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The journey of waste involves many steps like making it, picking it up, moving it around, making it better, and either getting rid of it or using it again in different ways. How we deal with waste depends on what kind of waste it is and how it needs to be disposed of.
The journey of waste can vary depending on the type of waste and the local waste management practices. The UK waste management journey of responsible waste disposal may look a little something like this:
Generation: The generation game. Your bins being filled week in, week out. This is usually: general waste, industrial waste, electronic waste, hazardous waste, food waste or recycling. Any waste generated anywhere in the UK.
Collection: Everyone's favourite part of the process. The waste collection. Waving your waste away knowing you will never see it again.
Transportation: Your waste is transported to treatment facilities or disposal sites. Transportation methods can include trucks, trains, ships, or a combination of these.
Treatment: We all need a bit of TLC, and your waste is no different. Treatment methods include composting, incineration and gasification.
Recycling: A significant portion of waste can be recycled, diverting materials from landfills and reducing the environmental impact of extracting new resources. Recycling involves the collection and processing of materials like paper, plastic waste, glass, and metals to create new products.
Disposal: This can be in a variety of ways which you can see below.
Monitoring and Regulation: Throughout the entire journey, the waste management process is subject to monitoring and regulation by governmental authorities. This ensures compliance with environmental standards and promotes a sustainable future.
People all over the globe are constantly trying to up their waste game by boosting recycling and coming up with fresh ideas to cut down on the trashy impact we have on our environment.
Everyone from our communities, business owners and policy makers have to play a role in turning our waste towards a more sustainable way of living.
Some of the vehicles that you could see:
Standard Bin Truck / Garbage Trucks: This is typically for waste that is generated from households and businesses. These trucks come in various designs, including rear-loading, front-loading, and side-loading trucks, each suited for different collection methods.
Roll On Roll Off Truck: Roll-off trucks are designed to transport large containers, known as roll-off containers or bins. These containers are typically used for construction and demolition debris, as well as for certain types of industrial waste.
Trains: In some cases, waste is transported over longer distances using trains. This method is often used for bulk transportation of waste to disposal or treatment facilities.
Ships and Barges: Waste can also be transported over water using ships or barges, especially in coastal regions. This method is particularly helpful for large quantities of waste.
A transfer loading station is a crucial component in the waste industry. It serves as the point between different modes of transportation, allowing for the seamless waste transportation from one vehicle to another.
Overall, transfer loading stations play a crucial role in optimising responsible waste management, ensuring efficient and cost-effective transportation. It serves as a middle point before the waste is transported to its final processing destination.
So, next time you see a transfer loading station, give it a little nod of acknowledgement for all the hard work it does in keeping things moving smoothly.
Those mountain tops that you can see from your bedroom window are actually peaks full of landfill waste!
Landfills are usually one of the most common type of disposal methods, but as we can all see for ourselves, it isn't the most efficient type of waste disposal.
Any person who thinks that stuffing non-recyclable waste into the ground is a good idea needs to re-evaluate their priorities. Not only does it create an eyesore but methane and other dangerous greenhouse gas.
There must be a better waste management strategy that we could use instead of all the waste that ends up in landfills? Well, don't worry, there are more sustainable waste management practices out there..
One of the more efficient ways of disposing of waste is by taking it to a Waste to Energy facility.
In Waste-to-Energy facilities, non-recyclable waste is burned to generate electricity or heat. This method helps in reducing the volume of waste and harnessing energy, but, how does it work?
Well, the collected non-recyclable waste undergoes high-temperatures in specialised facilities known as incinerators. The heat produced from the combustion process generates steam. The high-pressure steam is then directed to turbines, connected to generators, to produce electricity and energy recovery.
Waste to Energy facilities contribute to the production of electricity and heat, reducing dependence on fossil fuels. The process minimises the volume of waste sent to landfills, addressing space constraints and environmental concerns.
Waste to Energy doesn't come without its flaws though and no waste disposal practice is 100% efficient, however, this is one of the methods that has the most positive way to impact waste produced.
By far the most efficient disposal method.
The recycling of waste is not only one of the key waste solutions to reduce our footprint, it is also the best way of conserving our natural resources. Recycling saves energy, water, and raw materials.
Recycling involves the collection and processing of materials like paper, plastic, glass, and metals to create new products. Materials are sorted, cleaned, and processed into raw materials for manufacturing.
