Summary

In this Study Session, you have learned that:

• The waste hierarchy is a guide to selecting the most environmentally sound strategies for municipal solid waste, which ranks waste management interventions according to their environmental or energy benefits.
• Waste reduction involves industry in designing products to reduce the amount of waste that will later need to be thrown away. At the household level, waste reduction is about people making decisions to avoid generating waste.
• Recycling means reprocessing waste into new material. The first step is separation of waste into different types.
• Composting is the process of converting biodegradable waste into compost, a soil improver. This method has the advantage of providing a safe disposal route for organic waste while producing a useful end product.
• Composting requires organic wastes to be sorted, shredded, blended and placed in a pile for a few months. The pile must be turned every few weeks to introduce air.
• Recovery means extracting (recovering) value from waste, usually in the form of energy.
• Biogas recovery from organic waste has the potential to provide gas for heating at the household level. It can treat residential waste along with human excreta and animal manure.