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Sustainable Waste Management: Strategies and Solutions Explained

School
The University of Hong Kong**We aren't endorsed by this school
Course
BIOL 1401
Subject
Management
Date
Dec 12, 2024
Pages
75
Uploaded by GeneralDiscovery15124
Waste
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Learning outcomes•Identify the type of waste•Examine the waste managements approaches and their impact•Discuss solutions for sustainable waste management
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Waste•Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance which is discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use.•According to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal of 1989, Art. 2(1), "'Wastes' are substance or objects, which are disposed of or are intended to be disposed of or are required to be disposed of by the provisions of national law"
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Waste in the world
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USA Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
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What picture best represents Hong Kong’s waste sources for you?
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A B C D E F
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Hong Kong 2020Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
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Hong Kong 2020
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Waste collection
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Waste management Strategies
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1. Dilution and dispersion•Indonesia•Now in Thailand http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/11/09/pkg-neisloss-bangkok-garbage.cnn?hpt=hp_t2
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2. Concentrate and contain•Limited space for landfills•High Cost•Existing sites filling up•NIMBY
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Contained waste can also go wrong !
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Landfill hazards•Leachate= water that has moved through a substance and picked up some of that substance’s characteristics•Landfill gas –forms from breakdown of trash•50% methane•50% carbon dioxide
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Science corner...Where does the methane come from?Landfills too acidic for most bacteriaAnaerobic bacterium: Methanosarcina barkeri •can survive at low pH levels•consumes acids •produces methane•increasing the pH levels
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Modern landfills incorporate multiple barriers to leachate and gas
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Solutions: State-of-the-Art Sanitary Landfill
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Maishima Incinerator1850 incinerators (only 140 large incinerators in the US)75% of waste burned in incinerators
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•Reduces volume of waste•Generate electrical power (economic viability depends on this)Waste-to-Energy Incinerator
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Pros: Reduce waste volumeProduce EnergyNo Choice!!Cons: PollutantsToxic Fly AshTraffic concerns
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Turn waste to energy
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Heat 160,000 homesElectricity for 62,500
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Hong Kong LandfillsFull by 2020 →2030https://www.sustainableasia.co/feature/hk-landfills-are-supposed-to-be-full-in-2020-whats-the-government-s-plan
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Photo credit: Plastic Free SeasMSW landfills
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Hong Kong Waste Management•Landfills (WENT, SENT, NENT)•Organic Waste recovery (O Park, Siu Ho Wan, 2018, food waste into biogas)•Electronic waste treatment (WEEE Park)•Chemical Waste Treatment plant•Sludge treatment Facility (T-park)https://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/waste_maincontent.html
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T-Park HKhttps://www.tpark.hk/en/process/
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Hong Kong Waste Management•Landfills (WENT, SENT, NENT)•Organic Waste recovery (O Park, Siu Ho Wan, 2018, food waste into biogas)•Electronic waste treatment (WEEE Park)•Chemical Waste Treatment plant•Sludge treatment Facility (T-park)•Community Green station https://www.wastereduction.gov.hk/en/community/crn_intro.htm•Waste charging Scheme →???https://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/waste_maincontent.html
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Municipal Solid Waste ChargingPolicy▪Waste Disposal (Charging for Municipal Solid Waste) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 (Amendment Ordinance) to implement MSW charging▪Bill passed by LegCo in August 2021▪Now in the preparatory period of 18 months ▪Best Practice Guidelines Infrastructure▪Focus has been on making this workable and defendable against fraud▪Less work so far on making waste avoidance and diversion accessible
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3. Integrated Waste Management
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Wastereduced by recyclingWaste managedby burying or burning
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50% of paper80% of steel cans75% of glass bottlesRecycling27-page booklet on how to sort their trash. Highlights included detailed instructions on 518 items.
