Elimination of municipal solid wastes aims at attaining global stability. In the past, solid waste was commonly thrown into unlined open landfills, which were intentionally set on fire to reduce the volume. In larger communities, solid waste was sent to incinerators, which had minimal air emission control (William & P, 2012). This initiative was ineffective at reducing the volume of waste. Further development saw the need to have the landfills having composite liner systems consisting of a plastic liner on top of compacted clay.

Currently, efforts of developing integrated waste management systems within several communities have been welcomed. The government is now advocating, prevention, reuse, recycle, recovery and disposal during the manufacture of products. The aim is to continue in the reduction of waste landfilling (William & P, 2012).

Development of Sanitary Landfills

Continuous disposal of solid wastes at the landfills resulted into aesthetic and environmental degradation. There was an alarming increase of filth, rodents and insects who would pose health risks concerns to members of the public. In this regard, alternate disposal methods were to be deliberated upon. Larger communities who would afford combustors would burn their wastes on site and reduce the volume of waste (William & P, 2012). However, the same was not practical with the smaller communities as they would not afford. According to William & P, this need necessitated the popularization of sanitary landfills hence their development.

 

Constructional design of Sanitary Landfills to their efficiency

Sanitary landfills have what we call liners incorporated within the design. The purpose of the liners is to prevent solvents that would be harmful in the waste from contaminating the soil and underground water. During the design, a collection system whereby the leachate will be collected is also incorporated. The refuse is then disposed of, compacted with heavy machinery and then covered with the earth after completion (William & P, 2012).

Question 2: Waste Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling
Achieving waste reduction

Waste reduction can be achieved in three ways namely, prevention, reuse and onsite recycling. Prevention entails avoiding of waste generation. Reuse refers to the deliberate reusage of a product. On-site recycling, on the other hand, refers to the transformation of waste materials into usable or marketable materials (Reddy, 2011).

Incentives

Authorities should encourage waste reduction by offering incentives such as reduction of tax and provision subsidies to motivate the public and organisations to reduce the amount of waste generated (Reddy, 2011).

Examples of waste reduction that can be utilized

On-site composting of biodegradable materials can be considered as a way of waste reduction. Using o electronic mail system to send documents to peers as compared to the physical sending of printouts can also lead to a further waste reduction.

 

Benefits and Negative effects of Recycling

Recycling leads to the protection of the environment as reduced demand for certain products such as paper necessitates the conservation of trees that are natural resources. With poor management, recycling can have harmful effects. Chemicals that can be hazardous in nature can mix into the soil and water causing various pollution and harming the organisms present within the vicinity.

Obstacles in Recycling

Since recycling involves the manufacture of products from used materials, there is never guarantee on the quality of the product.

Question 3: Energy Conversion and Integrated Solid Waste Management

Energy Recovery

Energy recovery is the conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into various energy forms such as heat, electricity and fuel of various types.This recoverable energy is stored in chemical form in all solid wastes which contain hydrocarbons. During the combustion, electricity and steam are generated from the waste (William & P, 2012).

 

 

Burning of Refuse

Refuse can be charged to the furnace mechanically whereby the same is deposited at the feed end of a metal grate that moves slowly through the combustion chamber. The rates of mass transfer ad chemical reaction are dependent on the size of the refuse. The bigger the size of the refuse, the slower is the rate of the transfer and chemical reaction with the oxidizing gas. Therefore, the generated temperatures in such a way that the ash does not reach fusion point (Reddy, 2011).

Integrated waste management

An integral waste management system aims at separating the municipal solid wastes into streams that are then subjected to various methods of resource recovery (William & P, 2012). This separation can take place at the source where the principal means are characterized into minimizing, recovery of materials, recovery of energy, bioconversion and landfilling.

Strategies of the system that have contributed to the growth

Minimizing of wastes has resulted into the production of better products. The products have been improved in terms of design and or packaging which reduces the need for disposal. Recovery of materials has also resulted into the reuse of the products to produce similar products, example is the glass technology. In the recovery of energy, waste materials containing hydrocarbons have been combusted, and electrical energy and steam have been produced. Bioconversion entails the aerobic composting of biodegradable waste which can be used as a soil improver.

Question 4: Links Between Waste Management, Climate Change and Energy

Gas emissions from solid waste

These are those gases that trap heat when emitted into the atmosphere. Such gases include the likes of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide and other fluorinated gases. Combustion is one sure way of reducing the volume of disposing of solid waste. During this process, carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide are produced. Disposal of organic wastes in landfills leads to the production of methane gas during decay (William & P, 2012).

Strategies of Reducing Emissions

The government is putting on various strategies in place in the hopes of reducing the continuous emission of the gases. Through the implementation of various energy conservation projects, it is succeeding in this quest. This implementation reduces the annual energy intensity and; as a result, leads to the reduction of greenhouse emissions (Environmental Protection Agency, 2012).

In order to ensure efficient facility operations, regular energy assessments should be conducted in workplaces. These assessments will monitor the operations of the organization as regards to energy utilization and production. Therefore, keeping in check various emissions hence its reduction.

Another novice way of reducing the gas emission is by the reduction of fleet fuel consumption. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, having vehicles whose fuel consumption is reduced decreases the amount of carbon dioxide gas emission thus reducing the overall effect. Members of the public could also decide on carpooling, therefore, reducing single person occupancy in a vehicle thus reduces the number of vehicles plying various parts of the city and hence reduction of the gas emission.

Waste disposal and Climate

Each of the gas effect on the climate is dependent on its atmospheric concentration, the length of exposure in the atmosphere and the extent of which they thicken the earths blanket. Changes in the emission of greenhouse gasses affects the heat within the atmosphere thus the energy entering and leaving the earth. Therefore, causing what we refer to as the greenhouse effect (Environmental Protection Agency, 2012).

 

Question 5: Recovery and Disposal of Solid Waste in Landfills
Recovery supporting recycling

Recovery of waste is the process in which waste is collected without prior separation and is separated in discrete pieces at a central facility. The procedure eases the recycling process as it separates the materials to be recycled from the others. Recyclable waste that would otherwise find their ways in the landfills is separated and recycled. Therefore, waste reduction within the community is enhanced. At the facility, chances of succeeding increases if the material presented for separation is clearly identified by a code and if the switch is then sensitive to that code. However, no such technology exists (William & P, 2012).

Development of Sanitary Landfills

Disposing of wastes at the landfills lead to the environmental degradation. The overflow of trash within the same increases the amount of rodents, air pollution and health risks posed to members of the public living nearby. In this regard, alternate disposal methods were to be deliberatedSmaller communities who could not afford the combustors for volume reduction in the landfills opted for the sanitary landfills which were engineered in design, hence their development.

Addressing the issue of Landfill contamination

During the design, liners are incorporated in the landfills to prevent the solvents in the waste from contaminating the ground. A collection system is further developed to collect such contaminants. Refuse is then disposed of, compacted with heavy machinery and then covered with the earth after completion (William & P, 2012).

References

Environmental Protection Agency. (2012, May 11). Greening EPA. Retrieved September 20, 2014, from EPA: http://www.epa.gov/greeningepa/ghg/strategies.htm

Reddy, P. J. (2011). Municipal Solid Waste Management: Processing – Energy Recovery – Global Examples. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

William, A. W., & P, A. V. (2012). Solid Waste Engineering (2nd ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.