The waste hierarchy

The terms are covered in Article 3 of the Framework Waste Directive which states that member states of the European Union shall take appropriate measures to encourage the prevention or reduction of waste production and its harmfulness. With reference to industry, actions which will not necessarily lead to waste prevention but reductions in product and/or packaging which lead to reductions in waste generated are to be encouraged. 

It should be recognised however, that it is not always feasible (economically, technically or environmentally) to follow this shategy. Other means and principles may be necessary to formulate local waste strategies such as the precautionary principle, tire proximity principle, life cycle analysis and the Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO), which all apply to decisions about waste management. The BPEO is the option that provides the most benefits or least damage to the environment as a whole, at an acceptable cost, in the long term as well as the short term. 

The Waste Fiierarchy Table 5.3.1) captures these concepts. It is usually portrayed in a five- or six-stage list of options and strategies. 

---

Dealing with waste is one of the important hot-button societal issues of any country, where waste prevention including the capability of reusability has highest priority in the waste hierarchy defined by the waste framework directive (European Union, 2008). Reuse option stands as the second highest priority, next to waste prevention in the order of hierarchy. When we talk about reuse, at times the material under question might need preparation for being reused, which is also included in the reuse option that is discussed here. 

It allows specific waste streams to depart from the waste hierarchy... 

The practical possibilities of reuse (which is a highly rated solution in the waste hierarchy) are very limited at the present time. This is because FRP materials are often made to order and are thus usually designed for a particular application, so they do not conform to standardised shapes or material properties. The reuse of FRP pultruded members, in particular, seems quite unlikely owing to the difficulties of recalculating the residual mechanical properties and of reliably assessing material degradation or creep effects (Conroy et ah, 2006). 

The waste hierarchy refers to the 3Rs of reduce, reuse and recycle, which classify waste management strategies according to their desirability. The 3Rs meant to be a hierarchy, in order of importance. However in Europe, the waste hierarehy has 5 steps reduce, reuse, recycle, recovery and disposal. 

The waste hierarchy has taken many forms over the past decade, but the basie eoneept has remained the cornerstone of most waste minimization strategies. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of waste. 

This assessment should identify all the waste streams from all stages of the process. Such work should include all minor releases from storage tank vents, effluent pit emissions, etc. For each waste stream consideration should be given to the waste hierarchy of reduction, reuse, recycle as well as end of pipe treatment and disposal. 

What is waste to one company could be a raw material to another. Companies who need to apply for Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Authorisation will need to demonstrate what action has been taken to minimise waste on their sites. They need to manage their waste without endangering human health or the environment and should follow the Waste Hierarchy ... 

The waste hierarchy established by the European Commission in 1989 [20] laid down a priority order in waste management options ... 

It establishes the waste hierarchy (reduce, reuse, recycle, recover and dispose). 

The main problem is that a large fraction of wasted food is perishable and not always edible. This makes collection, processing, and transportation for human consumption very difficult. In fact, Waste prevention at the top of the waste hierarchy is really a catchphrase without much content, the use-and-throw society is a reality with its huge turnover, creating the ever increasing mountains of waste" (Tjell, 2005). 

Tjell, J.C., 2005. Editorial Is the waste hierarchy sustainable Waste Management Research 23 (3), 173-174. 

Reuse and recycling of materials is an integral part of the waste hierarchy which is fully endorsed and positively promoted by the Agency. 

According to the waste hierarchy developed by the European Union Directive 2008/98/EC (European Union, 2008), the effort priorities for dealing with spent material are expressed as "Re-duce, Re-use, Re-cycle". This means that only minimum amounts of substances should be used in a process. If possible, the substance should then be reused and reincorporated into the system and eventually recovered from the waste stream. Different operations are required in order to comply with the regulations. 

Waste minimization generally considers all of the methods in the EPA hierarchy (except for disposal) appropriate to reduce the volume or quantity of waste requiring dispos (i.e., source reduction). The definition oi source reduction as applied in the Pollution Prevention Act, however, is any practice that reduces the amount of any hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant entering any waste stream... 

A hierarchy of four main strategies can be used to reduce the waste within a process. This hierarchy establishes die priority order in which waste management activities should be employed ... 

Although the quantities reported for the first two years are estimates of quantities already managed, the quantities reported for the third and fourth years are projections only. U.S. EPA requires these projections to encourage facilities to consider future waste generation and source reduction of those quantities as well as movement up the waste management hierarchy. Future-year estimates are not commitments that facilities reporting under TRI are required to meet. 

One obvious question is why return to lime as a treatment reagent, given that caustic results in a smaller residue volume and a waste that can undergo reclamation The answer lies in the three points that result from the implementation of the HSWA hierarchy. As source reduction and material reuse and recovery techniques are applied, facilities will be generating... 

Wolf, K. May 1988. "Source Reduction and the Waste Management Hierarchy." Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association, vol. 38, No.5, p.681. 

Section 2.0 identifies metals listed by the California Code of Regulations as hazardous in industrial waste streams. Section 2.0 also discusses the waste reduction hierarchy and waste management methods examined in the report... 

This factor is used to categorize the option within the waste reduction hierarchal structure. The preferred hierarchy is source reduction, resource recovery and recycling, and alternative treatment (The fact sheet on waste reduction for metal finishers can help identify an option s place within the hierarchy.) Each category or level has a point value assigned to it. The six levels are ... 

The main driving force towards recycling has been national and international plastic waste management policy. Within the EU, the policy is based on waste hierarchy, meaning that the first choice is waste prevention and then waste recovery (reuse, recycling and energy recovery), with preference to material recovery. Thus the type of legislation found is ... 

General rules for P2 follow the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13101-13109) and are applicable to any manufacturing activity. This act clearly identifies the waste management hierarchy, and we list them in Table 6.1 for completeness. The P2 Hierarchy specific to a chemical process is derived from this set of principles. 

Can wastes be used in the process recycling Are there waste agencies near by to take these away This concern is addressed in item 3 of the P2 hierarchy. 

There are profound opportunities for both industry and the individual to prevent the generation of waste indeed, pollution prevention is today primarily stimulated by economics, legislation, liability concerns, and the enhanced environmental benefit of managing waste at the source. The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 established pollution prevention as a national policy, declaring that waste should be prevented or reduced at the source wherever feasible, while pollution that cannot be prevented should be recycled in an environmentally safe manner (Ref. 1). The EPA s policy establishes the following hierarchy of waste management ... 

---