This means that we are technically not throwing away our plastic bottles, aluminium cans and other trash and recycling, as they are being melted down and reused again and again.
This is why local governments are always stressing the importance of recycling and making sure items are in the correct bin.
Where the magic happens. We all throw our rubbish away not thinking twice about what happens to it, just hoping it has gone to a better place, but, have you ever wondered what goes on behind closed doors at these Material Recycling facilities?
Sorting
The mixed recycling will initially be removed from the collection vehicles and then mechanically placed onto conveyor belts.
Conveyor belts are used to maintain the constant flow of waste passing through the sorting facility. A series of techniques are used to separate the material ready for further processing.
Below are some of the sorting techniques. The techniques used in practice will vary by facility.
You have to have a good eye for this job.
Workers stand in lines manually picking out the recyclable materials or throwing away any contaminants. They will pick out items like Glass, Plastic or Paper.
This helps to ensure that no valuable materials slip through the net!
Think about what happens in a giant washing machine! Without the water and clothes of course.
Trommels are basically a large rotating cylindrical that spins around to help separate materials. The way it works is that it has smaller holes at the bottom of the trommel for the smaller solid waste to fall through & all the larger items carry on into the next section, where the process will be repeat. This is used to separate a variety of materials such as: paper, cardboard and glass from their dimensions alone.
To put it bluntly, it is a humongous sieve that spins and spits out waste.
OCC stands for Old Corrugated Containers, which you may be thinking sounds like your partner. All it is is cardboard. OCC screening is a process that is used to separate cardboard from other materials.
They are screens that identify and separate cardboard from the rest of the materials.
Granted it does sound like a new lethal weapon introduced by the US, however the truth is far less sinister!
A ballistic separator is an effective waste sorting technique. Imagine a series of discs or paddles rotating at high speed. As materials move along a conveyor belt, the paddles launch them into different waste streams based on their size, shape, and density.
They efficiently sort materials like paper and cardboard.
A Magnet Separator is a device that employs powerful magnets to attract and separate ferrous metals from the rest of the materials. Picture a conveyor belt carrying a mix of materials.
As it passes through the Magnet Separator, ferrous metals, like iron and steel, are attracted and pulled away by the magnetic force, leaving other materials unaffected.
Think the opposite of the Magnet Separator but for non-ferrous metals like aluminium or copper. Instead of attracting the metals the eddy currents, creates a magnetic field that actually repels the metals and throws them away from the other materials.
Sometimes you have to use AI and computers to your advantage and waste could be one of the most important uses of this of all.
An optic sorting machine uses sensors and air jets to sort materials based on distinctive features. In a fraction of a second these sensors identify certain materials from shape, size and colour and the air jets will hit precisely where it needs to to remove and separate that material.
Anyone with children will have seen all the Kids Youtube vids screaming 'WILL IT SINK OR FLOAT'. Well this is the same principle, except only for ADULTS!
Picture a tank filled with a liquid. Mixed materials are introduced into the tank. Depending on their density, some materials sink while others float. This segregation allows for effective sorting.
We aren't talking about the sudden gases you get from your partner or pet.
This gas is actually useful!
This is a process where organic materials such as waste, are transformed into a gas called syngas. Imagine your organic waste entering a super-hot space. Instead of burning up completely, it transforms into syngas, leaving behind a solid residue called char.
This means that it provides an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional burning, generating energy from waste while minimising emissions and producing electricity & or acting as a fuel.
Very similar to Gasification, in that they are heated up, but this time they are heated up without any oxygen in the chamber. This controlled heat causes it to break down which will turn your waste into oils, gases, and char, creating valuable resources.
Everyone knows a composter and this is the same as any local compost you may find in the back of someone's garden or in their soil, only it is done on a much larger scale!
When you toss your kitchen scraps, leaves, food and yard waste into a compost bin. Microorganisms, like bacteria and fungi, get to work breaking down the materials into a dark, crumbly mixture known as compost.
Again, this is exactly the same process at the big industrial composters just 500 times bigger!
Once again thank you for reading our blog.
Hopefully, in the fascinating journey of waste, you should now understand the ins and outs of what happens to our smelly little bin bags & bulky items when they take the next step in the waste world. .
Each small act, from recycling to the natural grace of composting, contributes to a cleaner, more sustainable future where waste reduction is paramount. With proper disposal, innovation, mindfulness and commitment we can all make a difference to our community and environment.
Until next time....
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