Steven Filkin
Waste Management Solutions
27th April 2016
Business and societal benefits
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Reduce operating costs
Improve business processes
Reduce environmental impact
International trade
Think local, act global
Wastes as resources
Reduce material intensity…
Wastes or resources?
Not waste management
solutions, but resource
management solutions!
Definition of waste
The EU legal definition of waste:
“…means any substance or object which the
holder discards or intends or is required to
discard.”
Article 3 (1) of the revised Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC
Definition of waste management
Waste management:
“…means the collection, transport, recovery
and disposal of waste, including the supervision
of such operations and the after-care of disposal
sites, and including actions taken as a dealer or
broker”.
Article 3 (9) of the revised Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC
Sustainable development
"Development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.“
Gro Harlem Bruntland: “Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on
Environment and Development”. United Nations: 1987.
Sustainable development
Environmental
Socio-environmental
Environmental justice
Local and global
natural resources
stewardship
Natural resource use
Environmental management
Pollution prevention
Social
Sustainable
developme
nt
Equal opportunity
Standard of living
Community
Education
Enviro-economic
Energy efficiency
Subsidies/incentives
for use of natural
resources
Economic
Economic growth
Research and
development
Cost savings
Profit
Socio-economic
Fair trade
Workers rights
Business ethics
Systems analysis: flow paths
Emissions to
atmosphere
Materials
Products
IN
OUT
Waste liquids
and solids
Rare earth elements
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Lanthanum
Cerium
Praseodymium
Neodymium
Promethium
Samarium
Europium
Gadolinium
Terbium
Dysprosium
Holmium
Erbium
Thulium
Ytterbium
Lutetium
Resource depletion?
Smartphones contain roughly 40 different
elements
H, Li, Be, C, N, O, F, Al, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Cr,
Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Br, Sr, Y, Zr, Ru,
Pd, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Ba, Ta, W, Pt, Au, Hg,
Pb, Bi, Nd.
A mobile phone weighing
100 grams, contains:
 13.7 g of copper
 0.189 g of silver
 0.028 g of gold
 0.014 g of palladium
Smartphone
Sustainable options?
Sustainable waste management
The Economic
Argument
Argument
The Environmental
The scope of waste
legislation now covers a
wider range of waste
management operations
Rising costs for landfill
disposal
Environmental impacts
mainly result from disposal
so, the less waste disposed,
the less environmental
damage caused
The Compliance
Responsibilities on all
parties involved in the
waste management chain
Trend away from small local
facilities towards larger, more
rural sites has increased
transport and handling costs
Increasing public concern
about the impacts of landfill
and incineration has limited
the sites and increased costs
Argument
Some wastes contain rare
materials, so should be
recovered to ensure that
valuable resources are not
squandered
And finally…
Society’s perception of waste has also changed. It is no longer viewed as an
unwanted substance but rather as an unused resource. Minimisation, reuse and
recycling of waste now have a high profile and an established role.
Landfill
Landfill
Anaerobic
degradation
creates methane
=
23 x more potent
than GHG carbon
dioxide
Methane
Methane
Methane
Anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digestion?
Recycling
Management of WEEE
Recycling
Energy from waste
Energy from waste
Waste hierarchy
The five-step hierarchy lays out the waste management
options in the preferred order of consideration
Most preferred
option
Least preferred
option
Prevent
Measures taken to minimise waste quantities
through avoidance, reduction, and re-use
Prepare
for re-use
Checking, cleaning or repairing products
that have become waste so they can be
re-used without any other pre-processing
Recycle
Reprocessing the materials to produce new
products
Recover
Extraction of materials or energy from waste
for further use or processing
Dispose
Any operation which is not recovery,
typically final deposit of waste on land set
apart for the purpose
Definition of waste
• Fit for purpose
• End of waste
• By products
Circular economy
Policy direction supports a
shift towards a circular
economy
“A model in which we keep
resources in use for as long as
possible, extract the maximum
value from them whilst in use,
then recover and regenerate
products and materials at the
end of each service life.” WRAP
Waste management financial costs
• Many organisations considerably
underestimate the cost of waste
• It may be viewed simply in terms of disposal
costs
• When waste is considered in respect of other
contributors to its existence, the true cost is
often 5–20 times that of the disposal
• Up to 4% of turnover can be spent dealing with
wastes
Whole life cost accounting
True cost of waste = Disposal cost
+ Raw materials
+ Energy consumption
+ Handling & processing
+ Maintenance costs
+ Management time
+ Spillages/excursions
+ Any potential liabilities
Sustainable resource management
Definition of waste
Fit-for-purpose in the era of
the circular economy?
Discuss.