Integrated Waste Management

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses some of the problems and solutions to Canada's garbage and full landfill issues. It looks at the 3 R's of necessary alternatives - reduction of waste at its source, re-usability and recycling. The paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this method of garbage disposal and makes recommendations for integrated waste management in Canada.

From the Paper:

"3 R's of necessary alternatives are meant "to divert as much waste as possible from disposal" (Mitchell 377) to reduction of waste at its source, reusability, and recycling. Source reduction refers to eliminating as much waste material as possible at its origin to halt "the flow of garbage into the landfill" (The 4 R's). For the consumer it means "reducing the amount of toxicity" (Mitchell 378) in products brought home (water based instead of oil based paints), and the durability of products that will not need to be thrown out despite their inconvenience (cloth instead of disposable diapers). In industry this could include "more efficient manufacturing techniques that produce less scrap or generate fewer toxic wastes per unit of output" (Mitchell 378). In both areas, especially retail, "packaging makes up about half our garbage by volume, one-third by weight" (The 4 R's). Reusability is simply living the way our great-grandparents did down on the farm: repair, don't replace the chair, the new-fangled radio, wash out jars to store things, and if you have to buy, purchase that which lasts. Quality pays for itself. Recycling is the final option, and ideally the least desirable because it means the first two have not achieved their objectives; however, modern life being what it is, what cannot be reused should be broken down by cardboard, paper, bottles, etc. at home. In industry recycling and reusability are often reversed in their order of precedence as they are in some telephone companies who melt down quantities of scrapped copper filaments and remold them into copper wire. This might be an example of the fourth R, recovering (potential) energy from waste, a practice which was employed during wartime especially in England where railings, gates, every scrap of metal was taken by the War Office and melted down for armaments.

Sample of Sources Used:

• clorenz1. "GTA must halt Michigan garbage shipment by 2010" NP Now Public.2006 16 May
• Crittenden, Guy. "Solid Waste & Recycling." August/September 2006 <http://www.solidwastemag.com/issues/PrinterFriendly. asp?story_id=...
• "The 4 R's- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recover". Environment Canada <http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/udo/reuse.html>
• "Facts about Toronto trash." City of Toronto Solid Waste Management 2006 10 August <www.toronto.ca/garbage/facts.html
• "Greenontario: Solid Waste." Greenontario Provincial Strategy. <http://www.greenontario.org/strategy/ solid_waste.html>

More papers on Integrated Waste Management:

• Analytical Essay # 130302 : "Waste Management Practices in Canada"
• Research Paper # 65190 : "Solid Waste Management"
• Term Paper # 74785 : "Green Building Materials"

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