An introduction to waste management

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An introduction to waste management 
 

 
Duncan Rutter 
MITIE  

 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 
PAGE 3 

Definition of waste 

 

 
PAGE 5 

Reuse and recycling 

 

PAGE 7 

Landfill disposal 
 

PAGE 4 

Prevention and minimisation 

 

PAGE 6 

Energy recovery 

 

 
PAGE 8 

Landfill Directive 
 

 

 
 3 

 

Definition of waste 

Waste 
“Waste” is defined in Article 1(a) 
of the European Waste 
Framework Directive (WFD) as 

'any substance or object … which 
the holder discards or intends or is 
required to discard'.  
 
environment-agency.gov.uk 
(2008) 
 

Waste and your duty of care 
The duty of care is a law which 
says that you must take all 
reasonable steps to keep waste 
safe and ensure it does not 
damage or harm the 
environment or human health in 
any way. If you give waste to 
someone else, you must be sure 
they are authorised to take it and 
can transport, recycle or dispose 
of it safely. 

 
If you break this law, you can be 
fined an unlimited amount. 
 
The duty of care applies to 
anyone who produces or imports, 
keeps or stores, transports, treats 
or disposes of waste. It also 
applies if you act as a broker and 
arrange these things. 
 
Department for Environment Food 
and Rural Affairs (2008) 
 
 
 
 

 
4 

Waste prevention and 
minimisation 
Implementing best practice in 
waste prevention and 
minimisation can help to reduce 
your costs and improve 
efficiency, whilst also making a 
substantial contribution to 
sustainable development. 

Waste prevention and 
minimisation is the most effective 
and sustainable of waste 
management techniques that 
forms the top of the waste 
hierarchy. It has been 
demonstrated that businesses 
could save 1% of turnover by 
implementing systematic waste 
management techniques. 

Not only does waste minimisation 
provide significant savings 
through reduced waste 
collections and disposal costs, it 
also offers savings and 
environmental benefits relating to 
energy use and the resulting 
pollution, conservation of natural 
resources and the diversion of 
waste from landfill. 

Excessive waste often stems from 
the inefficient use of resources 
and can usually be avoided 
through improvements in: design; 
supply chain; manufacture; 
packaging; and the end use of 
products and raw materials. 

Many businesses remain unaware 
of the costs involved in waste 
management, but by simply 
quantifying your waste it is often 
easy to see where the changes 
which reap the greatest rewards 
can be made. 

It is possible to reduce waste by 
performing extensive and 
continual audits of manufacturing 
processes and waste streams, to 
identify materials that could be 
reduced, reused or recycled. In 
addition, researching the best 
available equipment and 
techniques helps to improve the 
efficiency of dealing with your 
waste. 

Further measures can be taken to 
invest in appropriate infrastructure 
and equipment, such as balers 
and compacters. These machines 
will reduce the volume of waste 
streams such as cardboard, 
plastic, glass and aluminium cans. 
This is sometimes necessary if it is a 
requirement to present waste for 
collection in a certain manner or 
if the waste has to be recycled in 
a particular way.  

What's more, improvements in 
design mean that balers and 
compacters now come in a 
variety of shapes and sizes to suit 
your needs.  

This is just one example of the kind 
of equipment available in today’s 
rapidly expanding waste 
technology market. But whether 
its wood chipping machinery or 
wormery composters it’s essential 
to have the right equipment 
which will improve, rather than 
hinder your waste management.     

Another step that can be taken 
towards achieving best practice 
in waste management is to 
remove individual desk bins in 
offices and to introduce desktop 
paper recycling trays. This 
initiative is often successful 
working alongside the 
introduction of ‘recycle banks’ (a 
designated area for recycling on 
a site). The recycle banks act as a 
central collection point for waste, 
which can in turn be compacted 
and sent for reuse or recycling. 

 
 5 

Reuse and recycling 
Reusing and recycling waste are 
the next best options in the waste 
hierarchy, after prevention and 
minimisation. 

These two terms are often 
confused or interchanged, but in 
reality are quite different. 

Reuse is simply the process of 
using an object or material again 
without altering its state by using 
a manufacturing process. For 
example reusing china mugs for 
hot drinks rather than using 
disposable coated paper cups. 

Whereas recycling usually 
involves taking a product or 
material and breaking it down 
into its primary state for 
reprocessing into a new product, 
thus repeating the life cycle of 
the product or material. 

Reuse helps to cut both purchase 
and disposal costs and is also the 
most sustainable option as it does 
not involve the energy 
consumption required for 
recycling. 