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Major Material Recovered/Recycled in 2005 (HK)
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Case Study: Plastics
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Fig. 21-11, p. 571Waste ends up everywhere…
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Plastics the beginning•Synthetic or semi-synthetic organic polymer•First syntheses in late 19thcentury with semi synthetic molecule called celluloid•PVC, PET, PE, Nylon are then created in the first half of the 20thcentury•WWII trigger the increase demand on plastics•Beginning of plastics production
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The commodity of plasticsLife magazine, 1955
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Plastic productionNational Geographic, June 2018PackagingConsumer productsTextilesElectricalTransportationIndustrial machineryBuilding and constructionOthers
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Waste MismanagementGeyer et al., 2017. Science AdvancesGlobal production, use and fate of polymer resins, synthetic fibers and additives (1950 to 2015, in Mt)
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Ocean Cleanup ArrayHK Beaches
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Hong Kong people throw away an estimated 5,200,000 plastic bottles per day.Single-use disposable plastic
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Hong Kong plastic waste
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“40% of plastic items are throw away less than 1 month after their purchase”Plastic –The problem
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From macroplastics to microplastics
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Fragmentation process
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The microplastic problemCannot identify the source !
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What are the solutions?A.RecyclingB.Ban of certain itemsC.Legislation for plastic production reductionD.Development of new material (”bio-plastic”)E.Reduce our use of plastic
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Plastic pollution - Solutions Recycling PET Bottle4 “old” bottles to produce 3 “new” bottles
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Plastic pollution - Solutions Recycling Styrofoam
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Plastic pollution –Solutions LegislationPolicies HK microbeads voluntary bans (2021)
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Plastic pollution –Solutions LegislationRegulation of Disposable Plastic Tableware and Other Plastic prodcuts (April 22nd, 2024)
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Plastic pollution –Solutions Legislation
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Plastic pollution –Solutions LegislationIntergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic treatyINC-4 in April (23-29) in OttawaGoal to reduce production (essential plastic) and waste managementhttps://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution
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Plastic pollution –Solutions New Materials“Bioplastics”
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Plastic pollution –Solutions New MaterialsCheung and Not, in review
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Plastic pollution - Solutions Habits
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EAT WITHOUT WASTE:4 SOLUTION TYPESSOURCE: ADM Capital Foundation (2021) Eat Without Waste—Hong Kong’s Takeout Packaging Challenge
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Eat Without Waste: Total solution impactLandfill diversion potential(billion containers) (share of total)0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.5RecycleBYOCompostReuse69%70%51%33%2.872.892.101.362030 total baseline: 4.15bnHong Kong 2030, advanced mobilisation scenarioSOURCE: ADM Capital Foundation (2021) Eat WithoutWaste—Hong Kong’s Takeout Packaging Challenge
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Case study: Electronic Waste
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Produce toxins when burnedHeavy metals - carcinogens
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•Workers processing e-waste are exposed to toxic material•Handling practicesunsustainableRecycling E-waste: Guiyu
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http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1977148/hong-kong-becomes-dumping-ground-us-e-waste
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The PETEC complex in Yashiro, Japan is a leading example of resource recovery.Japan mandates the return of washing machines, refrigerators, televisions and air conditioners for recycling.Consumers pay for the recycling, and manufacturers recycle.<10% to landfills
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3. Integrated Waste Management
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4. Zero WasteIndustrial ecologyTurn waste into a resource rather than a pollutant
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New York City’s Zero Waste CampaignFresh Kills landfill –closed in 2001Goal: reduce export of waste to zero by 2024http://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-stuff/
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“The Disappearing Package”•Take advantage of how a product is used in order to cut down on packaging. •A bar of soap, which dissolves in water, can be encased in water-soluble plastic that simply disintegrates in the shower.
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Phone blockshttps://phonebloks.com
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Summary•We generate a lot of waste through our daily activities•Extraction waste•Production waste•End product life waste•As environmental scientists, we can help to find ways to reduce these unwanted side-effects of our activities = waste managment
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Perhaps shipping our trash off is the most economical and green method…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaqjJ9y-D1w
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