SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Outline Introduction Definition of Solid Waste Categories of Solid Waste Public Health Aspects Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Solid Waste Management (SWM) Functional Elements Guiding Principles Integrated SWM Brief History of Waste Management Philippine Laws and Regulations Related to SWM DEFINITION OF SOLID WASTE J. Pichtel “A solid material possessing a negative economic value, which suggests that it is cheaper to discard than to use.” Volume 40 of The US Code of Federation Regulations (40 CFR 240.101) “Garbage, refuse, sludges, and other discarded solid materials resulting from industrial and commercial operations and from community activities. It does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage or other significant pollutants in water resources, such as silt, dissolved or suspended solids in industrial wastewater effluents, dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or other common water pollutants.” DEFINITION OF SOLID WASTE RA 9003 “shall refer to all discarded household, commercial w aste, non-hazardous institutional, ports / harbour and industrial waste, street sweepings, construction debris, agriculture wast e, and other nonhazardous/non-toxic solid waste. Unless specifically noted otherwise, the term “solid waste” as used in the Act shall not include: a) waste identified or listed as hazardous waste of a solid, liquid, contained gaseous or semisolid form which may cause or contribute to an increase in mortality or in serious situations, incapacitate or cause irreversible bodily damage or acute/chronic effect on the health of persons and other organisms; b) infectious waste from hospitals such as equipment, instruments, utensils, and fomites of a disposable nature from patients who are suspected to have or have been diagnosed as having communicable diseases and must therefore be isolated as required by public health agencies, laboratory wastes such as pathological specimens (i.e., all tissues, specimens of blood elements, excreta, and sec retions obtained from patients or laboratory animals), and disposable fomites that may harbor or transmit pathogenic organisms, and surgical operating r oom pathologic specimens and disposable fomites attendant thereto, and similar disposable materials from outpatient areas and emergency rooms; and c) waste resulting from mining activities, including contaminated soil and debris. CATEGORIES OF SW Municipal solid waste Hazardous waste Industrial waste Medical waste
Universal waste special waste Construction and demolition debris Radioactive waste Mining waste Agricultural waste (J. Pichtel) PUBLIC HEALTH ASPECTS Solid wastes may contain: Human pathogens – diapers, handkerchiefs, contaminated food and surgical dressings Animal pathogens – waste from pets Soil pathogens – garden wastes Who are at risk? General public SWM facility employees For a person to be at risk from solid waste pathogens An infectious dose of pathogens must be present. There must be a transmission route of the pathogens to the person, i.e. aerosol, faecal-oral route, hand to mouth, etc. The person must have no immunity to the pathogen. MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW) Domestic waste or household waste Generated within a community from several sources, and not simply by the individual consumer or a household. Originates from residential, commercial, institutional, and municipal sources. Highly heterogeneous and include durable goods (e.g. appliances), non-durable goods (newspapers, office paper), packaging and containers, food wastes, yard wastes and miscellaneous inorganic wastes. (J. Pichtel) MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE (MSW) Often divided into 2 categories: Garbage – results from growing, handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food; putrescible material, i.e. can decompose quickly through microbial reactions to produce bad odors and harmful gases. Rubbish – nonputrescible; combustible and non-combustible such as cans, papers, brush, glass, cardboard, wood, scrap, metals, beddings, yard c lippings, crockery (pottery) MSW Generation as a Function of Source Sources and Types of Solid Wastes SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Shall refer to the discipline associated with the contr ol of generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing, and disposal of solid wastes in a manner that is in accord with the best principles of public health, economics, engineering, c onservation, aesthetics, and other environmental considerations, and that is also responsive to public attitudes. (RA 9003) Functional Elements of SWM Guiding Principles of SWM Waste is a resource. Overall concept: Everything must go somewhere.
