Parting

What are the problems with the disposal and recycling of waste. Environmental problems of industrial and household waste in the city. Solid household waste and methods of their disposal. Modern methods of processing industrial and domestic waste

Environmental problems of industrial and household waste in the city. Solid household waste and methods of their disposal. Modern methods of processing industrial and household waste.

Industrial and household waste, waste is a global environmental problem of our time, which poses a threat to human health, and also pollutes the environment. Rotting waste particles are a breeding ground for germs that cause infections and diseases. Previously, the presence of human waste was not an acute problem, since garbage and various substances were processed naturally in natural conditions. But now humanity has invented such materials that have a long decomposition period and are naturally recycled for several hundred years. But it's not only that. The amount of waste over the past decades has become incredibly huge. The average resident of a metropolis annually produces from 500 to 1000 kilograms of garbage and waste.

Waste can be liquid or solid. Depending on their origin, they have a different level of danger to the environment. Today, mankind produces the following types of waste:

household - human waste; or municipal - a huge amount of liquid and solid waste thrown out by man, as well as formed as a result of human activity. This can include spoiled or expired food, medicines, household items, and other trash.
construction - the remains of building materials, garbage; appear as a result of the production of building and finishing materials (paint and varnish, heat-insulating, etc.), during the construction of buildings and structures, as well as during installation, finishing, facing and repair work. Construction waste (both solid and liquid) can be expired, unusable, defective, superfluous, broken and defective goods and materials: metal profiles, metal and nylon pipes, gypsum plasterboard, gypsum fiber, cement chip and other sheets. In addition, various construction chemicals (varnishes, paints, adhesives, solvents, antifreeze, antifungal and protective additives and agents).
industrial - the remains of raw materials and harmful substances that were formed as a result of the production of any product, production work and lost their properties in whole or in part. Industrial waste can be liquid or solid. Solid industrial waste: metals and alloys, wood, plastics, dust, polyurethane foams, polystyrene foams, polyethylenes and other garbage. Liquid industrial waste: wastewater of varying degrees of pollution and their sediments.
agricultural - fertilizers, feed, spoiled products; - any waste generated as a result of agricultural activities: manure, rotten or unusable straw, hay, remains of silos, spoiled or unusable compound feed and liquid feed.
radioactive - harmful materials and substances.

Solving the Waste Problem

To reduce the amount of waste, it is possible to recycle waste and produce recyclable materials suitable for subsequent use in industry. There is an entire industry of waste processing and incineration plants that recycle and dispose of garbage and waste from the urban population.

People from different countries invent all sorts of ways to use recycled materials. For example, 5 liters of fuel can be obtained from 10 kilograms of plastic waste. It is very efficient to collect used paper products and hand over waste paper. This will reduce the number of trees cut down. The successful use of recycled paper is the manufacture of heat-insulating material, which is used as a heater in a home.

Proper collection and transportation of waste will significantly improve the state of the environment. Industrial waste must be disposed of and removed to special places by the enterprises themselves. Household waste is collected in chambers and boxes, and then taken out by garbage trucks beyond the boundaries of settlements to places specially designated for waste. Only an effective strategy for solving waste problems, which is controlled by the state, will help save the environment.

Terms of decomposition of garbage and waste

If you think that a piece of paper, a plastic bag or a plastic cup thrown away will not cause any harm to our planet, you are deeply mistaken. In order not to bore you with arguments, we simply give the numbers - the decomposition time of specific materials:

newsprint and cardboard - 3 months;
paper for documents - 3 years;
wooden boards, shoes and tin cans - 10 years;
iron parts - 20 years;
chewing gum - 30 years;
batteries for cars - 100 years;
polyethylene bags - 100-200 years;
batteries - 110 years;
car tires - 140 years;
plastic bottles - 200 years;
disposable diapers for children - 300-500 years;
aluminum cans - 500 years;
glass products - more than 1000 years.

Plastics are dangerous in their own way. They are not subject to destruction over a long period of time. Plastics can lie in the ground for decades, and some types for hundreds of years. More than a million tons of polyethylene is spent on disposable packaging. Every year in Europe, millions of tons of plastic waste ends up in the trash.

Recycling of materials

The above figures make you think about a lot. For example, that using innovative technologies, it is possible to use recyclable materials both in production and in everyday life. Not all enterprises send waste for processing due to the fact that equipment is needed for their transportation, and these are additional costs. However, this problem cannot be left open. Experts believe that enterprises should be subject to high taxes and heavy fines for improper disposal or willful disposal of garbage and waste.

As in the city, and at work, you need to sort garbage:

paper;
glass;
plastic;
metal.

This will speed up and facilitate the procedure for disposal and recycling of waste. So from metals you can make parts and spare parts. Some products are made from aluminum, and in this case, a smaller amount of energy resources is used than in the extraction of aluminum from ore. Textile elements are used to improve the density of paper. Used tires can be recycled and made into some rubber products. Recycled glass is suitable for the production of new products. Compost is made from food waste to fertilize plants. Locks, zippers, hooks, buttons, locks are removed from clothing, which can be reused in the future.

The problem of garbage and waste has reached global proportions. However, experts find ways to solve them. To significantly improve the situation, each person can collect, sort garbage, and hand it over to special collection points. All is not lost yet, so we need to act today. In addition, you can find new uses for old things, and this will be the best solution to this problem.

It is worth looking at how things really are with waste in our country today. At the same time, not the most pleasant picture is observed. There are huge mountains of garbage in which waste rots, exuding a fetid odor. Flocks of crows rummage through the garbage along with the homeless. Hour by hour bulldozers and tractors dig in such landfills, but new mountains of waste are not long in coming. What is the problem here? Perhaps one of the reasons is organizations and individuals who simply do not want to take time to obtain a license for garbage collection and dump it anywhere. In addition to local authorities, organizations are also responsible for this state of affairs, which are frivolous about the question of which company will carry out garbage collection or cleaning the territory.
In the conditions of urban growth, with the expansion of construction and production, the volume and composition of solid industrial and domestic wastes increase accordingly. At this rate, urban landfills are increasing by approximately 10% annually. What can this lead to? It is better to foresee any problem in advance and at least entrust garbage collection to companies that deal specifically with the processing of industrial and domestic waste. It should be remembered that every resident and worker is responsible for the cleanliness of his native city and environmental cleanliness, the difference is only in scale.

