KEY TERMS

Solid Waste- is the solid materials that are generated from

activities of living things and are discarded as useless or
unwanted.
Reduce Waste - lessening the amount of items consumed and
discarded. It involves items that use minimum raw materials,
have a longer life and can be used again.
Reusing- refers to using an item more than once, either for the
same reason or for a different purpose.
Recycling- is the processing of used materials into fresh
materials
Waste Reduction- is the prevention of waste material being
created.

WASTE REDUCTION OF GLASS

The Carib glassworks limited in Trinidad and Tobago recycle

glass in the following steps:
The lids or caps must be removed from the glass containers.
The glass containers are rinsed with water and must be
separated by colour (The labels can be left on).
The glasses are crushed in a glass processor into tiny pieces.
The finely crushed glass pieces are called cullet.
Contaminants are then removed from the glass cullet.
The cullet is then melted and added to soda ash (Na2CO3),
limestone and sand. The mixture is heated (up to 1800 degrees
celsius) to produce molten glass which is blown or molded into
new glasses.

WASTE REDUCTION OF PAPER

Step 1: Paper is taken to a recycling center where contaminants are remove
Step 2: The paper is then sorted into different grades
Step 3: Once paper is sorted, it will be stored in bales until a mill needs it and then it
will be transferred to the mill for processing.
Step 4: Once at the mills large machines (pulpers) shred the paper into small pieces.
it is then mix with water and chemicals and heated to break down the pieces into
fibres.
Step 5: The mixture is pressed through a screen to remove adhesives and other
remaining contaminants
Step 6: The paper will be spun in a cone-shaped cylinder to clean it and sometimes
ink will also be removed. At this point, the pulp is sent through a machine that sprays
it onto a conveyor belt. water will be drip through the belts screen and the paper
fibres will start bonding together
Step 7: Heated metal rollers will dry the paper and the paper will be put onto a large
roll which can be made into new paper products.
Step 7:

WASTE REDUCTION OF ALUMINIUM

ALUMINIUM
The process of recycling aluminium is as follows:
The antigua & Barbuda Waste Recycling Corporation collect,
sort and clean aluminium
They then compacted the aluminium using the machine to the
left and ship it off to another country is the compact aluminium
weigh over 56 lbs.
when the aluminium reach the other country it is shredded into
small pieces and hot air is blown through it to remove the
coating and inks that may be present on it.
The shredded aluminium is then melted in a furnace to produce
molten aluminium
The molten aluminium is made into ingots which are large
blocks. The ingots are sent to mills where they are rolled out to
make aluminium products.
 WASTE REDUCTION OF STEEL

STEEL
The process of recycling steel is indicated below:
Steel scrap is collected and easily separated from other waste
using magnets
The steel scrap is compact or squeeze and then shredded into
tiny pieces
The steel scrap is then melted in a furnace
It is then poured into casters that roll and flatten the steel into
sheets.
PROPER DISPOSAL TECHNIQUES

SANITARY LAND-FILLING
The most common method of solid waste disposal is land-
filling. Landfill is an open dumping site which is cheap and
dispose of large quantities of waste.
Sanitary land-filling:
compacted the waste to prevent it from moving or blowing away
has a lining of clay, plastic or rubberised material which
minimises drainage of liquids into the soil or rocks below
Extract the gases
is covered so not to attract rats

INCINERATION
Incineration is another common method of solid waste disposal.
It involves the combustion of waste at high temperatures to
form a solid residue and gaseous product. It destroys
pathogens and converts toxic heavy metals to their oxides
which are less harmful.The energy released can be used to
heat steam to run a turbine to produce electricity. This method
of solid waste disposal is practical for disposing of some
hazardous waste such as biological and medical waste.
The problem with this method is:
that organic compounds (dioxins, furans and polyaromatic
hydrocarbons) are formed which can stay in the atmosphere for
many years.
It produce hazardous air pollutants
Burning of materials containing chlorine can form dioxins which
is carcinogenic.

Open burning
open burning occurs when you burn anything outside.
Open burning produces smoke made up of fine particles. When
inhaled, fine particles can accumulate in the respiratory system
causing various respiratory problems and can aggravate
existing respiratory diseases. Exposure to polyaromatic
hydrocarbons, dioxins and furans are linked to problems with
cancer, the liver, the immune system. In the environment,
chemicals contained in smoke, when mixed with rainwater to
form acid rain. Pollutants present in the smoke can affect
microorganisms, plants, fish and mammals, or may be
deposited on plants and eaten by livestock. The pollutants are
then absorbed into the animals and stay in the food chain.

THE IMPACT OF SOLID WASTE ON THE

TERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENT
Natural products like paper and cardboard made from plant
materials are biodegradable and breakdown easily in the
environment and are recycled in nature while materials such as
metals, glass and plastics are non-biodegradable. These
products do not break down easily and can exist in the
environment for a long time. Solid waste may harm organism
as well as the environment.
Glass: when glass breaks, tiny particles of glass are produced,
these tiny particles of glass may causes cut in animals and may
remain in the air for sometime and cause irritation of lungs.
Pieces of glass can also act as lenses, focusing light rays and
cause heating leading to fires.
Paper: Printing inks may contain heavy metals as well as
residual bleaches and organochlorine compounds in small
quantities. These potentially toxic substances may leach into
the soil when paper gets wet. Paper is also easily blown away
by the wind, so spreading litter.
Plastics: Animals may get tangled in plastics nets or suffocate
when the plastics gets into the lungs. If plastics get stuck in the
gullet, the animal cannot ingest any food and therefore will die.
Biodegradable plastics may break down into microscopic
particles which may be harmful to creatures in seas and rivers.

Metals: when metal alloys are thrown away, they may react with
water and air and corrode to form soluble compounds which
diffuse into the soil or water. Iron rusts may form unsightly pools
of red waste which reduce plant growth. Metals such as lead or
cadmium are poisonous. Waste from aluminium smelting may
still contain high amounts of aluminium. This waste can react
with water forming ammonia and flammable acetylene and
hydrogen.
Nuclear waste: This may contain radioactive isotopes with very
long half lives. Radioactive waste may cause radiation burns,
skin damage and damage to the immune system as well as
cause animals to be sterile.

Recycling plastics
The Antigua & Barbuda Waste Recycling Corporation collects
plastic, pass them through a conveyor belt, from there they are
sorted by their colour and their resin number. These sorted
plastic are carried to a granulator machice where they are
grinded into tiny pieces or flakes. These flakes are then stored
in bags until they have 44 bags of plastic flakes. when they
have the 44 bags they send it to a broker who will ship it to
other countries for example China. Once in china the flakes are
are cleaned and heated under pressure to make them melt, it is
then filtered through a fine screen to remove contaminats. The
molten plastics are then compressed into tiny pellets from this
state new plastic products can be made.

WHY INVEST IN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT?

A poorly managed site may create a number of environment
problems such as:
Increase pollution of environment
Toxic or harmful liquids may drain through the soil or rocks to
contaminate groundwater and soil
Organic materials may attract rats and insect
release methane from decomposing waste which is explosive

Investing in the solid waste industry reduce or prevent these

envirnoment problems.

The solid waste industry reduces land and water pollution since
most of the items collected from off the streets. the solid waste
industry contributes to keeping this beautiful country beautiful.