As populations continue to increase, society produces more and more waste. Yet it is becoming increasingly difficult to build new landfills, and the existing landfills are causing significant environmental damage. Finding solutions is not simple; the problem is enormous in size, vital in terms of its impact on the environment, and complex in scope. This book provides a vast look at solid waste management in North America and seeks solutions to the waste crisis. It describes the magnitude and complexity of the problem, focusing on municipal wastes and placing them in the perspective of other wastes such as hazardous, biochemical, and radioactive debris. It describes the components of an integrated waste management program, including recycling, composting, landfills, and waste incinerators, and it presents in detail the scientific and engineering principles underlying these technologies. To illustrate both the problems and solutions of waste management programs, the authors provide seven case histories, among them the Fresh Kills (Staten Island, New York), the East Carbon Landfill (Utah), and the Lancaster County Municipal Waste Incinerator (Pennsylvania). The Waste Crisis is unique in its attempt to analyze waste management in a broader societal context and to propose solutions based on basic principles. And by doing so, it encourages readers to challenge commonly held perceptions and to seek new and better ways of dealing with waste. As such, this book deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone who deals with or feels the need to confront the growing problems of waste management.

The Waste Crisis Explore modern solutions to the most critical issues in waste management policy and design In The Waste Crisis: Roadmap for Sustainable Waste Management in Developing Countries, an accomplished team of sustainability researchers deliver a concise insight of modern waste management practices that acts as a handbook for waste management professionals. Along with flow charts and example problems, the authors offer readers the information necessary to support decision making based on country, city size, population, waste generation volume, type, geographical location, and more. The book begins with an overview of current waste management practices, including waste generation, collection, processing, composting, recycling, and disposal. It moves on to a series of case studies from over ten countries and presentations of sustainable waste management strategies. The Waste Crisis: Roadmap for Sustainable Waste Management in Developing Countries concludes with a series of practical and effective final recommendations for future best practices. It also includes: Practical discussions of material flow, cost-effective material recovery, anaerobic digestion, composting, recycling, disposal, training, and human capacity building Comprehensive explorations of unique and robust decision-making strategies for designers, policy makers, and regulators In-depth treatments of ready-to-implement waste management systems perfect for systems designers The Waste Crisis: Roadmap for Sustainable Waste Management in Developing Countries is an indispensable resource for waste, recycling, and resource management professionals. It???s also perfect for waste management system designers and decision makers seeking a one-stop guide to issues of sustainability in the developing world.

This book will focus on "Waste Management," a serious global issue and engineers' responsibility towards finding better solutions for its sustainable management. Solid waste management is one of the major environmental burdens in both developed and developing countries alike. An alarming rate of solid waste generation trends can be seen as a result of globalization, industrialization, and rapid economic development. However, low-income and marginalized sectors in society suffer most from the unfavorable conditions deriving from poor waste management. Solid waste management is not a mere technical challenge. The environmental impact, socio-economic, cultural, institutional, legal, and political aspects are fundamental in planning, designing, and maintaining a sustainable waste management system in any country. Engineers have a major role to play in designing proper systems that integrate stakeholders, waste system elements, and sustainability aspects of waste management. This book is part of a focused collection from a project on Engineering and Education for Social and Environmental Justice. It takes an explicitly social and environmental justice stance on waste and attempts to assess the social impact of waste management on those who are also the most economically vulnerable and least powerful in the society. We hope that this book will assist our readers to think critically and understand the framework of socially and environmentally just waste management. Table of Contents: Introduction / Towards a Just Politics of Waste Management / Expertise, Indigenous People, and the Site 41 Landfill / Waste Management in the Global North / Waste Management in the Global South: A Sri Lankan Case Study / Assessing the Feasibility of Waste for Life in the Western Province of Sri Lanka

This book will focus on "Waste Management," a serious global issue and engineers' responsibility towards finding better solutions for its sustainable management. Solid waste management is one of the major environmental burdens in both developed and developing countries alike. An alarming rate of solid waste generation trends can be seen as a result of globalization, industrialization, and rapid economic development. However, low-income and marginalized sectors in society suffer most from the unfavorable conditions deriving from poor waste management. Solid waste management is not a mere technical challenge. The environmental impact, socio-economic, cultural, institutional, legal, and political aspects are fundamental in planning, designing, and maintaining a sustainable waste management system in any country. Engineers have a major role to play in designing proper systems that integrate stakeholders, waste system elements, and sustainability aspects of waste management. This book is part of a focused collection from a project on Engineering and Education for Social and Environmental Justice. It takes an explicitly social and environmental justice stance on waste and attempts to assess the social impact of waste management on those who are also the most economically vulnerable and least powerful in the society. We hope that this book will assist our readers to think critically and understand the framework of socially and environmentally just waste management. Table of Contents: Introduction / Towards a Just Politics of Waste Management / Expertise, Indigenous People, and the Site 41 Landfill / Waste Management in the Global North / Waste Management in the Global South: A Sri Lankan Case Study / Assessing the Feasibility of Waste for Life in the Western Province of Sri Lanka

Environmental scientists and engineers are faced with the challenge of how to manage increasing amounts of solid waste. Furthermore, waste management officials are constantly faced with the question "Which option is the most appropriate one in this situation, and how does it compare to other options?" For these individuals, and for the general public, Municipal Solid Wastes: Problems and Solutions helps to answer this and other questions by presenting the issues of waste handling and disposal-from general management concepts to specific techniques. Each topic is carefully reviewed: problems are presented, and possible solutions are discussed. Legislation that affects recycling and disposal is covered.

Motivation The other day I was waiting at the station for my train. Next to me a young lady was nonchalantly leaning against the wall. Suddenly, she took a cigarette pack out of her handbag, pulled out the last cigarette, put it between her lips, crushed the empty pack, threw it on the ground and hedonistically lit the cigarette. I thought to myself, "What a behavior?!". The nearest trashcan was just five meters away. So I bent down, took the crushed pack and gave it back to her, saying that she had lost it. She looked at me in a rather deranged way, but she said nothing and of waste to the trashcan. brought the piece Often people are not aware of the waste they produce. They get rid of it and that's it. As soon as the charming lady dropped the cigarette pack, the problem was solved for her. The pack was on the ground and it suddenly no longer belonged to her. It is taken for granted that somebody else will do the cleaning up. There is a saying that nature does not produce waste. For long as humans obtained the goods they needed from the ground where they lived, the waste that was produced could be handled by nature. This has drastically changed due to urbanization and waste produced by human activities has become a severe burden.