MSW classification

Municipal solid waste (MSW) in the Russian Federation is a coarse mechanical mixture of a wide variety of materials and decaying products that differ in physical, chemical and mechanical properties and sizes. Before processing, the collected MSW must be subjected to group separation, if it makes sense, and after separation, each group of MSW should be processed.

MSW can be divided into several compositions:

In terms of quality MSW are subdivided into: paper (cardboard); food waste; wood; black metal; non-ferrous metal; textile; bones; glass; leather and rubber; stones; polymeric materials; other components; screening (small fragments passing through a 1.5 cm grid);

Hazardous MSW include: waste batteries and accumulators, electrical appliances, varnishes, paints and cosmetics, fertilizers and pesticides, household chemicals, medical waste, mercury-containing thermometers, barometers, blood pressure monitors, lamps.

Some wastes (for example, medical, pesticides, residues of paints, varnishes, adhesives, cosmetics, anti-corrosion agents, household chemicals) pose a danger to the environment if they get through sewage into water bodies or as soon as they are washed from a landfill and get into ground or surface water. Batteries and mercury-containing devices will be safe until the case is damaged: the glass cases of devices break easily on the way to the landfill, and corrosion will corrode the battery case over time. Then mercury, alkali, lead, zinc will become elements of secondary pollution of atmospheric air, underground and surface waters.

Domestic waste is characterized by multicomponent and heterogeneous composition, low density and instability (the ability to rot).

According to the nature and degree of impact on the natural environment, they are divided into:

- industrial waste, consisting of inert materials,

disposal of which is currently economically unjustified;

Recyclable materials (secondary raw materials);

Waste of the 3rd hazard class;

Waste of the 2nd hazard class;

Waste of the 1st hazard class.

Of the total amount of waste generated annually at the enterprises, the cities make up the majority of inert solid waste, and a small part - industrial toxic MSW.

Integrated waste management

Integrated waste management starts with changing the way we look at what household waste is. The well-known waste expert Paul Connett has a short aphoristic formulation that expresses this new view: "Trash is not a substance, but an art - the art of mixing various useful things and objects together, thereby determining their place in a landfill." Mixing various useful items with useless ones, Connett continues, toxic with safe, combustible with fireproof, we should not be surprised that the resulting mixture is useless, toxic and does not burn well. This mixture, called household waste, will pose a risk to people and the environment whether it ends up in an incinerator or in a landfill or recycling plant. Traditional approaches to the problem of MSW focused on reducing the dangerous impact on the environment by isolating the landfill from groundwater, cleaning emissions from an incineration plant, etc. The basis of the RBM concept is that household waste consists of various components that should ideally not be mixed with each other, but should be disposed of separately from each other in the most economical and environmentally acceptable ways.

Principles of integrated waste management:

1) MSW consists of different components, to which different approaches should be applied.

2) A combination of technologies and activities, including waste reduction, recycling and composting, landfilling and incineration, should be used for the disposal of certain specific components of MSW. All technologies and activities are developed in a complex, complementing each other.

3) The municipal system for the disposal of solid waste should be developed taking into account specific local problems and be based on local resources. Local experience in MSW disposal should be gradually acquired through the development and implementation of small programs.

4) An integrated approach to waste management is based on strategic long-term planning, provides the flexibility necessary to be able to adapt to future changes in the composition and quantity of MSW and the availability of disposal technologies. Monitoring and evaluation of the results of activities should continuously accompany the development and implementation of MSW disposal programs.

5) The participation of city authorities, as well as all groups of the population (that is, those who actually "produce" garbage) is a necessary element of any program to solve the problem of solid waste.

The CMR suggests that, in addition to traditional methods (incineration and landfill), waste recycling and composting should become an integral part of waste disposal. Only a combination of several complementary programs and activities, and not just one technology, even the most modern one, can contribute to an effective solution of the MSW problem.

For each specific locality, it is necessary to choose a certain combination of approaches, taking into account local experience and local resources. The action plan for integrated waste management is based on the study of waste streams, the assessment of available options, and includes the implementation of small “pilot” projects to collect information and gain experience.

Collection and temporary storage of waste

Waste collection is often the most expensive component of the entire MSW disposal and destruction process. Therefore, the correct organization of waste collection can save significant amounts of money. The existing system of MSW collection in Russia should remain standardized in terms of economy. Means can sometimes be found to deal with these new problems by introducing differentiated fees for garbage collection.

In densely populated areas it is often necessary to transport waste over long distances. The solution in this case may be a temporary waste storage station, from which garbage can be removed by large trucks or by rail. At the same time, it should be noted that intermediate storage stations are objects of increased environmental hazard and, if located and operated incorrectly, can cause no less complaints from local residents and public organizations than landfills and incinerators.

In many cities, on the basis of solid waste landfills and special vehicle fleets, unitary municipal enterprises for the collection and storage of solid waste have been created. In a number of cases, landfills are placed under the direct control of environmental organizations, and their activities are partially financed from eco-funds (Voronezh, Kirov, etc.). The independence of the landfill, as well as transport, created conditions for many abuses, in which MSW ended up in suburban forests, and coupons were sold at the dump to everyone. At the same time, there has not yet been a clear division of powers between municipal organizations in the field of solid waste. These organizations include the Department of Housing and Communal Services, the City Center for Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision, the City Committee for Nature Protection, foresters and watermen. Theoretically, they are responsible for residential and industrial areas, suburban forests, water protection and sanitary protection zones. In several Russian cities (Arzamas, Vladimir, Kirovo-Chepetsk, Krasnogorsk, Pushchino, Moscow, etc.), attempts are being made to establish selective waste collection. An alternative to landfills and incinerators is the gradual creation of a system of primary waste sorting, starting with the collection of highly hazardous components (mercury lamps, batteries, etc.) and ending with the abandonment of garbage chutes - the main source of unsorted waste.

