Chapter 1 : Introduction 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Waste Management
Waste management or Waste disposal is all the activities and actions required
to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. Waste Management is also
defined as the discipline associated with control of generation, storage, collection,
transport or transfer, processing and disposal of waste materials in a way that match
with the best principles of public health, conservation, economics, aesthetic,
engineering and other environmental considerations.
Waste management is the "generation, prevention, characterization, monitoring,
treatment, handling, reuse and residual disposition of solid wastes". The term normally
relates to all kinds of waste, whether generated during the extraction of raw materials,
the processing of raw materials into intermediate and final products, the consumption of
final products, or other human activities, including municipal (residential, institutional,
commercial), agricultural, and social (health care, household hazardous wastes,
sewage sludge).
The term also relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process
is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the Environment or aesthetics.
There is a wide array of issues relating to waste management and those areas
include:
• Generation of waste
• Waste minimization
• Waste removal
• Waste transportation
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• Waste treatment
• Recycling and reuse
• Storage, collection, transport, and transfer
• Treatment
• Landfill disposal
• Environmental considerations
• Financial and marketing aspects
• Policy and regulations
• Education and training
• Planning and implementation.
1.2 Scope of Solid Waste
In its scope, solid waste management includes planning, administrative,
financial, engineering and legal functions in the process of solving problems arising
from waste materials. The solutions might include complex inter-disciplinary relations
among fields such as public health, city and regional planning, political science,
geography, sociology, economics, communication and conservation, demography,
engineering and material sciences.
Solid waste management practices can differ for residential and industrial
producers, for urban and rural areas, and for developed and developing nations.
Management of non-hazardous waste in metropolitan areas is generally the job of local
government authorities, on the other hand management of non-hazardous waste
materials is typically the job of the genitor subject to local, national and even
international authorities.
1.3 Goals, Objective and Policies of The Solid waste
The preparation of the 1992 Solid Waste Management Plan involved the creation
of a set of goals, objectives, and policies. They were devised to provide the policy
framework for the successful implementation of the preferred solid waste management
plan. Those goals, objectives, and policies have proved invaluable to the Central
Virginia Waste Management Authority. Over the years that the plan has existed, they
have guided CVWMA through numerous events, and have provided the foundation for
its successful operation. Because of the success of those goals, objectives, and
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policies, it was decided that the 2004 Solid Waste Management Plan would rely to the
greatest extent possible on the earlier goals, objectives and policies, with modifications
as deemed necessary to reflect the challenges of the next planning period. The
framework for the Goals, Objectives, and Policies remains the same. The Goal is the
general statement that represents the accomplishments that the CVWMA hopes to
achieve. It is an overarching statement that provides guidance and a foundation under
which the Authority operates.
To achieve the stated goal, a series of Objectives have been developed.
Objectives are specific statements defining the means by which progress towards the
goal is to be achieved. Objectives are definite and lend themselves to the formulation of
measurement devises. Adequate and acceptable measurements provide the Authority
with a means to evaluate its success in a practical manner. The third component is the
Policies. These are actions or strategies that are taken to insure that the Objectives are
achieved, and that continuous progress towards the overall goal is maintained. Policies
assist in resolving the day-to-day issues and courses of action to guide regional, local,
and private decision-making. The development of this framework was guided by the
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality hierarchy of solid waste management
strategies, which are
Source Reduction
Reuse
Recycling
Resource Recovery (Waste to Energy)
Incineration
Land Filling.
As a part of the Plan development Process, the CVWMA Board of Directors,
CVWMA Citizen Advisory Committee, CVWMA Technical Advisory Committee, and the
SWMP Working Group reviewed these goals, objectives, and policies, and appropriate
modifications were made.
1.3.1 Goals for the Solid Waste Management plan
A comprehensive, integrated system of solid waste management in the Central
Virginia Waste Management Authority Service Area that achieves the specific service,
health and safety, financial, environmental and institutional objectives for each member,
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yet balances these public values in a manner that brings maximum benefit and public
service to the citizens of the service area as a whole.
i) Objective 1:
To establish and maintain an ongoing planning and plan implementation process
to meet current and future needs for the service area based on the state's adopted
hierarchy of waste management strategies.
Policies:
• Develop a Regional Solid Waste Management Plan and planning process
for the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority Service Area that
meets State regulations, fulfills regional and local needs and priorities,
and outlines a schedule of accomplishments and implementation
program.
• Continue to designate the CVWMA as the legal implementing entity for
the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan and incorporate in the Plan
mechanisms to provide the opportunity for regional coordination of local
member government solid waste management programs and activities
under the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan.
• Designate specific responsibilities for the CVWMA and its member
governments for implementing programs and activities that meet the
waste management needs and requirements of the Regional Solid Waste
Management Plan.
