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A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Integrated Waste Management

This article discusses the principles and policy implications of sustainable waste management, and explores how to put sustainability principles into practice. It also examines the challenges and solutions for waste management at various scales and jurisdictions.

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A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Integrated Waste Management

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  1. A Conceptual Framework forSustainable Integrated Waste Management TREN 3P14: Sustainable Integrated Waste Management David T. Brown Dept. of Tourism and Environment, Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1 dbrown@brocku.ca

  2. http://www.brocku.ca/tren/courses/tren3P14/2006/ Further information and course outline available through WebCTor at

  3. A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Integrated Waste Management Outline • Sustainability: principles ->policy -> practice • Implications for Waste Management • Waste Management Principles • Policy Implications

  4. SustainabilityPutting principles into practice ...How do we move from rhetoric to reality?

  5. Proximate Issues:Waste management problems at any scale or jurisdictional levelChallenge:To effect positive change by applying generalized principles of sustainability

  6. Proximate Issues:Waste management problems at any scale or jurisdictional level

  7. principles

  8. principles policy

  9. principles policy practice

  10. SomePrinciples of Sustainability in the literature: • Our Common Future (WCED 1987) • Principles defining sustainable development (OSEM 1989) • Defining a sustainable society (Robinson et al . 1990,1996) • Agenda 21 (1992) • Six principles of sustainable development (ORTEE 1992) • Guideposts for a sustainable future (Nickerson 1993) • Framework for Sustainable Development (CIDA 1994) • The Natural Step (Robert et al . 1994) • Sustainability Principles (ORTEE 1994), etc.

  11. Recent compilation of Principles of Sustainability http://iisd1.iisd.ca/sd/principle.asp -IISD (Winnipeg)

  12. Sustainable development: • meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. • World Commission on Environment and Development (1987): Our Common Future

  13. Two key sustainable development concepts: • the concept of needs, particularly the essential needs of the world’s poor • EQUITY • the idea of limitations (ecological, technological, and social) which affect the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs • LIMITS TO GROWTH • (quantitative and qualitative) • -> living within the regenerative and assimilative capacities of the planet

  14. Sustainable development... • considers future and present needs when making decisions about: • resource use • technological development • direction of investments • political & institutional change

  15. ECONOMY ENV’T SOCIETY TRADITIONAL DECISION MAKING

  16. ECONOMY ENV’T SOCIETY • NON-PARTICIPATORY • FRAGMENTED TRADITIONAL DECISION MAKING

  17. ECONOMY ENV’T SOCIETY SOCIETY ECONOMY • ‘ECO- • SYSTEM • HEALTH’ ENVIRONMENT TRADITIONAL DECISION MAKING ECOSYSTEM-BASED DECISION MAKING

  18. SOCIETY ECONOMY • ‘ECO- • SYSTEM • HEALTH’ • PARTICIPATORY • INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENT ECOSYSTEM-BASED DECISION MAKING

  19. To be useful, principles of sustainability must: • be easily understood • be applicable in many contexts • be transferrable across scales • translate well into applied policy and practical action • identify possibilities for radical transformative change AND positive incremental change

  20. Sustainability: PROBLEMS • Depletion of finite resources • fuels, soil, minerals, species • Over-use of renewable resources • forests, fish & wildlife, fertility, public funds • Pollution • air, water, soil • Inequity • economic, political, social, gender • Species loss • endangered species and spaces

  21. Sustainability: SOLUTIONS • Cyclical material use • emulate natural cycles; 3 R’s • Safe reliable energy • conservation, renewable energy, substitution, interim measures • Life-based interests • health, creativity, communication, coordination, appreciation, learning, intellectual and spiritual development

  22. Implications for Waste Management

  23. One example of a set of principles: Guideposts for Sustainability(after Nickerson, 1993)Activities are sustainable when they: 1. Use materials in continuous cycles. 2. Use continuously reliable sources of energy. 3. Encourage desirable human traits (equity; creativity; communication; coordination; appreciation; intellectual and spiritual development).

  24. Guideposts for SustainabilityActivities are not sustainable when they: 4. Require continual inputs of non-renewable resources. 5. Use renewable resources faster than their rate of renewal. 6. Cause cumulative degradation of the environment. 7. Require resources in quantities that could never be available for people everywhere. 8. Lead to the extinction of other life forms.