Waste transfer stations and solid waste removal

In recent years, in world and domestic practice, there has been a tendency to replace the direct removal of solid waste with a two-stage one using waste transfer stations. This technology is being especially actively implemented in large cities, where solid waste landfills are located at a considerable distance from the city.

The two-stage removal of solid waste with the use of large-capacity transport garbage trucks and removable press containers is being further developed.

The two-stage system includes the following technological processes:

collection of solid waste in places of accumulation;

their removal by collecting garbage trucks to the waste transfer station (MPS);

reloading into heavy vehicles;

transportation of MSW to the places of their disposal or disposal;

unloading solid waste.

At a number of MPS, a system for extracting waste elements from MSW is used. Using MPS allows you to:

reduce the cost of transporting solid waste to disposal sites;

reduce the number of collecting garbage trucks;

reduce total emissions into the atmosphere from garbage transport;

improve the technological process of MSW storage.

From the point of view of environmental protection, the use of MPS reduces the number of landfills for storing solid waste, reduces the intensity of traffic on highways, etc. The benefits that the use of MPS gives depend on the solution of a number of technical and organizational issues. Among them is the choice of the type of MPS and the equipment used on it, including heavy-duty garbage trucks, the location of the MPS, its performance and determining the number of such stations for the city.

Collection of recyclables from the population:

In the United States and other cities, a so-called curbside collection scheme is often used. In this case, residents leave recyclables in a special bag or container on the sidewalk, where they usually leave garbage. In Russian conditions, recyclables are collected in experimental programs in containers at the entrances or, more rarely, in stairwells.

Specific details may vary. Participation in such a program may be mandatory or voluntary. Sometimes only one type of material is collected in this way, and sometimes several. In the case of multiple materials, citizens can put each material in a separate container or all materials in one. In the latter case, the materials must be subjected to additional sorting at special enterprises. Often, however, the materials are sorted right on the sidewalk by those who collect the garbage. This method turns out to be somewhat more expensive in the long run, but allows you to start right away, without the capital costs of building a sorting plant. In general, the dilemma of any recycling program is this: the more complex the requirements for citizens, the better the materials collected, the less additional processing is required, the more likely the economic success of the program, but the less the level of public participation.

Recycling:

Quite a few MSW components can be recycled into useful products.

Glass usually processed by grinding and remelting (it is desirable that the original glass be of the same color). Broken glass of poor quality after grinding is used as a filler for building materials (for example, the so-called "glassfalt"). In many Russian cities there are enterprises for laundering and reusing glassware. The same, of course, positive practice exists, for example, in Denmark.

Steel and aluminum cans smelted to obtain the corresponding metal. At the same time, smelting aluminum from soft drink cans requires only 5% of the energy needed to make the same amount of aluminum from ore, and is one of the most profitable types of recycling.

paper waste various types have been used for many decades, along with conventional cellulose, for the manufacture of pulp - the raw material for paper. Mixed or low quality paper waste can be used to make toilet or wrapping paper and cardboard. Unfortunately, in Russia only on a small scale there is a technology for the production of high-quality paper from high-quality waste (off-cuts from printing houses, used paper for copiers and laser printers, etc.). Paper waste can also be used in construction for the production of thermal insulation materials and in agriculture - instead of straw on farms.

Plastic- plastic recycling in general is a more expensive and complex process. Some types of plastic can be used to obtain high-quality plastic of the same properties, while others (for example, PVC) after processing can only be used as building materials. In Russia, plastic recycling is not performed.

Methods of disposal of solid waste

Composting is a waste processing technology based on their natural biodegradation. Composting is most widely used for the processing of organic waste, primarily of plant origin, such as leaves, twigs and grass clippings. There are technologies for composting food waste, as well as an undivided stream of MSW.

In Russia, composting with compost pits is often used by the population in individual houses or garden plots. At the same time, the composting process can be centralized and carried out at special sites. There are several composting technologies that vary in cost and complexity. Simpler and cheaper technologies require more space and the composting process takes longer, as shown in the classification of composting technologies.

The end product of composting is compost, which can be used in various urban and agricultural applications.

Composting used in Russia on the so-called. mechanized waste processing plants, for example, in St. Petersburg, is the process of fermentation in bioreactors of the entire volume of solid waste, and not just its organic component. Although the characteristics of the final product can be significantly improved by removing metal, plastic, etc. from the waste, it is still a rather dangerous product and has very limited use.

Composting technologies:

Minimum technology: Compost heaps - 4 meters high and 6 meters wide. Turn over once a year. The composting process takes from one to three years depending on the climate. A relatively large sanitary zone is needed.

Low level technology: Compost heaps - 2 meters high and 3-4 wide. The first time the heaps are turned over after a month. The next turning over and the formation of a new pile is in 10-11 months. Composting takes 16-18 months.

Mid-range technology: Heaps are turned over daily. Compost is ready in 4-6 months. Capital and operating costs are higher.

High level technology

Special aeration of compost heaps is required. Compost is ready in 2-10 weeks.

garbage incineration- this is the most complex and "high-tech" option for waste management. Incineration requires pre-treatment of MSW (with the production of so-called fuel extracted from waste). When separating from MSW, they try to remove large objects, metals and additionally crush it. In order to reduce harmful emissions from waste, batteries and accumulators, plastic, and leaves are also removed. The incineration of an undivided waste stream is now considered extremely dangerous. Thus, waste incineration can only be one component of a comprehensive recycling program.

Incineration makes it possible to reduce the weight of waste by about 3 times, eliminate some unpleasant properties: smell, release of toxic liquids, bacteria, attraction for birds and rodents, and also obtain additional energy that can be used to generate electricity or heating.

