There are a number of different waste treatment technologies for the disposal,
recycling
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
,
storage, or
energy recovery
Energy recovery includes any technique or method of minimizing the input of energy to an overall system by the exchange of energy from one sub-system of the overall system with another. The energy can be in any form in either subsystem, but mos ...
from different
waste types
Waste comes in many different forms and may be categorized in a variety of ways. The types listed here are not necessarily exclusive and there may be considerable overlap so that one waste entity may fall into one to many types.
* Agricultural w ...
. Each type has its own associated methods of waste Management
Landfill
Municipal solid waste
Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...
consists mainly of household and commercial waste which is disposed of by or on behalf of a local authority. Landfills waste are categorized by either being hazardous, non-hazardous or inert waste. In order for a landfill design to be considered it must abide by the following requirements: final landforms profile, site capacity, settlement, waste density, materials requirements and drainage.
Incineration
The advantages of the incineration are reduction of volume and mass by burning, reduction to a percentage of sterile ash, source of energy, increase of income by selling bottom ash, and is also environmentally acceptable.
The disadvantages of incineration are the following:
* higher cost and longer payback period due to high capital investment
* since incineration is design on the basis of a certain calorific value removing paper and plastics for recycling lowers the overall calorific value that may affect the incinerator performance
* the process still produces a solid waste residue at the end which still requires treatment and management
Emissions from incinerators consist of particulates, heavy metals, pollutant gases, odor dust and litter. Due to incomplete combustion, products such as
dioxin
Dioxin may refer to:
* 1,2-Dioxin or 1,4-Dioxin, two unsaturated heterocyclic 6-membered rings where two carbon atoms have been replaced by oxygen atoms, giving the molecular formula C4H4O2
*Dibenzo-1,4-dioxin, the parent compound also known as ...
s and
furan
Furan is a heterocyclic organic compound, consisting of a five-membered aromatic ring with four carbon atoms and one oxygen atom. Chemical compounds containing such rings are also referred to as furans.
Furan is a colorless, flammable, highly ...
s are formed.
Bioremediation
The human sewage and the process waste from the manufacturing industries are the two major sources of the waste water. In Thailand, the total volume of the wastewater from industries is much greater than that of the domestic sewage. As a result, an effective method is needed. Microbial remediation of xenobiotics has shown to be effective and the low-cost technology, but it still has several limitations. Consequently, the genetic engineering approaches are used to create the new strain of microbes (Genetically engineered microorganisms, GEMS) which have better catabolic potential than the wild type species for
bioremediation
Bioremediation broadly refers to any process wherein a biological system (typically bacteria, microalgae, fungi, and plants), living or dead, is employed for removing environmental pollutants from air, water, soil, flue gasses, industrial effluent ...
. There are four major approaches to GEM development for the bioremediation application which include the modification of enzyme specificity and affinity, pathway construction and regulation, bioprocess development, monitoring and control and lastly, bio-affinity bio-receptor sensor application for chemical sensing, toxicity reduction and end point analysis. These allow the extensive use of genetically engineered microorganism. In the far future, the genetically engineered microorganisms could possibly be used to control the green house gases, convert the waste to the value-added product as well as to reduce and capture the carbon dioxide gases from the atmosphere (
carbon sequestration
Carbon sequestration is the process of storing carbon in a carbon pool. Carbon dioxide () is naturally captured from the atmosphere through biological, chemical, and physical processes. These changes can be accelerated through changes in land ...
), but much research is still required to realise the potential. There is a concern regarding the use of genetically engineered microbes for the remediation of pollutants. Once the genetically microorganisms has been added, it may disperse uncontrollably and hard to be removed.
Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis is thermochemical conversion process in which the feeding material is converted into char, oil and combustible gas in an inert atmosphere (complete absence of oxidizing agent).
References
See also
*
List of solid waste treatment technologies
The article contains a list of different forms of solid waste treatment technologies and facilities employed in waste management infrastructure.
Waste handling facilities
* Civic amenity site (CA site)
* Transfer station
Established waste treatme ...
*
List of waste water treatment technologies
This page consists of a list of wastewater treatment technologies:
See also
*Agricultural wastewater treatment
*Industrial wastewater treatment
*List of solid waste treatment technologies
* Waste treatment technologies
*Water purification
*Sewa ...
*
List of nuclear waste treatment technologies
The following are most of the different possible methods of treating and disposing of nuclear waste:
;Storage
*Deep geological repository
*Dry cask storage
*Ducrete
*Ocean floor disposal
*Saltcrete
*Spent fuel pool
*Spent nuclear fuel shipping ca ...
*
Waste-to-energy
Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Mo ...
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Waste management
Waste treatment technology