Download Waste Management What happens to the waste

Waste Management
What happens to the waste we generate?
The University produces large volumes of waste from its residences, catering areas,
laboratories, workshops and grounds and it has strict duties to manage that waste safely.
This waste costs money to dispose of and therefore by reducing the volume of its waste the
University can save money.
What is waste?
Anything that is no longer required or wanted by someone is waste. It doesn't matter if that
waste is to be reused or recycled by anyone else. t is waste if it is no longer required by the
person producing or discarding it.
In the UK the transport and disposal of wastes is covered by several pieces of legislation
(Acts and Regulations). The term "controlled waste" is given (in the Environmental
Protection Act 1990 - or EPA) to all waste generated by households, commerce and industry
although exceptions include radioactive waste, explosives and wastes from agricultural
premises and mines and quarries. These wastes are not "uncontrolled" but separate,
specific laws and regulations that were in existence prior to the EPA cover their
management.
Where does the waste go?
In essence, everything we throw away ends up in our environment;

in water (groundwater, streams, lakes, rivers, drinking water and the sea)

in or on land (where soluble or particulate compounds may wash or leach into
groundwater)

in the air (as vapours, dust or gases which may settle on land or sea or may dissolve
in rainwater).
Anything put down the sink or flushed down the toilet goes to the sewage treatment works
at Saltford operated by Wessex Water. Material from laboratories, workshops, catering
areas and launderettes is termed "trade effluent" and is mixed, in the University's drainage
system, with effluent from the residences and the toilets. The University has consent to
dispose of trade effluent up to certain maximum levels of specified physical and chemical
standards. At the sewage works degradable organic material is utilised by the living
organisms in the filtration beds. Low concentrations of some highly toxic materials can kill
the well-developed communities of these organisms and cause the sewage works operators
considerable problems. The treated water from the sewerage works goes into the river
Avon. The operators of the sewerage works must ensure that its effluent conforms to
certain minimal standards set by the UK's Environment Agency. Solid material from the
settlement tanks at Saltford is transferred to the Bristol sewerage treatment works where it
could be converted into a pelleted soil conditioner.
Material flushed down surface water drains on campus can go directly into the river Avon.
Sewage treatment is a natural process. What happens in the sewage treatment works
accelerates that process and reduces the polluting effect to the point where the receiving
watercourse can safely carry on nature's work without harming the environment.
Some household products definitely do not help the sewage treatment process. Domestic
sewage should be 'organic', as sewage treatment works are designed to use natural organic
processes.
If you want to read more about some of the chemicals that are causing concern for the
environment look at 'Chemicals in the environment: implications for global sustainability',
Where our waste goes
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UHS&E November 2012
Plant J, Korre A, Reeder S, Smith B and Voulvoulis N, Applied Earth Science (Trans. Inst. Min.
Mettall. B) June 2005 Vol. 114 at
http://www.cancersupportinternational.com/plant%20p65.pdf.
The Environment Agency publish information on persistent organic pollutants at
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/sectors/36748.aspx.
Most items labelled as 'disposable' should usually go elsewhere. Most drains are only
100mm in diameter or the width of a lemonade bottle and even fairly small items can cause
blockages. These smaller pipes flow into larger pipes as they near sewage treatment plants
and people have to work inside these larger ones. Items such as syringes and needles can be
particularly harmful for anyone working in a sewer so don't put the following items down
the toilet - bag it and bin it instead (http://www.water.org.uk/home/resources-andlinks/bagandbin):
 nappies
 sanitary towels and panty liners with
plastic backing
 cotton buds
 sticks and twigs
 bulky paper towels/kitchen towels
 rags
 large quantities
of fat
 vegetable peelings - except through a
waste disposal unit
 medicines and
tablets
 razor blades
 syringes or needles
 plastic bags
Material placed in the general solid waste bins in residences, offices, workshops, and
laboratories and in open 'builders' skips goes for local landfill. Some prohibited compounds
must not enter this waste stream. Over a period of time rainwater will leach out soluble
material and biological decay of organic material will release large volumes of gases, notably
methane.
Most local authorities publish information on what you should do with household waste
(available at BANES and Wiltshire councils).
In laboratories and workshops some volatile material will evaporate into the air. Ducted
fume cupboards and carbon-filtered recirculating cabinets can minimise lab workers'
exposure to these volatiles. Certain laboratory wastes are sent for incineration where most
organic material will be destroyed and the resultant gases vented to atmosphere as carbon
dioxide, other oxides and water. Any solid residues from incineration go for landfill.
Where our waste goes
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