Operating costs are about $20 per tonne of MSW. When choosing options for the disposal of MSW, it should also be borne in mind that the time required to design and build an incinerator in the United States takes an average of 5-8 years.

The environmental impacts of incinerators are mainly related to air pollution, primarily fine dust, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, furans and dioxins. Serious problems also arise with the disposal of incineration ash, which by weight is up to 30% of the initial weight of the waste and which, due to its physical and chemical properties, cannot be disposed of in conventional landfills. For the safe disposal of ash, special storage facilities with control and wastewater treatment are used.

In Russia, waste incineration plants are not mass-produced. Speaking about the socio-economic aspects of waste incineration, it should be noted that usually the construction and operation of the incineration plant is beyond the reach of the city budget and must be carried out on credit or by private companies. In many cases, the company that owns the incinerator seeks to sign an agreement with the city, which will provide for the mandatory supply of a certain amount and composition of MSW per day. Such conditions make it virtually impossible to implement recycling or composting programs or make other significant changes in disposal methods. Therefore, the construction of an incinerator requires very careful coordination with other aspects of the MSW management program and should only be considered as an option once other programs have been planned. There are two types of waste processing plants in operation in Russia: one produces compost from waste (Leningrad scheme) and the other burns it (Moscow scheme). The former produce compost that is heavily polluted with heavy metals, and their purification is extremely expensive. Therefore, contrary to the author's idea, this compost cannot be used in the fields. It must be deposited. And this is a new problem. As a result, composting plants are either shut down due to lack of product sales or are not operating at full capacity. As for waste incineration plants, they are not environmentally safe: they have highly toxic gaseous emissions and ash residue. And the quality of steam is so low that its use for urban needs is problematic. These factories are equipped with expensive imported equipment. Its cost is about 100-120 million US dollars plus the cost of construction and installation works. In addition, the cost of incinerating one ton of waste is extremely high - $50-70. So the analysis shows that both technologies have serious environmental and economic disadvantages.

MSW disposal: still remains, unfortunately, the main way of its disposal. Due to the fact that many enterprises were built decades ago and use outdated technology, waste accumulates in the city, in terms of quantity and harmfulness, representing a significant danger to the population, both nearby areas and the city as a whole. The accumulation of waste in large quantities and the inability to dispose of it for disposal or use leads to the fact that enterprises often resort to unauthorized disposal.

It is very important that before immersing MSW in the ground, on specially constructed landfills, they must be pressed. This not only reduces the volume of material, but also removes water for a while, stabilizing the state of the waste, as the moisture contained in the compressed material is not enough for the active activity of microorganisms. The access of oxygen to a dense mass is also difficult, and if conditions are created for "no entry" of moisture from the outside, the stabilization of the landfill can be significantly extended. Naturally, hazardous waste must be sorted and buried in a special landfill for toxic waste.

Landfills and landfills are the same enterprises that are subject to environmental legislation. With regard to them, the values of maximum permissible emissions and other production and economic standards should be developed, fees for environmental pollution should be levied, sanctions should be applied for non-compliance with environmental requirements, up to the termination of environmentally harmful activities. And it is up to the public to control whether this is actually being done. And file a complaint if something is not observed.

Such an impact exerted by the bodies of social and environmental control, especially if they actively cooperate with state regulatory bodies, will undoubtedly serve as an incentive to bring waste disposal sites into proper form or build waste processing plants.

Two methods - incineration and disposal - require space for a plant or a landfill, and in the immediate vicinity of a populated area, so as not to increase transportation costs.

The accumulation of methane in landfills creates the conditions for spontaneous combustion of MSW, and here you are - a waste incineration plant without any gas cleaning. Considering the relatively low combustion temperature and the lack of oxygen, it is not surprising that almost the entire D.I. table flies into the air. Mendeleev. And, of course, dioxins, furans and other toxicants. And what does not burn, then rusts, and gradually, as a result of corrosion, heavy and non-ferrous metals, other decay products of various substances, enter the air and water.

Briquetting of MSW- a relatively new method in solving the problem of their removal. Briquettes, widely used for many years in industry and agriculture, are one of the simplest and most economical forms of packaging. The compaction inherent in this process contributes to a reduction in the volume occupied, and as a result, leads to savings in storage and transportation. Predominantly in industry and agriculture, briquetting is used for pressing and packaging homogeneous materials, such as cotton, hay, paper raw materials and rags. When working with such materials, the technology is quite standard and simple, since these materials are homogeneous in composition, size and shape. When working with them, complications rarely occur. Their potential flammability is known with sufficient accuracy.

A significant advantage of the briquetting method is a way to reduce the amount of waste to be briquetted by preliminary (up to 50%) sorting of municipal solid waste. Useful fractions, secondary raw materials (paper, cardboard, textiles, cullet, black and non-ferrous metal) are sorted out. Thus, additional resources are supplied to the national economy.

The main difficulties arise in the process of briquetting municipal waste due to the fact that these wastes are not homogeneous, and their composition cannot be predicted. The average characteristics and properties of these wastes may not be the same not only in different regions of the country, but also in different parts of the same city. The composition of the waste also varies depending on the season.

Additional complications in the operation of MSW pressing mechanisms are: high abrasiveness of the constituent components (sand, stone, glass), as well as high aggressiveness of the environment, due to the presence of organics, acids, solvents, varnishes, etc.

Conclusion

In Russia, the processing industry has been forgotten, a system for collecting secondary resources has not been organized, places for collecting secondary resources (metal) have not been equipped in settlements, a system for the removal of generated waste has not been established everywhere, and there is weak control over their formation. This entails the deterioration of the environment, a negative impact on human health.

It is obvious that no technology by itself will solve the problem of MSW. Both incinerators and landfills emit polyaromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins and other hazardous substances. The effectiveness of technologies can only be considered in the general chain of the life cycle of commodities - waste. Incinerator projects, which public environmental organizations have spent a lot of effort to fight, in the current economic situation, may remain projects for a long time to come.