Recycling also has many benefits 
such as, reducing disposal costs 
by avoiding expensive landfill 
taxes and increasing efficiency 
through closed loop initiatives. 
Such as recycling waste paper 
from an office and then using the 
recycled paper in the same 
office. Recycling is also much 
more sustainable than using new 
products made from virgin 
materials.  

Recycling also saves energy, on 
average recycling two glass 
bottles saves enough energy to 
boil water for five cups of tea, 
and producing an item made 
from recycled aluminium uses 5% 
of the energy required to make it 
from raw materials.  

Recycling helps to divert waste 
from landfill and therefore 
reduces the amount of 
greenhouse gas released into the 
atmosphere as a result of 
landfilling. 

One tried and tested initiative, 
designed to enhance waste 
management, is to monitor 
recycling rates and set targets 
based on previous performance. 

Setting ambitious recycling 
targets year on year focuses 
everybody’s attention on 
achieving a new goal and helps 
to create enthusiasm and a sense 
of togetherness. 

Equally important is having the 
appropriate infrastructure and 
machinery to accommodate 
certain waste streams. This can 
dramatically reduce your waste 
output, maximize recycling 
opportunities, significantly reduce 
traffic movements and improve 
the overall environmental 
footprint of your waste collection 
and disposal service. 

Other innovations include the 
creation of internal Materials 
Recovery Facilities (MRFs), here all 
waste is received, sorted and 
segregated and then processed 
to reduce volumes and prepare 
the materials to be dispatched for 
reuse or recycling. 

Furthermore and perhaps the 
ultimate preference is to have a 
dedicated reporting team to 
analyse performance and 
provide monthly feedback 
detailing recycling rates and the 
amount of waste diverted from 
landfill. This helps to quantify costs 
and monitor environmental 
performance, whilst also allowing 
for the better creation of waste 
related targets and goals. 

Progress on these targets should 
be communicated to 
stakeholders on a regular basis to 
inform and encourage 
participation. 

 
6 

Energy recovery 
If the reduction, reuse and 
recycling of waste is not possible, 
energy recovery is the next best 
environmental option. 

Energy recovery reduces the 
need to produce power from 
conventional sources such as 
fossil fuels. 

Energy recovery is often 
implemented when dealing with 
mixed waste streams, where the 
contamination of waste materials 
limits the recovery and value of 
the waste stream. 

The classification of energy 
recovery relies on the process 
falling within minima and maxima 
conversion efficiencies as 
outlined by the European Union 
(EU). 

Energy recovery is a method of 
recovering heat and electricity 
from waste via thermal 
processing technologies and 
anaerobic digestion.  

The thermal processing 
technology is most efficient when 
the heat and electricity 
generating methods are 
integrated in a Combined Heat 
and Power (CHP) plant. 

CHP plants capture the heat 
created as a by-product of 
electricity generation and use it 
for a variety of purposes including 
water and space heating. 

On-site CHP plants can help to 
reduce costs by generating 
electricity at a lower cost than it 
can be purchased. Water and 
space can also be heated in the 
same process. CHP plants help to 
reduce carbon emissions, in 
comparison with electricity 
generated from power stations, 
and water heated from boilers.     

Electricity generated from waste 
using the conversion technologies 
of anaerobic digestion, 
gasification and pyrolysis is 
eligible for Renewable Obligation 
Certificates (ROCs).  

A ROC is a green certificate 
issued for each megawatt hour of 
renewable electricity generated, 
ROC certificates can be used to 
attain financial incentives. 

Anaerobic digestion is a 
treatment that degrades organic 
waste in the absence of oxygen, 
producing compost and a biogas 
that can be captured and used 
to generate electricity and heat.  

Gasification and pyrolysis are 
thermal processes that use high 
temperatures combined with a 
lack of oxygen to break down 
waste without combustion. The 
main product of the processes is 
synthetic gas commonly known 
as syngas; this gas is composed 
mostly of carbon monoxide and 
hydrogen. Syngas can be used to 
produce electricity and also as a 
chemical feedstock in the 
petrochemical and refining 
industry. 

Energy recovery via Refuse 
Derived Fuel (RDF) uses waste 
that has been through a process 
called Mechanical Biological 
Treatment (MBT). MBT is a process 
that combines a sorting facility 
with a biological treatment such 
as composting. MBT is often used 
when dealing with mixed waste 
streams. The end product of the 
MBT process may be used as RDF 
if it has a high calorific value. RDF 
has a number of uses but is mainly 
used in the generation of heat 
and electricity.  

Another type of energy recovery 
is by incineration, this typically 
reduces the requirement for 
landfill by 90%; the remaining 10% 
is residual ash. This ash may have 
to be landfilled, but there are 
some opportunities for reuse, such 
as in the cement manufacturing 
industry. 