When waste is thrown away, it will not disappear or get destroyed. It will only end up somewhere else, in one form or the other. There is really no such thing as “throw away” material. When waste ends up where it is not supposed to be, it becomes useless, causes pollution and poses health risks. When it is used and put in the right place, it becomes a valuable resource. Guiding Principles of SWM Waste prevention is better than waste regulation control. Waste management as end-of-pipe approach failed to significantly solve SWM problems. Waste prevention addresses waste problems prior to waste generation. Waste avoidance Reuse Recycling Waste recovery Guiding Principles of SWM There is no single management and technological approach to solid waste. An integrate d SWM system will best achieve SWM goals. A community’s waste strea m is made up of several components (i.e. reusable, biodegradable, recyclable, toxic, hazardous, etc.) that can be managed and disposed separately. Thus, an integrated SWM system using a combination of approaches (e.g. source reduction, reuse, recycling, composting, waste-to-e nergy technologies, volume reduction, combustion and landfilling) may be used. Guiding Principles of SWM All elements of society are fundamentally responsible for solid waste management. Those who generate waste must bear t he cost of its management and disposal. SWM should be approached within the context of re source conservation, environmental protection and health, and sustainable development. SWM programs should take into consideration the physical and socio-economic conditions of the concerned communities and be designed according to their specific needs. INTEGRATED SWM defined as the selection and application of suitable techniques, technologies and management programs to achieve specific waste management o bjectives. 3Es Engineering Education Enterprise Hierarchy of Integrated SWM Planning for ISWM Proper mix of alternatives and technologies Flexibility in meeting future changes Monitoring and evaluation Management Issues Setting workable but protective regulatory standards Improving scientific methods for interpretation of data Identification of hazardous and toxic consumer products requiring special waste management units Paying for improved waste management units Designating land disposal units at or near large urban centers
Establishing and maintaining more qualified managers to develop and operate waste management units Future Challenges and Opportunities Changing consumption habits in society Reducing the volume of waste at the source Making landfills safer Development of new technologies BRIEF HISTORY OF WASTE MANAGEMENT Earliest Civilizations Mesopotamia, Egypt 8000 to 9000 BCE Dumps were established away from settlements – probably located so that wild animals, insects, and odors would not migrate to populated areas. Minoans (3000 to 1000 BCE) – placed their wastes, covered periodically with layers of soil, into large pits, thus operating the first proto-sanitary landfill. BRIEF HISTORY OF WASTE MANAGEMENT 2100 BCE – cities on the island of Crete had trunk sewers connecting homes to carry away wastes. Egyptian city of Heracleopolis – wastes in the “non-elite” section were ignored, while in the elite and religious sections efforts were made to collect and dispose of all wastes, which usually ended up in Nile River. At Kouloure in the ancient Crete capital of Knossos (ca. 1500 BCE) – an effective composting effort was established in pits. BRIEF HISTORY OF WASTE MANAGEMENT 800 BCE – old Jerusalem established sewers and had installed a primitive water supply. In Indus valley, city of Mohenjo-daro – houses were equipped with waste chutes and trash bins, and may have had waste collection systems. Harappa, in Punjab region, now part of modern-day India – installed toilets and drains in the bathrooms. Many Asian cities – collected wastes in clay containers which wer e hauled away. BRIEF HISTORY OF WASTE MANAGEMENT First recorded regulations for SWM – were established during the Minoan civilization. Around 2000 BCE – Israel provided guidelines as to how to manage wastes, instructions for the management of human waste are provided in the Bible (Deuteronomy 23:12-13). By 200 BCE – many cities in China employed “sanitary police”, who were responsible for the enforcement of waste disposal laws. BRIEF HISTORY OF WASTE MANAGEMENT Greece th 5 century BCE – Greek municipalities began to establish town dumps that were maintained in a relatively orderly condition. Garbage normally consisted of food waste, fecal matter, and abandoned babies (e.g. malformed or illegitimate).
