The alternative solid waste management. Adamantios Skordilis Dr Chemical Engineer

Transcription

1 1 The alternative solid waste management Adamantios Skordilis Dr Chemical Engineer Solid waste management constitutes a complex issue that is not only environmental, but also political, economic, social and technological. The wide variety of the produced products, the over-consumption, the abundance of construction materials, the availability of natural resources and the unorthodox disposal after their use, have created enormous environmental problems. The modern practice of environmental strategy and politics in the field of waste management in EU and international level, as well as the need for effective protection of the environment and control of pollution from waste lead to new directions and impose a more thorough confrontation and factual analysis of the environmental problems that derive from waste pollution. It is accredited that solid waste constitute an important source of pollution with ever increasing negative consequences to the environment, while creating an unjustified amount of resources waste. The basic frame of the politics for waste management has been formed by the community vested, according to which the guidelines are set and the general principles of solid waste management are specified hierarchically, mainly through the promotion of reuse and recycling of waste and furthermore, through other forms of recovery (material and energy recovery), resulting to a reduction and always a safe final disposal. Around 5.2 million tons of household waste is being produced in Greece every year. 74% is landfilled or deposited and 26% is managed in an alternative way (recycle at the source, mechanical separation including compost production). Figure 1 Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) in Ano Liosia, Athens

2 2 Figure 2 Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) in Chania, Crete Alternative management is applied in a series of waste streams in Greece today. Three (3) plants for mechanical separation have been built, forty-three (43) controlled landfills, fifty (50) or more are being created, thirteen (13) existing ones are being upgraded, nineteen (19) transshipment stations are operating, and forty one (41) more are under construction. Recycling and use of waste recovered energy constitute the basic elements of waste management today (collection transportation processing usage). The different waste disposal techniques are presented in Figure 3. Figure 3 waste disposal techniques

3 3 The basic concept behind the waste management politics in the Greek Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change is the prevention of waste production, the promotion of waste recovery, recycling and reuse, as well as environmentally safe final waste disposal. The Greek Law 2939 applies to packaging and packaging waste, batteries and accumulators, end-of-life vehicles, construction and demolition waste, used oils, used tires and electrical and electronic equipment waste. Environmentally sound waste management is the goal of the alternative techniques of waste management, especially since it contributes a great deal in the overheating of our planet, through the emission of greenhouse gases. Applying alternative waste management techniques (reuse, recycling, as well as the use of more effective methods of disposal) causes improvement in other fields of environmental protection (soil, water, even the issue of climate change). The basic principles of waste management are: Prevention of waste production Reuse of waste Recovery of materials or energy polluter pays Responsibility Publication A basic element of Greek Law is the involvement of final users and consumers in the chain of waste management. This is of special importance, because recycling and material recovery is based on the separation of waste at source. Therefore, people are more responsible for the ways that waste is reduced, so that they return to the production line. Surely, this assumption presupposes proper and wide information from the economic authorities and the public services. All managers (producers, importers) are obliged either to organize or to take part in an alternative management system. These systems, which can be individual or collective, are evaluated and approved by the Recycling Authority. These systems aim at the final user or consumer to return the waste in order to forward it to the proper alternative methods of waste management. The responsibility of the producer and the concept the polluter pays relates to the integration of costs occurring once the product has been sold into the price of new products, encouraging prevention at the design stage. This prevention is also further promoted by taking direct measures and encouraging actions such as: Design for cleaner production and use Design for reduction/substitution of hazardous, toxic or otherwise environmentally harmful materials Minimization of the weight and the volume without comprising the level of safety and hygiene Promotion in the market of eco-labeled products Design for reuse and recycling (use of recyclable materials, simple disassembly, reduced material complexity etc) Design for durability (maintainability) and longevity (upgradeability etc) The aforementioned systems:

4 4 a) are designed in such a way so that all obstacles in trade or competition are avoided, according to national and EU legislation, and b) take into consideration issues of: protection of the environment and the health and safety of consumers protecting the industrial rights and the commercial secrecy The organization of the alternative management systems is done by the managers: individually, or collectively, by either their participation in a certified collective alternative management system of any legal form, such as companies (SA, Ltd, etc), associations etc. For any alternative management system to operate, either collective or individual, authorization from the Recycling Authority is required. Packaging (3 collective and 1 individual) End of life vehicle Used tire Used oils Batteries Accumulators (2 collective) WEEE (2 collective) As for the Packaging Waste, there are 4 systems: 3 collective and 1 single. Recycling of Packaging Waste sums up to t, that is more than 50% of the total quantity of packaging waste.

5 5 Figure 4 Collection of recyclable materials, City of Patras The total number of End of Life Vehicles sums up to and the recycling percentage of each one exceed 82%.

6 6 Figure 5 cleaning-up of End of Life vehicles The recycling of old tires sums up to tons which represents around 90%. For the recycling of Used Oils there are collection points in the country and the collection of around tons represents 65% of the total quantity. For the collective system for the batteries there are around collection points. Approximately 500t of batteries are recycled, i.e. more than 26%. The total quantity of the collected accumulators exceeds the tons. Finally, as for the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) the total amount sums up to tons, that represents 31% of the produced waste. Figure 7 recycling of TV screens

7 7 Figure 8 cleaning-up of fridges Figure 9 recycling of fridges Deductive, recycling of household waste, meaning packaging, printed paper, waste electrical and electronic equipment, the organic fraction from the separation plants, as well as the batteries, accounts today at around 26% (Figure 10).

8 8 Figure 10: Waste Recycling Percentage m 3 less waste have been forwarded to the organized landfills (Figure 11). Energy recovery for 2008 through the recycling of the mentioned quantities sums up to GJ (Figure 12) while the reduction of emissions and especially CO 2 (greenhouse effect) is in the order of tons per year (Figure 13). Figure 11: Reduction of waste volume to landfill (m 3 )

9 9 Figure 12: Energy saving (GJ 10 6 ) Figure 13: CO 2 Reduction The proposals for the future of waste management are: The reduction of the production of waste The promotion of reuse and recycling at the source Energy recovery including co-combustion Mechanical-biological treatment as well as fermentation for the production of biogas Taking as granted that the environmental protection is everybody s case, the success of Alternative Waste Management depends on our active participation.