  25. Obsolescent “frontier” civilization: HEAT ENERGY HIGH THROUGHPUT NON-RENEWABLE and RENEWABLE CONSUMER SOCIETY CONVENTIONAL URBAN SYSTEM WASTE & TOXINS MATERIALS One-way flow of materials and energy

  26. Current waste management practices are unsustainable due to: • waste of energy and materials • environmental degradation • poor disposal practices • toxic, hazardous, infectious waste => health and safety implications • poor institutional integration • lack of accountability for waste producers

  27. Sustainable IntegratedWaste Management Sustainable - • consistent with principles of sustainability Integrated - • functionally • across spatial and temporal scales • across jurisdictions

  28. Sustainable integrated waste management practices must: • reduce material and energy wastage • protect environmental quality • minimize impacts of disposal • eliminate or treat toxic, hazardous, and infectious wastes • improve institutional integration • increase accountability

  29. Sustainable civilization: Energy Efficiency Low-quality Heat Energy ENERGY LOW THROUGHPUT RENEWABLE CONSERVER SOCIETY Low-volume Nontoxic Waste Materials MATERIALS Waste Minimization Toxics control • Cyclical flows of materials • Appropriate energy usage

  30. Sustainable integrated waste management • is proactive, not reactive • aims to minimize waste throughout the life cycle of a product, from resource extraction to ultimate disposal • requires cooperation amongst individuals, jurisdictions, disciplines, and sectors • is based upon emerging principles of sustainability

  31. Sustainable Integrated Waste Management Reuse Source Reduction Recycling Composting Source Separation Waste Audits Waste Exchanges Transfer Stations Waste to Energy? Landfill Incineration?

  32. Waste Management Principles

  33. What is GARBAGE? • the inevitable byproduct of human activity and endeavour • a relative concept: “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure” • materials not valued by a given individual, culture, or society • changes with resource availability

  34. Three basic methods of garbage disposal • open dumping • on land, in inland waters, or at sea • burning • open fires to modern incineration • burial • garbage pits to engineered sanitary landfills

  35. The 3 Rs:A framework for responsible waste management 1. REDUCE 2. REUSE 3. RECYCLE

  36. Waste Management Hierarchy

  37. The debated 4th R: 4. RECOVER

  38. 1. REDUCE Avoid unnecessary waste generation in the first place • eliminate unnecessary consumption • refine industrial and commercial processes to reduce waste • avoid unnecessary packaging • substitute reusables for disposables • buy durable, long-lasting items

  39. 2. REUSE • Use objects, devices, or substances again • refillable containers • durables instead of disposables • reusable packaging

  40. 3. RECYCLE • Use “waste” materials in place of virgin materials to create a new product • many recycling variants • to be an appropriate strategy, the net environmental impacts must be lower than the impacts of using virgin materials

  41. The debated 4th “R”:4. RECOVER • Extracting energy or material resources • (usually fuels) from waste • energy-recovering incinerators • refuse-derived fuel facilities • materials recovery facilities • debated because recovery is perceived to be contrary to the first 3 R’s, and to produce toxic emissions

  42. Sectoral Sources of Waste Major waste generating sectors: RESIDENTIAL SECTOR • private homes and dwellings • commingled; many materials • overall composition quite predictable • ICI SECTOR • Industrial, Commercial, Institutional • many large volume waste generators • specialized waste streams • excellent materials exchange possibilities

  43. PAPER GLASS FERROUS METAL NON-FERROUS METAL PLASTICS TEXTILES LEATHER RUBBER WOOD RUBBLE DIAPERS ORGANICS ASHES CERAMICS FIBERGLASS APPLIANCES TIRES What’s in the waste stream? • Residential waste is typically classified into several major categories (e.g. Ontario MOEE) • Local classifications may be used to better reflect local waste generation patterns

  44. PLASTICS: PET HDPE PVC LDPE PP PS Nylon PAPER: Newsprint Fine paper Glossy magazines Waxed / coated Boxboard Kraft paper Corrugated Tissues Major categories may be further subdivided:

  45. LAEM CHABANG: Glass clear containers Misc. clear glass Flat / round whiskey Soda bottles brown containers Misc. brown glass Lipovitan D bottles ONTARIO: Glass clear containers Misc. clear glass Deposit soda bottles brown containers Misc. brown glass deposit beer bottles Finer categories may reflect local markets

  46. REDUCE... Source ReductionOptions

  47. Source reduction: • front-end, preventative approach to managing wastes • targets reduced waste volume • targets reduced waste toxicity • proactive, not reactive

  48. Source reduction initiatives may target: • Design, production, and marketing of products • Manufacturing of products • Consumer behaviour

  49. Source reduction objectives indesign, production and marketing of products • minimize materials use • minimize use of toxic substances • increase product life span • improve repairability, reusability, and remanufacturability • market the above attributes

  50. Source reduction objectives in manufacturing processes • improved production efficiencies • in-house reuse of materials and packaging • in-house recycling of plant scrap • reduction / elimination of toxics

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