The Life Cycle of Trash. 

Once we take out the trash, it has to go somewhere, yet many of us have no idea where exactly it goes, moreover, we don’t even care.

The life cycle of garbage usually begins in our respective homes. Our kitchen garbage can even accumulate a lot of volume it, so we take the garbage bag out to our curbside dumpster, and the dumpster comes to empty it; but what happens to all our garbage once the dumpster takes it away? That and other questions we will try to address in our post.

Some History:

Throughout history, the amount of waste generated by humans was negligible due to low levels of population density and exploitation of natural resources. Common wastes produced during pre-modern times were mainly ashes and biodegradable human wastes, and these were released back into the soil locally, with minimal environmental impact. Tools made of wood or metal were generally reused or passed down from generation to generation.

However, some civilizations have been more wasteful in their waste production than others. In particular, the Mayans of Central America had a fixed monthly ritual, in which the people of the village would gather and burn their garbage in large dumps.

Following the onset of industrialization and the sustained urban growth of large population centers in England, the accumulation of waste in cities caused a rapid deterioration in sanitation levels and the overall quality of urban life. Streets became littered with filth due to the lack of waste disposal regulations. Calls for the establishment of a municipal authority with waste disposal powers occurred as early as 1751 when Corbyn Morris in London proposed that “…. As the preservation of the health of the people is of great importance, it is proposed that the cleanliness of this city, should be placed under uniform public management, and all the filth be … transported by the Thames to the proper distance in the country.”

The dramatic increase in waste for disposal led to the creation of the first incineration plants, or, as they were then called, “destroyers”. In 1874, the first incinerator was built in Nottingham by Manlove, Alliott & Co. Ltd. to the design of Alfred Fryer. However, these met with opposition due to the large quantities of ash they produced which floated over the surrounding areas.

Similar municipal waste disposal systems emerged in the early 20th century in other large cities in Europe and North America. In 1895, New York City became the first city in the United States to public-sector garbage management.

The first garbage collection trucks were simply open-body garbage trucks pulled by a team of horses. They were motorized in the early part of the 20th century and the first closed-body odor removal trucks with a lever dump mechanism were introduced in the 1920s in Great Britain. These were soon fitted with “hopper mechanisms” where the bucket was loaded at floor level and then mechanically hoisted to deposit the waste into the truck. The Garwood Load Packer was the first truck in 1938 to incorporate a hydraulic compactor.

However, it was not until the mid-19th century, spurred by increasingly devastating cholera outbreaks and the emergence of a public health debate that the first legislation on the subject emerged. Highly influential in this new approach was the report The Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population in 1842 by the social reformer, Edwin Chadwick, in which he advocated the importance of adequate waste disposal and management facilities to improve the health and welfare of the city’s population.

Waste management:

Waste collection methods vary widely among different countries and regions. Collection services for household waste are often provided by local government authorities or by private companies for industrial and commercial waste. Some areas, especially those in less developed countries, have no formal waste collection systems.

Waste management or disposal includes the processes and actions necessary to manage waste from its initiation to its final disposal. This includes waste collection, transportation, treatment, disposal, monitoring and regulation of the waste management process and waste-related laws, technologies, and economic mechanisms.

Waste can be solid, liquid, or gaseous and each type has different disposal and management methods. Waste management deals with all types of waste, including industrial, biological, household, municipal, organic, biomedicall, biomedical, and radioactive waste. In some cases, waste can pose a threat to human health. Health problems are associated with the entire waste management process. Health problems can also arise directly or indirectly: directly through solid waste management and indirectly through water, soil, and food consumption. Waste is produced by human activity, e.g. extraction and processing of raw materials. Waste management is aimed at reducing the adverse effects of waste on human health, the environment, planetary resourcess, and aesthetics.

The objective of waste management is to reduce the hazardous effects of such waste on the environment and human health. A large part of waste management deals with municipal solid waste, which is created by industrial, commercial, and domestic activity.

In most developed countries, household waste disposal is financed by a national or local tax that may be related to income or property value. Commercial and industrial waste disposal is generally charged as a commercial service, often as an integrated charge that includes disposal costs. This practice may encourage disposal contractors to opt for the cheapest disposal option, such as landfill, rather than the best solution for the environment, such as reuse and recycling.

