Solid Domestic Waste

Question 1

What is solid domestic waste?

Answer 1

Our rubbish from residential and urban areas
A mixture of
- paper
- packaging
- organic materials
- plastics

Although it only makes up 5% of total waste, it is waste that we can control

Question 2

What is SDW production per capita per day in USA and EU

Answer 2

USA 3.5kg

EU 1.4kg

Question 3

What is waste?

Answer 3

Waste is material that has no value to its producer

Question 4

What is the circular economy?

Answer 4

The circular economy is a model that is sustainable. It aims to:

• be restorative of the environment
• use renewable energy sources
• eliminate // reduce toxic wastes
• eradicate wast through careful deign

Question 5

How does the circular economy work?

Answer 5

• The model relies on manufactures + producers retaining ownership of their products + so being responsible for recycling them
• The producers act as service providers, selling user of their products, no the products themselves
• This means they can take them back, refurbish them + return them to the market

Question 6

Strategies to minimise waste // reduce

Answer 6

• maintaining possessions to last longer
• buy things that will last
• look for items w less packaging
• choose products that are energy efficient
• avoid things that are imported
• be aware of how many resources you are using in home eg. water, electricity…

Question 7

Strategies to minimise waste // reuse

Answer 7

• returnable bottles
• compost food waste
• use old clothes as cleaning rags
• hire DVDs - don’t buy them

Question 8

Strategies to minimise waste // recycle

Answer 8

Recycling involves collecting + separating waste materials and processing them for reuse

eg. in Germany each household has 4 bins for this

Question 9

5 environmental benefits of using recycled plastic

Answer 9

• reduction of energy consumption by 2/3
• production of only 1/3 of the sulphur dioxide + 1/2 the nitrous oxide
• 90% reduction of water consumption
• reduction of co2 generation by two-and-a-half times
• 1.8tonnes of oil saved for every tonne of recycled polythene produced

Question 10

Ireland has a tax on their plastic bags. What has been the result?

Answer 10

A tax on the bags resulted in a decrease in their use of 95%

Question 11

Wales has a 5p charge on plastic bags. In its first 3 years, what was the result?

Answer 11

The scheme in Wales saw a reduction in plastic bag consumption of 79% in its first 3 years

Question 12

If waste materials are not recycled or reused, what are the options for waste disposal?

Answer 12

• put waste in landfill sites
• incinerate waste
• dump it in the sea
• compost organic waste

Question 13

How do landfill sites work?

Answer 13

• waste is taken to suitable site + buried
• hazardous waste buried too
• initial cost is relatively cheap
• landfill sites carefully selected to be not too close to high pop. density, water courses + aquifers
• lined w plastic to prevent leachate seeping
• leachate is collected in pipes
• methane produced from fermenting organic material is used to make electricity // released to atmosphere

Question 14

How do incinerators work?

Answer 14

• Burn waste at high temps
• In some, waste is pre-sorted to remove incombustible // recyclable materials
• heat produced used for electricity //heat buildings (waste-to-energy incineration)
• In others, all waste is burned but this causes air pollution eg. dioxins
• Take up less space than landfill but expensive to build

Question 15

What is anaerobic digestion?

Answer 15

Biodegradable matter is broken down by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen. Methane produced can be used as fuel + the waste later used as fertiliser // soil conditioner

Question 16

SDW management // altering human activity producing pollutant

Answer 16

• reduce packaging
• recycle goods
• reuse clothes, goods, containers
• compost organic matter

Question 17

SDW management // controlling release of pollutant

Answer 17

• separate waste into diff. types
• legislate about waste separation
• educate for waste separation
• tax disposable items

Question 18

SDW management // clean-up and restoration

Answer 18

• reclaim landfills
• incinerate SDW for energy
• collect plastics eg. from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Question 19

What is the carrying capacity?

Answer 19

Carrying capacity is the maximum number of a species that can be sustainably supported by a given area

Question 20

Why is it so hard to estimate the carrying capacity for human populations?

Answer 20

> Humans use a greater range of resources than any other animal
We substitute resources when they run out eg. solar energy instead of oil
Resource use varies from person to person//country to country
We import resources, so we can’t just look to local environment to see how many people it can support
Developments in technology eg. more efficient machines may mean we use less or we may use more as we can exploit new resources (eg shale oil)

Question 21

How may ecocentrics try to change human carrying capacity ?

Answer 21

• reduce use of non-renewables
• minimise use of renewables
• some become self-sufficient // use solar cells for their electricity, use rainwater + grey water for their water supply, grow own food

Question 22

How may technocentrics try to change human carrying capacity?

Answer 22

• may argue human carry capacity can be expanded continuously through technological innovation

Question 23

What do economists say about changing human carrying capacity ?

Answer 23

• conventional economists argue trade + technology increase carrying capacity
• ecological economists say technological innovation can only increase efficiency w which natural capital is used
• inc. efficiency may all load on ecosystem to increase, but carrying capacity is fixed + once reached can’t be sustainably exceeded

Question 24

What are absolute reductions ?

Answer 24

• Absolute reduction means that we can simply use fewer resources eg. less energy
• But advantages of reductions in resource use eg. increased carrying capacity are often eroded by pop. increase

Question 25

What is an ecological footprint?

Answer 25

The area of land and water required to support a defined human population at a given standard of living

Question 26

Where the Ecological Footprint (EF) is greater than the area available to the population, what is this an indicator of?

Answer 26

This is an indication of unsustainability as the population exceeds the carrying capacity of the population

Question 27

What are ecological creditors?

Answer 27

Have smaller ecological footprints than their biocapacity (living capacity or natural resources)

Question 28

What are ecological debtors?

Answer 28

Have larger ecological footprints than their biocapacity