In Athens, ca. 320 BCE – each household were responsible for collecting and transporting its wastes. Residents were required by law to sweep the streets daily, and it was mandated that wastes be transported to site beyond the city walls. BRIEF HISTORY OF WASTE MANAGEMENT Greek and Persian scholars – among the first to suggest an association between personal hygiene, contaminated water, spoiled food, and disease outbreaks and epidemics. Hippocrates (ca. 400 BCE) and Persian Ibn S ina (980-1037 CE) suggested a relationship between waste and infectious disease. LEGAL ASPECTS OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT US – SWM started from Solid Waste Act of 1965, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976, up to California Assembly Bill 939 in 1993 – aimed to promote solid waste management and resource recovery and provide guidelines for collection, transport, separation, recovery and disposal. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM Commonwealth Act No. 383 – An Act to punish the dumping into any river of refuse matter or substances of any kind whatsoever that may bring about the r ise or filling in of river beds or c ause artificial alluvial formation. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM PD 1152, Philippine Environment Code – Comprehensive program on environment protection and management by establishing specific environmental management policies and prescribing environmental quality standards in the Philippine Environment Code. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM PD 984, Pollution Control Law – Provides the specific guidelines and implementing rules and regulations on liquid waste disposal after physical or chemical treatment in accordance with existing rules and regulations. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM PD 825, Penalty for Improper Garbage Disposal Providing penalty for the improper disposal of garbage and other forms of uncleanliness and for other purposes. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM PD 856, Code of Sanitation Provides the rules on disposal of refuse in food establishments, and for construction o f markets and abattoirs. Prescribes the sanitary facilities with potable water, sewage treatment systems, septic tanks, and disposal of septic tank effluent drainage. Provides for special precaution of human waste from hospitalized patients given high dose of radioactive isotopes. However, the provision merely provides for separate facilities and flushing at least 3x after use. No special treatment and methods for disposal are provided for hospital wastes and it remains a special problem. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM DENR Administrative Order 98-49 Technical Guidelines for the disposal of municipal solid waste and operates on the premise of eventual phase-out of all open dumps in the country. DENR Administrative Order 98-50 – Procedure for the Identification of Sanitary Landfill sites in view of the imminent phase-out of Open Dumps PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM
RA 6957 amended by RA 7718 (Build-Operate-Transfer Law) Providing that infrastructure and development projects normally financed and operated by the public sector, that solid waste management may be wholly or partially implemented by the private sector. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM RA 7160, Local Government Code Devolving certain powers to the local government units, including that on enforcement of laws on cleanliness and sanitation, preparation of their respective SWM programs, and ot her environmental matters. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM PD 1586, Philippine EIS System Carries out the policy of the State to “attain and maintain a rational and orderly balance between socio-economic growth and environmental protection.” DENR AO 2000-28 Implementing Guidelines on Engineering Geological and Geohazard Assessment (EGGA) as additional requirement for ECC application covering subdivision, housing and other land development and infrastructure projects. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM RA 8749 Philippine Clean Air Act An Act providing for a comprehensive air pollution control policy and for other purposes In order to promote the framework of sustainable development, this law aims to formulate a holistic national program on air pollution management, encourage cooperation and awareness among citizens and industry, focus on pollution prevention rather than control and enforce a system of accountability of a certain project in causing adverse impact to the environment. Section 20 – Ban on incineration Prohibited the use of incinerators for municipal, bio-medical and hazardous wastes. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM DENR AO 34 – Revised Water Usage and Classification DENR AO 35 – Revised Effluent Regulations of 1990 RA 9275 – Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004 An Act providing for comprehensive water quality management and for othe r purposes PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM RA 9003 – Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 An Act providing for environmentally-sound techniques of waste recovery, waste utilization, processing and disposal.
PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM RA 9003 is a primary legislation on SWM providing a comprehensive, systematic and ecologically viable program that would: Ensure public health and protect the environment Employ environmentally-sound methods to encourage resource conservation and recovery and promote national research and development programs Encourage greater private sector participation while retaining the primary enforcement and responsibility of SWM with LGUs Integrate the Ecological SWM and resear ch conservation and recovery topics into the academic curricula of formal and non-formal education. PHILIPPINE LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO SWM DENR AO 01-34 – IRR of RA 9003