Energy recovery from waste is 
governed by the EU Waste 
Incineration Directive (WID) which 
imposes far stricter emission limits 
than apply to other types of 
electricity generation.  

 
 7 

Landfill disposal 
Landfill disposal is the least 
preferred choice in the waste 
hierarchy.  

Although traditionally the UK has 
sent the majority of waste to 
landfill, the lifespan of these 
landfill sites is now dwindling, with 
even the largest sites having less 
than ten years capacity 
remaining. This coupled with the 
increased awareness of the 
environmental impacts of landfill 
sites, has resulted in the 
imperative issue of finding 
alternative sustainable waste 
treatment methods. 

The EU Landfill Directive reflects 
the importance of this issue, 
stating that by 2010 England must 
reduce the amount of 
biodegradable municipal waste 
sent to landfill to 75% of that 
produced in 1995, with further 
reductions planned for 2013 and 
2020. 

Consequently, in 1995 local 
authorities introduced the Landfill 
Allowance Trading Scheme 
(LATS). This scheme is based on 
measured tradable allowances. 
This enables the greatest amount 
of waste diversion to occur in 
areas where it is most feasible to 
do so. Unused allowances can be 
traded between local authorities; 
thereby implementing the polluter 
pays principle.     

The treatment methods described 
in the previous sections of this 
document detail the preferred 
options of waste management 
techniques in the order of the 
waste hierarchy; however in some 
circumstances none of these 
treatment methods are viable. 

This may be due to a lack of 
accessible facilities or 
infrastructure or possibly due to a 
waste stream having no 
alternative options for treatment. 

In these circumstances landfill 
may be the only available option. 
In this case it is important to 
ensure that your waste has been 
reduced in volume as much as 

possible and that if necessary 
your waste has been pre-treated 
in accordance with the landfill 
Waste Acceptance Criteria 
(WAC).  

Introduced in 2002 WAC are an 
extension of the Landfill Directive 
which set out in detail the 
regulations for hazardous and 
non-hazardous waste being 
deposited in landfill.  WAC outline 
the different treatment methods 
for each waste stream, and 
include the reclassification of 
certain wastes. 

Despite the many adverse effects 
landfill sites can have on the 
environment, there still remain 
some opportunities for energy 
recovery.  

Some landfill sites have seized the 
opportunity to recover the 
valuable by products of the 
landfilling process. One such by 
product is landfill gas, considered 
as a waste itself this gas is the end 
product of the decomposition of 
biodegradable wastes in a landfill 
site.  

The composition of the gas varies 
depending on the type of waste 
and decomposition period. 
Though generally the gas 
contains methane (65%) and 
carbon dioxide (35%), and is 
therefore high in calorific value. 

Landfill gas can be extracted 
using pipes to tap into pockets of 
the gas buried underground 
amidst the decomposing waste. 
The gas may then be used to 
create heat and electricity, 
therefore recovering some 
energy from the waste.  

However, it should be noted that 
the proposed decrease in use of 
landfill sites will result in a 
reduction in the volume of landfill 
gas generated and therefore this 
method of energy recovery is not 
viable in the long term. 

 
8 

EU Landfill Directive 

Landfill Directive summary 
The Directive’s overall aim is to 
prevent or reduce as far as 
possible negative effects on the 
environment, in particular the 
pollution of surface water, 
groundwater, soil and air, and on 
the global environment, including 
the greenhouse effect, as well as 
any resulting risk to human health, 
from the landfilling of waste, 
during the whole lifecycle of the 
landfill. 

The Landfill Directive bans the 
landfilling of: 
 

• Liquid waste 

• Waste which in the 

conditions of landfill is 

explosive, oxidising, 

corrosive, flammable or 

highly flammable 

• Hospital and other clinical 

wastes arising from 

medical or veterinary 

establishments which are 

infectious. 

• Whole used tyres from 

2003 and shredded used 

tyres from 2006. For 

existing non-hazardous 

landfills, this ban is 

implemented through the 

PPC permitting process; so 

that it comes into effect 

as sites receive their 

permit. 

• Any waste that does not 

fulfil the waste 

acceptance criteria 

 
The Directive brings forward a 
number of requirements which will 
add between £2.20 and £40.40 
per tonne to the mean cost of 
waste disposal with costs ranging 
to as much as £120 per tonne for 
specific waste streams. These 
costs will largely be passed back 
to the waste producers, reflecting 
the polluter pays principle, and 
will provide a further incentive to 
waste producers to reuse, recycle 
or otherwise minimise their waste 
production. 

europa.eu.int (2008)