Landfills will remain in Russia for a long time the main way to remove (recycle) solid waste. The main task is to equip the existing landfills, extend their life, reduce their harmful effects. Only in large and largest cities is the construction of incinerators (or waste processing plants with preliminary sorting of solid waste) effective. The operation of small incinerators for the incineration of specific waste, hospital waste, for example, is real. This implies the diversification of both waste processing technologies and their collection and transportation. Different parts of the city can and should use their own methods of MSW disposal. This is due to the type of development, the level of income of the population, and other socio-economic factors.

As a result of studying the material in this chapter, the student should:

know

the main environmental, economic and social aspects of the problem of the formation of industrial and household (including toxic) waste;
principles and types of waste classifications and main methods of their processing;
the main laws governing waste management;
features of municipal systems of urban waste management;

be able to

correctly classify production and consumption waste;
process the received information, analyze it taking into account the given factual data;

own

Skills in operating with basic concepts and terms related to the problem of education and waste management.

Ecological features and ways of waste generation

Technological progress has allowed humanity to achieve independence from nature and improve quality of life. But most of the natural resources seized to meet their own needs are used inefficiently and therefore returned to the environment in the form of waste, the diversity and danger of which will create a threat to the existence of man himself. The share of a useful social product does not exceed 8%, and 92% of the substance enters the environment in the form of waste. Thus, out of 120 billion tons of fossil materials and biomass used annually by the world economy, only 9 billion tons (7.5%) are converted into material products during the production process. For example, in Russia, 27.3 tons of paper are produced from 1000 m 3 of wood, while in Sweden 129 tons are obtained from the same amount, in the USA - 137 tons, and in Finland - 164 tons. At the same time, in 2013 the world production of paper and paperboard increased by an average of 1.0%; the same growth rate is maintained for world consumption.

According to Rosprirodnadzor specialists, in 2013 the volume of production and consumption waste generation in Russia amounted to 4.3 billion tons, which is 16.3% more than in 2012 (data from the state report “On the state and protection of the environment of the Russian Federation in 2013.”) Of these, MSW accounts for 52.9 million tons, i.e. slightly more than 1% of the total waste generated. Thus, the average indicator of MSW generation per capita in the Russian Federation is 0.4 t/person.

Personal consumption of people is only 1.5 billion tons/year, i.e. 1.25% of the amount of materials and biomass involved in the world economy, with more than half of this mass related to food consumption (Fig. 1.1).

Rice. 1.1.

Population growth and the industrial revolution were the main factors that provoked and later intensified the process of urbanization (Table 1.1) and, therefore, exacerbated all the environmental problems associated with the uncontrolled growth of cities.

Table 1.1

Dynamics of exponential growth of urbanization

(according to V.P. Maksakovsky; forecast according to N.V. Korotaev)

Today, urbanized territories occupy a little more than 1% of the land surface, but concentrate over 45% of the total population of the Earth, produce up to 80% of the gross domestic product (GDP). At the same time, they provide more than 80% of all emissions into the atmosphere and discharges into the hydrosphere.

For a modern large city with a population of 1 million people in Table. Table 1.2 provides data that allow us to analyze the approximate ratio of the annual consumption of resources and the release of various types of waste into the environment. As is obvious from Table. 1.2, the maximum consumption and pollution comes from water. But at the same time, it must be remembered that the overwhelming amount of all pollutants after the treatment of wastewater and air-gas emissions enters solid waste, so their amount increases significantly.

Table 1.2

Annual consumption of resources and emissions of a modern large city

According to the State Report “On the state and protection of the environment of the Russian Federation in 2013”, the share of used and neutralized production and consumption waste amounted to 46.3% of the total amount of waste generated, while the share of buried waste accounts for 681.5 million tons .

The vital activity of a modern person in all areas - agriculture, industrial production and energy - is built on "end" technologies, i.e. technologies that generate waste at the end of the chain. Waste is all substances (remains of raw materials, materials and semi-finished products) or objects (products and materials) formed in the process of production or consumption that have lost their original consumer properties as a result of industrial processing, obsolescence or physical wear and tear. Waste also includes substances captured during the purification of gases and wastewater, which are formed during the technological process.

Thus, the following conclusions are obvious:

all waste can be divided into production waste (industrial solid waste) and consumer waste (MSW);
wastes are heterogeneous, multicomponent, heterogeneous systems;
the qualitative and quantitative composition of waste depends on production technologies or consumption methods;
the method of waste management is determined by their quantitative and qualitative composition, i.e. physical, chemical and biological properties.

Waste management is a special complex industrial production, which includes several main stages: collection, sorting, transportation, processing or processing, warehousing and ensuring safe storage.

The most widespread in the world are currently three methods of waste disposal:

arrangement of specially equipped landfills;
composting;
disposal at waste processing plants with subsequent incineration and energy recovery.

It should be noted that depending on the types of waste - MSW or MSW, one or another method of elimination may prevail, however, to simplify the comparison, let's consider the cost of these three methods, regardless of the type of waste (Table 1.3).

Table 13

Comparative characteristics of waste disposal methods

As is obvious from Table. 1.3, the cost of sorting or composting is 2 times higher than the cost of landfill. That is why, until now, preference is given to this most non-environmentally friendly method of waste management.

In table. 1.4 shows the approximate cost of disposal of different types of waste. The most expensive is the disposal of medical equipment and highly toxic medical and industrial waste. This is due to the complexity and multi-stage processing process, as well as the adoption of additional measures for the disinfection of hazardous waste.