With the enactment of RA 9003, all laws, decrees, issuances, rules and regulations or parts thereof that are inconsistent with the provisions of the Act are hereby r epealed or modified accordingly. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “ Agricultural waste” shall refer to waste generated from planting or harvesting of crops, trimming or pruning of plants and wastes or run-off materials from farms or fields. “Bulky wastes” shall refer to waste materials which cannot be appropriately placed in separate containers because of either its bulky size, shape or other physical attributes. These include large worn-out or broken household, commercial, and industrial items such as furniture, lamps, bookcases, filing cabinets, and other similar items. “Buy -back center” shall refer to a recycling center that purchases or otherwise accepts recyclable materials from the public for the purpose of recycling such materials. “Collection” shall refer to the act of removing solid waste from the source or from a common storage point. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Composting” shall refer to the systematic decomposition of organic matter by microorganisms, mainly bacteria and fungi, into a humus-like product. “Consumer electronics” shall refer to special wastes that include worn-out, broken, and other discarded items such as radios, stereos, and TV sets. “Controlled dump” shall refer to a disposal site at which solid waste is deposited in accordance with the minimum prescribed standards of dumpsite operation. “Disposal” shall refer to the discharge, deposit, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste into or in any land. “Disposal site” shall refer to a site where solid waste is finally discharged and deposited. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Ecological solid waste management” shall refer to the systematic administration of activities which provide for segregation at source, segregated transportation, storage, transfer, processing, treatment, and disposal of solid waste and all other w aste management activities which do not harm the environment. “Environmentally acceptable” shall refer to the quality of being re-usable, biodegradable or compostable, recyclable and not toxic or hazardous to the environment. “Environmentally preferable” shall refer to products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with com peting products or services that serve the same purpose. This comparison may consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing, packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance or disposal of the product or service. “Generation” shall refer to the act or process of producing solid waste. “Generator” shall refer to a person, natural or juridical, who last uses a material and makes it available for disposal or recycling. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Hazardous waste” shall refer to solid waste or combination of solid waste which because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics may: cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness; or pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed. “Leachate” shall refer to the liquid produced when waste undergo decomposition, and when water percolate through solid waste undergoing decomposition. It is a contaminated liquid that contains dissolved and suspended materials.
“Life cycle assessment” shall refer to the compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. “Materials recovery facility” shall include solid waste transfer station or sorting station, drop-off center, a composting facility, and a rec ycling facility. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Municipal wastes” shall refer to wastes produced from activities within local government units which include a combination of domestic, commercial, institutional and industrial wastes and street litters. “Non-environmentally acceptable products or packaging” shall refer to products or packaging that are unsafe in production, use, post-consumer use, or that produce or release harmful byproducts when discarded. “Open burning” shall refer to the thermal destruction of wastes by means of direct exposure to fire. Furthermore, this definition shall apply to traditional small-scale methods of community sanitation “siga”. “Open dump” shall refer to a disposal area whe rein the solid wastes are indiscriminately thrown or disposed of without due planning and consideration for environmental and health standards. “Opportunity to recycle” shall refer to the act of providing a place for collecting sourceseparated recyclable material, located either at a disposal site or at another location more convenient to the population being served, and collection at least once a month of sourceseparated recyclable material from collection service customers and to providing a public education and promotion program that gives notice to each person of the opportunity to recycle and encourage source separation of recyclable material. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Post -consumer material” shall refer only to those materials or products generated by a business or consumer which have served their intended end use, and which have been separated or diverted from solid waste for the purpose of being collected, proce ssed and used as a raw material in the manufacturing of recycled product, excluding materials and by-products generated from, and commonly used within an original manufacturing process, such as mill scrap. “Receptacles” shall refer to individual containers used for the source separation and the collection of recyclable materials. “Recovered material” shall refer to material and by-products that have been recovered or diverted from solid waste for the purpose of be ing collected, processed and used as a raw material in the manufacture of a recyc led product. “Recyclable material” shall refer to any waste material retrieved from the waste stream and free from contamination that can still be converted into suitable beneficial use or for other purposes, including, but not limited to, newspaper, ferrous scrap metal, non-ferrous scrap metal, used oil, corrugated cardboard, aluminum, glass, office paper, tin cans, plastics and othe r materials as may be determined by the Commission. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Recycled material” shall refer to post-consumer material that has been r ecycled and returned to the economy. “Recycling” shall refer to the treating of used or waste materials through a process of making them suitable for beneficial use and for other purposes, and includes any process by which solid waste materials are transformed into new products in such a manner that the original products may lose their identity, and which may be used as raw materials for the production of other goods or services: Provided, that the collection, segr egation and re-use of previously used packaging material shall be deemed recycling under the Act.
