waste

Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste product may become a by-product, joint product or resource through an invention that raises a waste product's value above zero.

Examples include municipal solid waste (household trash/refuse), hazardous waste, wastewater (such as sewage, which contains bodily wastes ( feces and urine) and surface runoff), radioactive waste, and others.

Definitions

What constitutes waste depends on the eye of the beholder; one person's waste can be a resource for another person. Though waste is a physical object, its generation is a physical and psychological process. The definitions used by various agencies are as below.

United Nations Environment Program

According to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal of 1989, Art. 2(1), "'Wastes' are substance or objects, which are disposed of or are intended to be disposed of or are required to be disposed of by the provisions of national law".“Basel Convention.” 1989.

United Nations Statistics Division

The UNSD ''Glossary of Environment Statistics''''Glossary of Environment Statistics''
. 1997. UNSD. Updated web version 2001. describes waste as "materials that are not prime products (that is, products produced for the market) for which the generator has no further use in terms of his/her own purposes of production, transformation or consumption, and of which he/she wants to dispose. Wastes may be generated during the extraction of raw materials, the processing of raw materials into intermediate and final products, the consumption of final products, and other human activities. Residuals recycled or reused at the place of generation are excluded."

European Union

Under the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC, Art. 3(1), the European Union defines waste as "an object the holder discards, intends to discard or is required to discard." For a more structural description of the Waste Directive, see th
European Commission's summary

Types of Waste

Municipal Waste

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development also known as OECD defines municipal solid waste (MSW) as “waste collected and treated by or for municipalities”. Typically this type of waste includes household waste, commercial waste, and demolition or construction waste. In 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency concluded that 292.4 tons of municipal waste was generated which equated to about 4.9 pounds per day per person. Out of the 292.4 tons, approximately 69 million tons were recycled, and 25 million tons were composted.

Household Waste and Commercial Waste

Household waste more commonly known as trash or garbage are items that are typically thrown away daily from ordinary households. Items often included in this category include product packaging, yard waste, clothing, food scraps, appliance, paints, and batteries. Most of the items that are collected by municipalities end up in landfills across the world. In the United States, it is estimated that 11.3 million tons of textile waste is generated. On an individual level, it is estimated that the average American throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes each year. As online shopping becomes more prevalent, items such as cardboard, bubble wrap, shipping envelopes are ending up in landfills across the United States. The EPA has estimated that approximately 10.1 million tons of plastic containers and packaging ended up landfills in 2018. The EPA noted that only 30.5% of plastic containers and packaging was recycled or combusted as an energy source. Additionally, approximately 940,000 pounds of cardboard ends up in the landfill each year.

Commercial waste is very similar to household waste. To be considered as commercial waste, it must come from a business or commercial occupancy. This can be restaurants, retail occupants, manufacturing occupants or similar businesses. Typically, commercial waste contains similar items such as food scraps, cardboard, paper, and shipping materials. Generally speaking, commercial waste creates more waste than household waste on a per location basis.

Construction and Demolition Waste

The EPA defines this type of waste as “Construction and Demolition (C&D) debris is a type of waste that is not included in municipal solid waste (MSW).” Items typically found in C&D include but are not limited to steel, wood products, drywall and plaster, brick and clay tile, asphalt shingles, concrete, and asphalt. Generally speaking, construction and demolition waste can be categorized as any components needed to build infrastructures. In 2018, the EPA estimated that the US generated approximately 600 million tons of C&D waste.   The waste generated by construction and demolition is often intended to be reused or is sent to the landfill. Examples of reused waste is milled asphalt can be used again for the asphalt mixture or fill dirt can be used to level grade.

Hazardous Waste

The EPA defines hazardous waste as “a waste with properties that make it dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health or the environment.”  Hazardous Waste falls under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).  Under the RCRA, the EPA has the authority to control hazardous waste during its entire lifecycle. This means from the point of creation to the point where it has been properly disposed of. The life cycle of hazardous waste includes generation, transportation, treatment, and storage and disposal. All of which are included in the RCRA. Some forms of hazardous waste include radioactive waste, explosive waste, and electronic waste.

Radioactive Waste

Radioactive waste, often referred to as nuclear waste, is produced by various industries such as nuclear power plants, nuclear reactors, hospitals, research centers, and mining facilities. Any activity that involves radioactive material can generate radioactive waste. Furthermore, such waste emits radioactive particles, which if not handled correctly, can be both an environmental hazard as well as a human health hazard. When dealing with radioactive waste, it is extremely important to understand the necessary protocols and follow the correct precautions. Failure to handle and recycle these materials can have catastrophic consequences and potentially damage the site's ecosystems for years to come.

Radioactive waste is monitored and regulated by multiple governmental agencies such as Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Transportation (DOT), and Department of the Interior (DOI).  Each agency plays an important role in creating, handling, and properly disposing of radioactive waste. A brief description of each agency’s role can be found below.

NRC: “Licenses and regulates the receipt and possession of high-level waste at privately owned facilities and at certain DOE facilities.”

DOE: “Plans and carries out programs for sand handling of DOE-generated radioactive wastes, develops waste disposal technologies, and will design, construct and operate disposal facilities for DOE-generated and commercial high-level wastes.”

EPA: “Develops environmental standards and federal radiation protection guidance for offsite radiation due to the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level and transuranic radioactive wastes.”

DOT: “Regulates both the packaging and carriage of all hazardous materials including radioactive waste.”

DOI: “Through the U.S. Geological Survey, conducts laboratory and field geologic investigations in support of DOE’s waste disposal programs and collaborates with DOE on earth science technical activities.”

The US currently defines five types of radioactive waste, as shown below.

High-level Waste: This type of radioactive waste is generated from nuclear reactors or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.

Transuranic Waste: This type of radioactive waste is man-made and has an atomic number of 92 or higher.

Uranium or thorium mill tailings: This type of radioactive waste is a result after the mining or milling or uranium or thorium ore.

Low-level waste: This type of radioactive waste is radioactively contaminated waste. It is typically generated from industrial processes or research. Examples of these items include paper, protective clothing, bags, and cardboard.

Technologically enhanced naturally-occurring radioactive material (TENORM): This type of radioactive waste is created through human activity such as mining, oil and gas drilling, and water treatment where naturally-occurring radiological material (NORM) becomes concentrated.

Energetic Hazardous Waste

The EPA defines energetic hazardous waste as “wastes that have the potential to detonate and bulk military propellants which cannot safely be disposed of through other modes of treatments.” The items which typically fall under this category include munitions, fireworks, flares, hobby rockets, and automobile propellants.

Munitions

Munitions were added to hazardous wa