Table 1.4

The cost of solid waste disposal MGUP "EKOTEKHPROM"

Production and consumption waste	unit of measurement	price, rub.
Food waste
Alcoholic products
paper products
office equipment
Medical equipment
Fluorescent lamps
Industrial waste
Chemical wastes
galvanic sludge
medical waste
Waste plant protection products, disinfectants
Glass uncontaminated
Oil sludge
Used technical oil
Cutting fluids
Paper, textile
wood waste
Emulsions and emulsion mixtures
Waste polymers
Waste rubber, waste tires

About 600 substances and compounds are classified as especially dangerous for the environment and human health waste (special waste). These include:

pesticides contained mainly in waste products from the production of plant protection chemicals;
radioactive waste generated at nuclear fuel cycle enterprises (NFFC) and at enterprises using radionuclides;
mercury and its compounds, mercury thermometers;
arsenic and its compounds contained in the waste of metallurgical production and thermal power plants;
lead compounds, which are found especially often in waste products from the oil refining and paint and varnish industries;
power supply elements;
unused medicines, residues of chemical plant protection products (toxic chemicals), paints, varnishes, anti-corrosion agents and adhesives, cosmetics;
residues of household chemicals (cleaning products, deodorants, stain removers, aerosols, care products).

Most of the special waste has to be stored on the surface of the earth, observing strict precautions (on a waterproof platform up to 3 m thick, all drains and groundwater are constantly monitored). Sanitary and hygienic requirements for the organization of landfills, as well as technological design principles, will be discussed in detail in subparagraph 1.4.1.

In addition to landfills for municipal solid industrial waste (MSW), there are currently seven incineration plants in Russia that process about 3% of municipal solid waste. There are two waste incineration plants in St. Petersburg. However, direct high-temperature combustion has many negative effects, which will be discussed in detail in Chap. 3. The most environmentally friendly solution to the problem of waste is their initial well-organized sorting, which will also be discussed later.

Review of the waste processing market // Solid household waste. 2010. No. 5.
Grinin A. S., Novikov V. II. Industrial and domestic waste: storage, disposal, processing. M.: FAIR-PRESS, 2002.

More and more often in modern society questions are raised on the topic of ecology. This includes widespread air pollution from industrial waste and gases, and pollution of water bodies, as well as the problem of garbage and waste disposal.

Too much human waste

Human life is closely related to the occurrence of decay products, food and industrial waste. Some of them must be processed properly, otherwise they can cause serious damage to the environment. In addition, the decay time of many materials exceeds 100 years. Active pollution of the planet and garbage have led to global changes - the destruction of the environment for the existence of living organisms.

Garbage disposal, especially from is becoming an increasing problem of our time. None of the developed and developing countries can boast of an established waste management system. Today, only 60% of waste gets a second life through recycling, where to put the remaining 40%? Burning or burial is not particularly advisable, which complicates the already tense situation.

Where to put waste?

The problem of waste disposal concerns absolutely all types of waste: from household to chemical. Moreover, many of them have dangerous decay products, which significantly complicates the methods of processing. Garbage, decomposing, releases alcohols and aldehydes, which then seep into the soil, residential buildings and into the air. The already polluted suffers another invasion of toxic substances. And this happens not once a year, but every day and in many places.

Garbage is getting frightening proportions, because every day the amount of unrecycled waste is only increasing, and no one can give clear instructions for combating this problem. In Italy, for example, already several cities are simply littered with unutilized waste. The problem of garbage makes itself felt most acutely in cities such as Naples and Palermo. In order to somehow free up living natural space for themselves, residents burn garbage right on the central squares of the city. It is terrible to say what is happening on the outskirts of these cities. Fetid fumes swirl in the air and pollute the already terrible air.

Hazardous and non-hazardous waste must not be mixed

The problem of pollution with garbage begins with the manufacturer of the goods. In production, it is necessary to draw up in which instructions for disposal should be clearly spelled out. Hazardous waste must never be mixed with non-hazardous waste. Mixing of this kind threatens with unpredictable and health-threatening consequences. For example, energy-saving light bulbs, beloved by many, must be disposed of as hazardous waste, that is, in a place specialized for this. This type of light bulb contains mercury, even a small release of it into the atmosphere threatens with serious problems for the safety of people and organisms.

Further, the problem of garbage moves forward to the inhabitant and the state. Agree, not every user of a battery or the same light bulb will worry about where he will throw this waste. Garbage is mixed into containers, and then into special machines. This is at best. If the work of organizations that take out garbage is suddenly disrupted, a very noticeable problem arises: the city suffocates in its waste. Remember the picture that takes place on New Year's holidays. The landfills are overcrowded, and if it weren't for the fresh, frosty air, it would be easy to suffocate from the smell of rotting food.

Where to start problem solving

The problem of garbage pollution is often unresolved due to poor collection systems, the lack of a proper place or plants for disposal, and the companies that do such dirty work. The most effective, but at the same time time-consuming process is the redistribution of garbage for recycling or for use as fertilizer. The method is especially relevant for countries with a developed industry. Some of the garbage, under this policy, is burned in furnaces to generate energy. In addition, recycling waste material into similar new products ultimately reduces government production costs and at the same time solves the problem of garbage pollution. For example, the production of paper from recycled paper requires much less energy and water. Thanks to this solution, it becomes possible to solve not only the problem of garbage pollution, but also rid the atmosphere of excess greenhouse gases.

Pollution of the water expanses of the planet

The environmental problem of garbage affects not only land, but even the oceans. Plastic waste fills the water space more and more. The area of such a landfill is larger than the area of the United States. The largest accumulation of garbage is seen off the California coast. This is the world's largest pile of household waste weighing about 100 million tons. Garbage floats at a depth of up to 10 m in a wide variety of forms: from toothpicks and bottles to shipwrecks. All the garbage brought by the current forms a kind of water dump. For the first time, an ecological problem in the water area was discovered in 1997. Location - North Pacific Spiral. This accumulation is connected with the circulation of waters, bringing a variety of garbage. According to scientists, such a waste landfill causes the death of about 100,000 birds a year. In addition, when plastic reacts, it releases harmful substances, which then get to the person with the caught fish. The existence of a floating landfill once again reminds us that the problem of garbage has long gone beyond the borders of states and has acquired a global global character.

