pyrolysis

Waste Disposal: How not to create a stink! by Akhil Shahani

One of the prime concerns and responsibilities of organizations is the efficient disposal of the waste they generate. As production grows in volume, so do the by products, creating a need for better and bigger waste disposal systems. Getting rid of the company garbage is not as simple as bagging it and shoving it down a chute. Waste disposal is as varied and multi-faceted, as any other operational activity. Just go through the Professional and Technical books section at to understand what we are saying! Take a look at the type of waste that businesses might generate and the uses they could put it to.

Believe it or not, there is actually a “waste hierarchy”, which ranks disposal strategies on their effectiveness in minimizing waste and maximizing recovery of value. Source reduction strategies aim for the former, whereas methods such as recycling or converting bio-degradable waste into fertilizer focus on the latter goal.

Recycling plays a vital role in waste disposal. If you’re in a business which generates a large amount of plastic waste, consider recycling the material. Although the cost of recycling can be quite high, it does not necessarily mean that it is unviable. Recycled raw material consumes less energy, water and other resources than virgin material â€" so there is a definite financial saving, in addition to the obvious environmental benefits. On the other hand, if your business generates “electronic” waste, take particular care to deal with it, since the disposal of heavy metals that are found in such equipment represents a serious environmental hazard.

Sweep it under the carpet! If you can’t do much about recovering value from the company garbage, the next best thing is to get rid of it the right way. Dumping stuff into a landfill is an easy solution, but there’s only that much that can be done. While modern landfills, designed to prevent pollution, represent a relatively clean and inexpensive way of waste disposal, they are facing increasing opposition by environmentalists and other groups. It is understandable that local residents would find a gigantic garbage dump an unwelcome neighbor, and authorities are hard pressed to find alternative solutions for disposal.

If you can’t beat it, heat it! And that is the waste disposal mantra of many â€" ranging from individual households to large manufacturing plants. Incineration, or disposing waste by burning, has the advantage of completely destroying certain types of waste that could otherwise pose health hazards, such as refuse from hospitals. It also offers a slight advantage in terms of energy recovery, although most of the thermal energy is lost. On the flip side, incineration releases several toxins into the atmosphere, leaving environmentalists to fight one more battle! Finally, the considerable ash that is generated in the process could be a nuisance unless put to good use, for example, in cement furnaces, or for the extraction of lye and other chemicals.

If you can’t heat it, eat it! No, really. Waste that in organic in nature, for example, plants vegetables and paper can be “digested” in processes that control their decomposition, and sanitize them for further use. There are several ways to do this, ranging from composting to digesting, and several in-between. The end result is some not so sweet smelling mulch, which can be used as fertilizer.

These are but a few techniques of waste disposal â€" there are several other sophisticated methods at your disposal (no puns intended), such as pyrolysis, mechanical-biological treatment and gasification. Optimize your strategy so that you can create as little rubbish as possible, at a cost that is practical.