• Support the general principle that the Planning District Commissions
(PDCs), asλ empowered under the Virginia Area Development Act, are
primarily responsible for broad, multi-governmental, long-range
comprehensive planning and policy development, for their two respective
planning Subareas of the CVWMA service area.
• Provide intergovernmental procedures and processes to effectively
implement andλ maintain the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan,
including delineation of incremental stages toward meeting the regional
solid waste management objectives and provisions for major updates that,
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at a minimum, meet all schedules for completion established by State
regulations.
• Provide a standardized and centralized records system for the CVWMA
service area as required by state regulations:
• Receive and record state required information on all closed, active
or proposed solid waste disposal, treatment and storage facilities
and collection systems;
• Collect, maintain and report data required to meet state regulations
on source reduction activities and on the amount of solid waste of
each type (residential, commercial and industrial, including
principal and supplemental recyclable materials) generated,
disposed, reused, recycled and exchanged within the service area;
• Provide for coordination among public and private sector solid waste
management activities within the regional solid waste management
planning process.
• Encourage private sector participation in the planning process through
involvement with the CVWMA Technical Advisory Committee and
participation in public meetings and other forums.
• Monitor legislative initiatives that would assist in meeting state planning
regulationsλ and waste management goals, or further the objectives of the
Authority and local governments in regional waste management.
• Provide in the planning process an evaluation of the potential economic
impacts on the private and public sectors of various regional solid waste
management alternatives.
• Engage in continuous contact with the Solid Waste Management industry
in the areasλ of emerging technology and solid waste management
techniques, so that the CVWMA members may have access to new
industry developments and standards.
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• Recognize the increased urbanization of the Central Virginia area
examineλ opportunities to provide waste management services to
member communities as their service level needs are expanded.
ii) Objective 2:
To assist in meeting the solid waste management needs of the Central Virginia
Waste Management Authority service area and the individual member localities through
the year 2024 in an efficient, cost-effective, reliable and equitable manner, while
providing adequate flexibility in meeting unforeseen needs and integrating new and
innovative processes.
Policies:
• Support a regional solid waste management planning process, which is
based on the state's adopted hierarchy of strategies pursued in the
following order of priority: source reduction; reuse; recycling; resource
recovery; incineration; and landfill disposal.
• Support mechanisms that coordinate, facilitate and promote local solid
waste management efforts and provide leadership in establishing and
administrating regional recycling and disposal activities.
• Support mechanisms to regularly evaluate and monitor the waste
management facilities and systems within the service area, so as to
maintain compliance with federal and state regulations and standards,
regularly refine the systems and remedy problems, maximize the use of
existing facilities, test new options and integrate workable innovations into
the regional system.
• Support and encourage public and private partnerships in meeting solid
waste management needs.
• Promote private sector participation in meeting waste management needs;
incorporate existing private recycling operations into the Plan; and
encourage expansion of private operations as practical, consistent with
the objectives and policies of the Solid Waste Management Plan.
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• Support intergovernmental solutions to meeting the service area's and
local jurisdictions' solid waste management needs that are equitable in
terms of sharing the costs, risks and benefits among local jurisdictions and
private sector waste management interests within the service area.
• Promote regional and local strategies that secure adequate public and
private financial resources for meeting local and regional solid waste
management needs.
• Provide a forum where member jurisdictions can have contact with
adjoining localities, for the purpose of exploring additional opportunities to
provide solid waste management programs in the most efficient manner.
• Continue to research and bring forth innovative systems for handling non-
routine or emergency solid waste management needs.
iii) Objective 3:
To continue to meet or exceed the state mandated recycling goals for the
CVWMA Service Area.
Policies:
• Establish overall recycling objectives for the CVWMA service area, and
specific objectives for each local jurisdiction, established by the locality,
based on considerations of localities individual preferences.
• Provide cost-effective mechanisms for the disposal or recycling/reuse of
residential, commercial, and industrial solid waste and waste from other
sources.
• Provide cost-effective mechanisms for the disposal or recycling/reuse of
special wastes associated with unique disposal considerations, such as
white goods, yard wastes, batteries, used tires, used motor oil, household
hazardous wastes, stumps and land-clearing debris, construction debris,
mining wastes, agricultural wastes, sludge, ash, inoperable vehicles and
spill residues.
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• Support local government in-house source reduction and recycling
activities, as well as waste collection and disposal programs.
• Provide information on alternative systems and techniques of recycling to
reduce the amount of waste requiring disposal by other means.
• Make available additional recycling programs and service areas consistent
with the needs of CVWMA members.
• Promote efforts to achieve resource conservation and save landfill space.
iv) Objective 4:
To secure maximum public support for the regional solid waste planning and
implementation process through public participation and education programs.
Policies:
• Facilitate and encourage public participation in the regional planning
process through use of citizen advisory committees, public meetings,
public hearings, and the media.
• Establish effective education and public information programs for schools,
businesses and industries, public and private agencies and the general
public.