The "garbage" problem of Russia

Unfortunately, at present, the problem of disposal especially affects Russia and the former Soviet republics. The approach to garbage collection is much different from European methods. Abroad, it is customary to disassemble garbage in accordance with the type of waste. You will inevitably be fined if you throw metal or plastic into the glass container. So it is much easier to recycle the same ends with the removal of various kinds of waste to a landfill. Huge hundreds of hectares of contaminated land become uninhabitable and exude harmful odors.

We are very far from solving the problem

It is not clear why measures are not being taken to more rationally dispose of waste. After all, someday, or rather very soon, there will not be enough space on Earth for all the heaps of unprocessed garbage. Instead, there are more and more products made from chemical materials that do not decompose themselves, but when decomposed after hundreds of years, they destroy the environment. Why not stop the production of polymers in the form of banal polyethylene? Previously, they managed with ordinary paper, which decomposed perfectly in natural conditions and did not harm nature.

"Did you throw the trash in the bin?"

Considering the problem of recycling, it is worth saying that little depends on the average person. For the cleanliness of a city or an entire country, well-organized removal, sorting and processing of garbage is necessary. First of all, there should be production that provides for the almost complete processing of unsuitable raw materials. However, don't litter on already polluted streets. Dispose of waste in the right places to contribute your small and possible share to the cleanliness of the environment.

Drawing-symbol "The problem of garbage"

Waste recycling was first started in the UK 200 years ago. Over the past sixty years, the world community has begun to understand the gravity of such a crisis for the planet as a whole. In order to attract the attention of the population to this hot topic, in public places, on packages, on consumer goods, there is a symbol “garbage problem”. It represents 3 cyclic hands closed in a clockwise triangle. Most often green, sometimes black.

The “garbage problem” symbol was introduced by ecologists in the 70s of the 20th century to designate containers and packaging material that have a long decomposition time in nature, as well as to reflect the need for industrial waste processing. This sign was invented in 1970 by student Gary Anderson.

A "garbage problem" graphic on a product can also mean that it is made from recycled waste. Then three arrows closed in a triangle are placed inside the circle. Often such a sign can be seen on paper or cardboard products. Some interpretations of the symbol have been specially created for various industrial groups and are required to be applied to products.

Before the era of agglomerations, waste disposal was facilitated by the suction capacity of the environment: land and water. Peasants, sending their products from the field directly to the table, dispense with processing, transportation, packaging, advertising and distribution networks, brought little waste. Vegetable peels were fed to pets or used as fertilizer. The movement to the cities has led to a completely different consumer structure. Products began to be exchanged, and therefore packaged.

Currently, the inhabitants of our country daily throw away thousands of tons of various rubbish: glass containers, waste paper, plastic and food waste. This mixture contains a large amount of hazardous waste: mercury from batteries, phosphorus - carbonates from fluorescent lamps and toxic chemicals from household solvents, paints. Today, Moscow alone throws out 10 million tons of industrial waste, 1 million for each inhabitant.

There are various ways to dispose of waste. This is the allocation of land for landfills, but the methane gas formed during the decay of waste poses a serious threat to residents living near this facility, because. it might just explode. This is the landfilling of garbage, then it poses a great danger to ground and groundwater. This includes waste incineration, but many cities that use incinerators have abandoned this method due to deteriorating air quality.

The most promising way is the recycling of garbage. The following directions in processing are used here: organic mass is spent on the manufacture of fertilizers, textile mass and paper waste - obtaining new paper, scrap metal is sent for remelting. The main problem then remains sorting garbage. Although in Germany the entire population of the country is involved in this process. How? It's very simple: each family collects their household waste in different containers, depending on the composition, and does not dump everything in one pile: glass - to glass, waste paper - to waste paper.

Today in Russia, about 60% of waste is recycled, and the rest is taken to a landfill. After filling the territory allotted for garbage, the landfill is covered with a layer of earth of at least three meters. But despite this, the entire area of the landfill poses a danger to the health of people and animals. Groundwater in vast areas is contaminated with toxic substances and pathogenic microbes. For several decades, nothing can be built and farmed in these territories.

But construction debris can be used to create artificial hills. They are covered with a layer of earth, grass is sown and sports facilities are created: ski and toboggan runs. They are also used for hang-glider flights. This experience already exists in our country.

In Russia, the share of the urban population is 73%, which is somewhat lower than the level of European countries. But, despite this, the concentration of household waste in large cities of Russia has now increased dramatically, especially in cities with a population of 500 thousand or more people. The volume of waste is increasing, and the territorial possibilities for their disposal and processing are decreasing. The delivery of waste from the place of its generation to the disposal points requires more and more time and money. In Russia, it is necessary to improve the organization of the process of urban waste disposal.

Now the waste is simply collected for disposal in landfills, and this leads to the alienation of free land in suburban areas and limits the use of urban areas for the construction of residential buildings. Also, the joint disposal of various types of waste can lead to the formation of hazardous compounds.

The first waste processing plant in Russia was built in 1972; in the Urals, projects for the construction of such plants in Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Tigil and Pervouralsk are still being considered. There is another way to eliminate household waste by creating special strains of bacteria and fungi that can destroy organic compounds and polymers.

Removal, processing and disposal of waste from 1 to 5 hazard class

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The problem of garbage today is no longer just a difficulty, but a global environmental problem that requires an immediate solution. Modern people consume much more than previous generations. Consumption volumes tend to rise every year, and with them the volumes of salvage also increase. How to solve the garbage problem? In some countries, awareness of the danger of pollution has come quite a long time ago, but somewhere the situation remains at the same level.

The environmental problem of waste has received a strong impetus due to technological progress. Undoubtedly, he gave mankind incalculably much, but the situation with salvage materials in the world has worsened. New types of materials (such as plastic) have been developed that take hundreds of years to decompose or do not decompose at all. As a result, they rot in landfills, releasing a whole bunch of toxins.

