Toxic and non-conbustable items should be removed from the waste before incineration.

The heat produced is used to generate steam to drive a turbine or heat buildings directly. This is called waste to energy incineration.

In some incinerators all the waste is burnt without prior sorting. This practice can cause air pollution, particularly the release of dioxins from burning plastics, heavy metals (lead and cadmium) from burning batteries and nitrogen oxides.

Ash from incinerators can be used in road building and the space taken up by incinerators is far smaller than that required for landfill. Plants are expensive to build however and need a constant stream of waste to burn so do not necessary encourage people to reduce their waste output.

There is concern over locating incinerators near urban areas due to the release of potentially noxious gases.

Belvedere Incinerator

Strategies to minimise waste

Waste Hierarchy

Is there evidence of waste management in Marlborough?

Your task is visit the Marlborough town centre and the College grounds and find evidence of recycling/waste management schemes in the Town/College.

I suggest you:•Walk along both sides of the High Street and identify whether there are any facilities for waste disposal/recycling•Visit Waitrose and look for evidence of recycling/waste management strategies – if the store is not too busy you might as about the waste management policy – think about packaging, carrier bags etc.•Make note of the recycling facilities within the College grounds (Norwood Hall, your boarding house etc, classrooms)

Make written notes and take photographs of your evidence. Think about strategies that the town might use to improve the provision of recycling/waste management schemes.