Waste life cycle:

First, we need to understand the life cycle of a product, it starts with design, then continues with manufacturing, distribution and primary use, once it is no longer functional, we don’t need it, it is damaged or we simply replace it, it ends up in the trash. It then continues through the stages of collection, reduction, and reuse, or waste recycling, which is the practice of resource recovery, i.e. collection and reuse of waste materials, such as empty beverage containers. This process involves breaking down and reusing materials that would otherwise be disposed of as trash.

Recoverable materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material, food scraps, and paper products, can be recovered through composting and digestion processes to break down organic matter. The resulting organic material is recycled as mulch or compost for agricultural or landscaping purposes, or even as fuel.
Commonly used materials, such as beverage cans, wires, food and aerosol cans, old furniture or equipment, tires, plastic and PET bottles, glass jars, newspapers, magazines and light paper, and corrugated cardboard boxes, are sent to a sorting plant, where materials that can be used are recovered, such as plastic, paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum, iron, copper and newspaper, to mention a few.

Liquid wastes pass through treatment plants, which eliminate or significantly reduce the pollutants present in the effluents before they are released into the environment.
Product life cycle analysis is a way to optimize the use of the world’s limited resources by avoiding unnecessary waste generation.

Trash can be found everywhere. It is estimated that the average person generates 4.3 pounds of waste per day. The amount of time it takes for waste products to fully decompose is a major environmental concern that continues to grow. The time it takes for certain products to decompose can be shocking. Let’s take an in-depth look at how long different categories of waste take to decompose in landfills.

• -Aluminum is a sustainable metal (able to be maintained at a certain rate or level) that can be recycled over and over again. In fact, it is considered the most sustainable beverage container. The average can contains 70% metal that has been recycled. Despite these facts, many aluminum cans end up in landfills where they take between 80 and 200 years to fully decompose.
• -Plastic is a highly malleable, synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers. Enough plastic is thrown away each year to completely surround the earth four times. On average, an American throws away an estimated 185 pounds of plastic annually. Plastic is one of the types of waste that takes the longest to decompose. On average, plastic items take up to 1,000 years to fully decompose. Although certain plastics take less time, everyday plastic bags take 10 to 20 years to decompose. A plastic bottle can take up to 450 years to finally decompose.
• -Glass is 100% recyclable and can be recycled over and over again without loss of quality. We can produce new glass products by simply breaking and melting old glass. As recyclable as glass is, it still manages to find its way into landfills. The most shocking aspect of this is the mere fact that glass takes a million years to decompose. According to some sources, it may not decompose at all.
• -Paper is the largest item in U.S. landfills. On average, it takes 2-6 weeks for paper products to fully decompose in a landfill. If we recycle paper products, we save landfill space and use much less energy and water than if we use virgin raw materials. When paper products are sent to landfills, they rot and produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Recycling can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Of the food supply, 30-40% is wasted alone and an estimated one-third of the world’s food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted annually. More than 97% of the food waste created ends up in a landfill. When food decomposes in a landfill, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than CO2. Landfills account for more than 34% of all methane released into the environment, making them the largest source of methane. The rate of decomposition in food depends on the type. A banana peel can take 3 to 4 weeks to decompose; while an apple core takes up to 2 months and an orange peel 6 months.

So, is it worth recycling?

Because recycling is obviously good for human health, the nation’s economy, and the environment, many people wonder why the government simply does not mandate recycling. The primary reason is because recycling is a local issue success and viability of recycling depends on the resources and structure of the community. A community must consider the cost of a recycling program, as well as the availability of recovered markets. In some areas, there are not enough resources to make recycling an economically viable option. State governments should evaluate local conditions and establish appropriate recycling requirements. Here are some of the benefits:

• -Protects and expands manufacturing jobs and increases U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace.
• -Reduces the need for landfill and incineration
• -Saves energy and avoids pollution caused by the extraction and processing of virgin materials and the manufacture of products using virgin materials.
• -Decreases greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change
• -Conserves natural resources such as wood, water, and minerals.
• -Helps sustain the environment for future generations.

Starting a local recycling program is not as difficult as you might think. The first step would be to contact the appropriate authorities in your area. Many communities have recycling coordinators-public officials who have information about local recycling resources. Look in your phone book under “recycling coordinators” or contact your local public works department or health department.

What are you waiting for, start now.