“Resource conservation” shall refer to the reduction of the amount of solid waste that are generated or the reduction of overall resource consumption, and utilization of recovered resources. “Resource recovery” shall refer to the collection, extraction or recovery of recyclable materials from the waste stream for the purpose of recycling, generating energy or producing a product suitable for beneficial use: Provided, That, such resource recovery facilities exclude incineration. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Re-use” shall refer to the process of recovering materials intended for the same o r different purpose without the alteration of physical and chemical characteristics. “Sanitary landfill” shall refer to a waste disposal site designed, constructed, operated and maintained in a manner that exerts engineering control over significant potential environmental impacts arising from the development and operation of the facility. “Schedule of Compliance” shall refer to an enforceable sequence of ac tions or operations to be accomplished within a stipulated time frame leading to compliance with a limitation, prohibition, or standard set forth in the Act or any rule or regulation issued pursuant thereto. “Segregation” shall refer to sorting and segregation of different materials found in solid waste in order to promote recycling and re-use of resources and to reduce the volume of waste for collection and disposal. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Segregation at source” shall refer to a solid waste management practice of separating, at the point of origin, different materials found in solid waste in order to promote recycling and re-use of resources and to reduce the volume of waste for collection and disposal. “Solid waste” shall refer to all discarded household, commercial waste, non-hazardous institutional, ports / harbour and industrial waste, street sweepings, construction debris, agriculture waste, and other non-hazardous/non-toxic solid waste. Unless specifically noted otherwise, the term “solid waste” as us ed in the Act shall not include: waste identified or listed as hazardous waste of a solid, liquid, contained gaseous or semisolid form which may cause or contribute to an increase in mortality or in serious situations, incapacitate or cause irreversible bodily damage or acute/chronic effect on the health of persons and other organisms; infectious waste from hospitals such as equipment, instruments, utensils, and fomites of a disposable nature from patients who are suspected to have or have been diagnosed as having communicable diseases and must therefore be isolated as required by public health agencies, laboratory wastes such as pathological specimens (i.e., all tissues, specimens of blood elements, excreta, and sec retions obtained from patients or laboratory animals), and disposable fomites that may harbor or transmit pathogenic organisms, and surgical operating r oom pathologic specimens and disposable fomites attendant thereto, and similar disposable materials from outpatient areas and emergency rooms; and waste resulting from mining activities, including contaminated soil and debris. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Solid waste management” shall refer to the discipline associated with the control of generation, storage, collection, transfer and t ransport, processing, and disposal of solid wastes in a manner that is in accord w ith the best principles of public health, economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetics, and other environmental considerations, and that is also responsive to public attitudes. “Solid waste management facility” shall refer to any resource recovery system or component thereof; any system, program, or facility for r esource conservation; any facility for the collection,
source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing, tre atment, or disposal of solid waste. “Source reduction” shall refer to the reduction of solid waste before it enters the solid waste stream by methods such as product design, mater ials substitution, materials re-use and packaging restrictions. “Source separation” shall refer to the sorting of solid waste into some or all of its component parts at the point of generation. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Special wastes” shall refer to household hazardous wastes such as paints, t hinners, household batteries, lead-acid batteries, spray canisters and the like. These include wastes from residential and commercial sources that comprise of bulky wastes, c onsumer electronics, white goods, yard wastes that are collected separately, batteries, oil, and tires. These wastes are usually handled separately from other residential and commercial wastes. “Storage” shall refer to the interim containment of solid waste after generation and prior to collection for ultimate recovery or disposal. “Transfer stations” shall refer to those facilities utilized to receive solid wastes, temporarily store, separate, convert, or otherwise process the materials in the solid wastes, or to transfer the solid wastes directly from smaller to larger vehicles for transport. This term does not include any of the following: a facility whose principal function is to receive, store, separate, convert, or otherwise process in accordance with national minimum standards; a facility, whose principal function is to receive, store, convert, or otherwise process wastes which have already been separated for re-use and are not intended for disposal; and the operations premises of a duly licensed solid waste handling operator who receives, stores, transfers, or otherwise processes wastes as an activity incidental to the conduct of a refuse collection and disposal business. RA 9003 Definition of Terms “Waste diversion” shall refer to activities which reduce or eliminate the amount of solid wastes from waste disposal facilities. “White goods” shall refer to large worn-out or broken household, commercial, and industrial appliances such as stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers, and clothes washers and dryers collected separately. White goods are usually dismantled for the recovery of specific materials (e.g., copper, aluminum, etc.). “Yard waste” shall refer to wood, small or chipped branches, leaves, grass clippings, garden debris, vegetables residue that is recognizable as part of a plant or vegetable and other materials identified by the Commission.