Identification of Various Waste Management Approaches:
Source Reduction: Across the world, packaging waste, which as a group accounts for 40% of the total waste streams, as estimated to the tune of 82.2 million tons in 2018 constitute a problem today. The source of material here can cause significant difference in waste reductions. This technique emphasizes on the goal of keeping waste levels as low as possible right from the source. It includes practices, for example: product renovation, using least packaging, and urging the use of reusable products.
Recycling: Recycling utilizes the process of picking, refining, and reworking scrap into fresh items. Two examples of recyclable materials are paper, cardboard, glass, metals (aluminium, steel) and some types of plastic. Recycling leads to replenishing the worn-out natural sources, lowering the energy consumption, and declining the waste that you pile up in the landfills.
Composting: Composting is the process that involves the breaking down of organic waste materials like food leftovers, grass clippings, and specific types of papers into a nutrient-rich compost. Composting can be done at a smaller scale at home or at a larger scale municipal composting facilities. The produced compost can be then enriched soil for the use in gardens, landscapes, and agriculture.
Landfill: Landfills are the places designed to keep the waste isolated from the environment and away from the community. While in a landfill, the waste is compressed and covered underneath layers of soil to reduce its volume and seek to mitigate the risk of air- and water-pollution. The modern landfills introduces liners and monitoring devices to prevent groundwater and the soil contamination.
Incineration: Waste incineration implies burning waste materials in elevated temperatures in designated places called incinerators. This approach leads to diversion of waste from landfills and generates power as heat or electricity. On the other hand, incineration does release toxins in the air if there is no proper control and the air quality and public health are at risk.
Waste-to-Energy (WtE): Waste-to-energy plants utilize different methods to convert waste, which are not recyclable, into heat or power. Some of these technologies are mass-burn incineration, gasification, and pyrolysis. WtE can help to decrease dependency on fossil fuels and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, but adding emission control mechanisms at the plant is a necessary condition to ensure the process being environment-friendly.
Biological Treatment: Biological treatments, including anaerobic digestion and aerobic composting, which utilize microorganisms to decompose organic waste materials, are some of the methods. Anaerobic digestion of organic wastes results in the production of biogas (mixture of methane and carbon dioxide) that can be used as a renewable source of energy, aerobic composting on the other hand, converts them into compost.