Waste treatment

Waste treatment refers to the activities required to ensure that waste has the least practicable impact on the environment. In many countries various forms of waste treatment are required by law.

Types of waste treatment

The treatment of waste can be divided into several processes:

• Waste minimization
• Waste disposal
• Recycling
• Biological reprocessing
• Energy recovery
• Resource recovery
• Pyrolysis
• Plasma gasification

Waste minimization

Waste minimization is the process and the policy of reducing the amount of waste produced by a person or a society. It is part of the wider aim of waste reduction which is often described as a component of the waste hierarchy.

Waste disposal

Waste disposal is all the activities and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes amongst other things, collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste together with monitoring and regulation.

Recycling

Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Biological reprocessing

Biological reprocessing is the use of biological processes to treat waste. This can be done either in the open air, in composting facilities or in anaerobic digestion plants.

Energy recovery

Energy recovery from waste is the conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into usable heat, electricity, or fuel through a variety of processes, including combustion, gasification, pyrolyzation, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas recovery.

Resource recovery

Resource recovery is using wastes as an input material to create valuable products as new outputs. The aim is to reduce the amount of waste generated, thereby reducing the need for landfill space and also to conserve natural resources.

Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis is a thermal decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen. It involves the simultaneous change of chemical composition and physical phase, and is irreversible.

Plasma gasification

Plasma gasification is a process which converts organic matter into synthetic gas, electricity, and slag using plasma. A plasma torch powered by an electric arc is used to ionize gas and catalyze organic matter into synthetic gas and solid waste (slag).

See also

• Waste management
• Environmental technology
• Sustainable development

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