• Coordinate solid waste management education and promotional programs
with those of the local, state, other public and private agencies and
industry.
• Become a resource for solid waste information for utilization by agencies,
businesses, and the general public.
• Enhance the opportunities of CVWMA members to mutually and
individually develop programs and systems addressing solid waste
management needs of multiple localities.
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• Maintain contact with other industries and the public to identify creative
mechanismsλ for converting solid waste materials into goods for
productive use.
• Reduce the improper disposal and littering of wastes through education,
they involvement of volunteers, local governments, law enforcement, and
other efforts.
• Identify alternatives in the planning process that cause the least
environmental damage in terms of adverse ecosystem and habitat
changes, and negative impacts on natural, historical, cultural, recreational,
and aesthetic resources.
1.4 Functional Elements of Waste Management System
There are mainly 6 functional elements of waste management system which
include
(1) Waste generation,
(2) Onsite handling, storage and processing,
(3) Waste Collection
(4) Transfer and transport
(5) Processing and Recovery
(6) Disposal Waste.
1.4.1 Waste generation refers to activities involved in identifying materials which are
no longer useable and are either gathered for systematic disposal or thrown
away.
1.4.2 Onsite handling, storage and processing are the activities around the waste
generation points to facilitate easier collection. Normally, to store wastes, waste
bins are placed around the places which generate sufficient waste.
1.4.3 Waste collection, a very important phase of waste management, includes the
activities such as placing waste collection bins, collecting wastes from those bins
and gathering the wastes in the location where the collection vehicles are
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emptied. Although collection phase involve a bit of transportation from point of
waste generation, this is not main phase of waste transportation.
1.4.4 Waste transfer and transport are the activities involved in transferring wastes
from the smaller waste storage facilities to the waste disposal sites using larger
waste transport vehicles and equipments.
1.4.5 Waste processing and recovery refers to the facilities, equipment and
techniques employed both to recover reuseable or recyclable materials from the
waste stream and to improve the effectiveness of other functional elements of
waste management.
1.4.6 Waste disposal is the final stage of waste management. It involves the activities
aimed at systematic disposal of waste materials. After collection and
transportation, wastes are systematically disposed in landfills.
FIG: 01
(Interrelationship of functional elements comprising SWMS)
1.5 Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM)-An Overview
1.5.1 Introduction
Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) is the latest and most effective
approach to solid waste management. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
defines ISWM as a complete waste reduction, collection, composting, recycling, and
disposal system. An efficient ISWM system considers how to reduce, reuse, recycle,
and manage waste to protect human health and the natural environment. It involves
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evaluating local conditions and needs, and then choosing, mixing and applying the most
suitable solid waste management activities according to the condition.
ISWM is a very popular term in the field of waste management. It is defined as
the selection and use of appropriate management programs, technologies and
techniques to achieve particular waste management goals and objectives. According to
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ISWA is composed of waste source
reduction, recycling, waste combustion and landfills. These activities can be done in
either interactive or hierarchical way.
FIG: 02
(Interactive & Hierarchical way of Integrated Solid Waste Management)
1.5.2 Functional Elements of Integrated Solid Waste Management.
The four components or functional elements of ISWM include
• Source reduction.
• Recycling and composting.
• Waste transportation.
• Land Filling.
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These waste management activities can be undertaken either in interactively or
hierarchically.
Following are brief discussion of each of these functional elements of ISWM:
Source Reduction, also known as waste prevention, aims at reducing
unnecessary waste generation. Source reduction strategies may include products that
are designed for recycling, durable long lasting products, concentration or redesign of
products or utilize less or no packaging, reduction of food spoilage and waste through
better attention to food processing and storage, as well as avoiding products that don’t
last long and can’t be reused or recycled, such as Halloween decorations, to look at
one example. Waste source reduction helps us to lessen waste handling, transportation
and disposal costs and eventually reduces methane generation.
Recycling and Composting are very important phases in the entire ISWM
process. Recycling includes the accumulation, sorting and recovering of recyclable and
reusable materials, as well as the reprocessing of recyclables to produce new products.
Composting, a component of organics recycling, involves the accumulation of organic
waste and converting it into soil additives. Both recycling and composting wastes have
a number of economic benefits such as they create job opportunities in addition to
diverting material from the waste stream to generate cost effective sources of material
for further use. Both recycling and composting also greatly contribute to the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions.
Waste Transportation is another waste management activity that must be
integrated systematically with other waste management activities to ensure smooth and
efficient waste management. Typically this includes the collection of waste from
curbside and businesses, as well as from transfer stations where waste may be
concentrated and reloaded onto other vehicles for delivery to the landfill.
Waste Disposal, especially through use of landfills and combustion, are the
activities undertaken to manage waste materials that are not recycled. The most
common way of managing these wastes is through landfills, which must be properly
designed, well-constructed and systematically managed.
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