Sri Ram Prasad Lanka

Sundeep Chowdary Kollipara

Hanish Vardhan Samineni
INDM 4230
Dr. Suhansa Roducha

WASTE REDUCTION

Introduction

Waste has existed since the beginning of time. Before the history has been recorded, according
to the natural cycle the waste was been decomposed. In todays scenario, due to the huge change
in the style of living, industrialization, population boom and due to huge increase in various
consumptions, the issue of how to collect, store and dispose of waste have increased. And due to
the growing population and exhaust of natural and raw materials and in-order to handle the
climatic hazards, the notions of recycle, re-use and recovery have emerged.
Today, hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste, bio waste, recyclable waste, medical waste, ewaste, plastic waste and many others are so huge that it has become highly difficult to remove
them from our thoughts.
Now in order to handle all these types of wastes, waste management came into scenario where
each and every type of waste is been treated and recycled in such a way that they are reused
again and cause no damage to the nature and climatic environment. The waste management has

a basic concept been followed all over the world been called as 3Rs in which mean reduce,
recycle and reuse of the waste being generated ("Hazardous waste reduction," ).
Few main ways to dispose and manage waste generated are discussed as below:

Dumping of waste:
Dumping of waste is mainly done through landfills and incineration.

Landfills: this method involves the burry of all the waste and is the most important way
of disposal being used all over the globe. These landfills are quite often conventional
with deserted and vacant locations around the cities. In case, landfills or borrow pits are
designed carefully they can serve as economical and quite sanitized method for waste

dumping.
Incineration: This method involves the combustion for treatment of waste materials. And
this type of process in which the waste is treated trough incineration and temperature is
called as thermal treatment which is mostly used to convert the waste materials into gas,
heat, ash and steam. Incineration is conducted on both individual and industrial scale.
This method is used for disposing off all sorts of matters. This generally is the most
recognized practical method for disposing off perilous material. This however, is the
conflict-ridden method for it causes the emission of perilous gases ("The different types,"
2013).

Re-cycling
The material, which is composed of a single type, is recyclable and is much easy to work for
using this process. Products like PVC, LDEP, PP and PS are recyclable though they are not
collected for the process of recycling. However, complex products are difficult to treat for
recycling.

Biological reprocessing
The types of waste that are organic in nature are been treated through this kind of process. They
include organic nature are plant, food and paper products. This organic matter is put to biological
decomposition which later if recycled in form of mulch or compost for landscaping and
agricultural purposes. Additionally, the waste gas, which is collected from the process, is used for
the production of electricity. The goal behind biological reprocessing is to control and speed up
the natural decomposition for organic matter ("Waste management resources," 2009).

Waste management
Waste includes all items that people no longer have any use for, which they either intend to get
rid of or have already discarded. Additionally, wastes are such items which people are required to
discard due to hazardous properties ("Introduction to waste," 2013). Waste management is the
collection, transport, processing or disposal, managing and monitoring of garbage and other
waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the
process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics
("waste management," ).

Methods
Waste reduction involves methods like redesigning products, concerning consumption and
production, preventing the creation of waste. Waste audit is done to know the amount of
resources that got wasted. Once the waste audit is done, the following waste reduction methods
can be implemented.

Reduce paper waste:

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), almost 40% of the waste
material discarded is paper. Out of this, office paper alone is 10%, which can be recycled.
Buy remanufactured products:
Remanufacturing involves collecting nonfunctioning durable parts, dismantling and
refurbishing reusable parts, replacing other parts and reassembling them into useable
products. Vehicles, vehicle parts, retreading tires, telephones etc are some of the products

that can be recycled. These days, many industries are involved in remanufacturing.
Buy recyclable and reusable products:
All institutions should buy paper products that can be recycled in recycling systems. For
example, they can switch from color paper to white ledger and legal pads, which will
increase the value of wastepaper. All reports should be printed on recyclable paper.
Mailing labels and other sticky products should be water soluble in order to allow

recycling.
Establish an inventory control system:
Offices that are located in same region can buy supplies in bulk amounts and share them

to reduce unit costs and also to use less packaging.

Reuse the products or donate to reuse organizations:
Reuse organizations accept unwanted materials and make useable products out of them at

reduced rates.
Do not buy in bulk unnecessarily:
Some chemicals and other products will be wasted if we buy them in bulk and doesnt
use them early ("Six effective methods," ).

Advantages and Disadvantages of Waste Reduction

Advantages:
Composting removes the need for landfill or incineration. It saves natural resources and reduces
greenhouse emissions.

 It gives responsibility to individuals waste reduction has to be tackled at an individual level.

Relatively cheap councils sell the compost bins so do not incur an expense they just need to
promote the scheme perhaps through leaflets and posters.
Reduce and reuse it the key to sustainable waste management.
This scheme will help the council achieve target
Composting produces a useful end product humus that can be used in gardens.
Reducing waste will save the council money which can be invested elsewhere.

Disadvantages:
Average person in UK produced 510kg of waste in 2004 - composting only reduces this by
170kg, the rest still needs to be dealt with.
It is difficult to enforce households may not reuse waste or compost.
Not everyone can compost e.g. people without gardens.
Compost bins can attract flies, maggots and even rats andthey may smell in the summer.
It may not reduce/compost 33% of waste to reach target - too small scale and not enforced
("Advantages and disadvantages," 2014).
Case Study
Name of organization: Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
Problem: Solid Waste Management Program.

Methods Used: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Result: The Reduce, Reuse and Recycle - all help to cut down on the amount of waste we throw
away. They conserve natural resources, landfill space and energy, save land and money
communities must use to dispose of waste in landfills. Missouri has a goal of reducing the
amount of waste going into landfills by 40 percent. Everyone can help meet this goal (Nixon,
n.d).

Conclusion
In order to save the environment and protect it for future generations and keep the globe away
from global warming, waste management is the best way. The process R.R.R Reduce Reuse
Recycle can bring a major change in waste management. This waste management also reflects
the controlling of inventory which can reduce the use of minerals which are more essential.
If this is managed in a proper specific way then the results obtained from this are really fantastic
and can motivate for other methods of conservation of resources.
References
Advantages and disadvantages of recycling. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.conserveenergy-future.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-recycling.php
ISU. (n.d.). Hazardous waste reduction techniques. Retrieved from
http://www.physics.isu.edu/health-physics/tso/reduction.html
Introduction to waste. (2013, October 29). Retrieved from
http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/themes/waste
Nixon, J. (n.d.). Missouri department of natural resources.. Retrieved from
https://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/swmp/pubs-reports/threers.htm
Emag. (n.d.). The different types of wastes. Retrieved from http://www.emag.suezenvironnement.com/en/report/different-types-waste

Mdrecycles. (n.d.). Waste reduction. Retrieved from

http://www.mdrecycles.org/recyclingGuide2.asp
Waste management. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/wastemanagement.html
Waste management resources. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.wrfound.org.uk/