Garbage History

The history of waste is as rich as the human one, because garbage began to form precisely with the advent of people. At first, when man was a part of nature and could not influence it, there was very little harmful material on earth, but progress has changed everything.

Conventionally, the history of waste in the world can be divided into two stages:

Until the 19th century, the problem of environmental pollution was also present in the Middle Ages. Suffice it to recall the fact that in large European cities, garbage in the city was literally thrown out of the windows. Despite this, in those days the issue of environmental pollution was not so acute. This is due to the fact that the garbage was mainly food and decomposed in just a year.
Since the 19th century - the time of technological progress, which captured all European countries. Manufactories, the first factories where machine labor was used, became widespread. It was this time that can be considered the birth point of modern garbage. In the second half of the 19th century, in 1855, the familiar plastic was invented and put into mass production.

Another important era in the history of waste can be considered the beginning and middle of the 20th century. At this time, European countries began to try to solve the issue of garbage, realizing that it was irrational to store tons of unusable plastic on their territory.

This stage is called "Emigration of garbage". The mass export of waste from Europe to third world countries, mainly to Africa, began. It is impossible to call such a decision correct, because even now the consequences of such a step are visible on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean - the territory has become a wasteland and will remain so for the next 100 years. This is how garbage “occupied” almost the entire planet for three centuries.

In modern Russia, things with garbage residues are bad. A huge number of burial grounds for various classes of waste is located on the territory of our country. According to statistics, one metropolis can be found 5 - 10 large landfills. The municipal authorities are trying in every possible way to combat the number of burials through legislation, but this does not help and the problem of waste processing remains unresolved. Over the past 80 years, the amount of waste in Russia has crossed such a line that it is simply impossible to recycle them all.

Harm of waste

The world is dominated by technological plastic waste, which is the most harmful for both humans and the environment. It is more than 60%. The decomposition of plastic takes many years. Depending on the quality 50 - 500 years. The amount of garbage in nature is growing every day.

When disposed of by incineration, smoke is formed that contains heavy metals that destroy the planet's ozone layer and cause acid rain. Landfills occupy vast areas that can be used as agricultural land. Especially in Russia, where waste recycling is not so common.

Recultivation - it is impossible to return the fruitful properties to the land where the burial ground was located for several years. A huge amount of harmful elements has accumulated in the soil.

Solving the recycling problem

How to deal with garbage? The problem of household waste is solved in different ways with varying degrees of success. The most common method was and remains storage at landfills. At any, even properly organized garbage collection site, garbage is a source of a number of dangers:

Pathogenic bacteria can cause infections and whole epidemics
The problem of landfills is a breeding ground for harmful insects and rodents
Liquid decomposition products, filtrates, enter the soil and groundwater, causing severe pollution.
The decomposition of garbage on Earth leads to the formation of explosive methane gas
Burning in landfills results in huge emissions of toxic substances into the atmosphere.

The environmental problem of waste is not solved by recycling at landfills. In Russia, various enterprises produce 4 billion tons of hazardous waste every year, of which:

2.6 billion industrial residues, most of which are recyclable.
700 million tons are LRW
42 million - MSW (municipal solid waste)
30 million - precipitation from cleaning devices

Landfills can not cope with all volumes. Huge areas of land are allocated for the organization of landfills, and large amounts of money are spent on their reclamation. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly look for other ways to solve the problem. The ad is hidden.

Recycling

Several hundred kilograms - such a volume of waste, is produced annually by every resident of a large city. Therefore, the problem in megacities is especially acute. Such cosmic volumes make waste a unique raw material that makes it possible to obtain a variety of products: fuel, fertilizer, secondary materials for further production.

Methane is released in large volumes during the decomposition process; it can be used to supply gas to enterprises and even settlements.
Recycling plastic products and waste paper makes it possible to obtain materials of sufficient quality for reuse, thereby reducing the volume of these types.
Food waste - the possibility of producing livestock feed and fertilizer.
Recycled scrap metal helps to cope with the problem of lack of resources.

In some countries, waste recycling and the use of its products have reached the highest levels. For example, in Japan, even subway tickets and other transport tickets are used as waste paper. In Russia, unfortunately, the problem of recycling is solved worse, the percentage of recycled waste is only 4% of the total waste volume of the country.

Sorting

The global environmental situation of garbage in Russia must be addressed at the very first stages of disposal. In most Russian cities, there are containers in the yards into which all the remains of the accumulated houses are dumped. We are not used to sorting waste, as Westerners do, which negatively affects the further process of disposal and recycling.

Ideally, containers for glass, plastic, aluminum should be installed in residential areas. A system for collecting waste paper and scrap metal is also being established. Separate collection allows you to maximize the possibilities of recycling, reducing the risk of contamination.

The problem of harmful waste in the modern world requires a speedy solution. This requires an integrated approach that affects all levels - from sorting to the development of the safest ways of processing.

States of the world against garbage

Today you can find a huge number of state and municipal programs designed to combat hazardous waste:

Processing plants. Similar organizations can be found both in large cities and in small ones. The efficiency of such institutions reaches 80%. Most of the incoming raw materials receive a second life.
Profile groups for the improvement of the city. The task of such units is to arrange cleaning of the street and suburban areas, attracting everyone for this.
Encouragement of voluntary collection. This practice is most common in Europe, where people receive a fairly large increase in wages. In Russia, unfortunately, no incentives can be expected.
Containers. In many large cities, including Russia, you can find containers of different colors. This greatly facilitates sorting in processing plants.
Penalties. Many states impose penalties for those who throw garbage in the wrong places.

The main problem of waste in Russia is the low ecological culture of the population. Unfortunately, the state practically does not educate the population in the field of waste management. We have an undeveloped area of waste processing (a small number of factories, but a large number of landfills), it is rare to find containers for sorting. To solve the problem, it is necessary that everyone wants to take part in this.