WASTE MANAGEMENT

Recycling Coordinator

The Sector
Creating and operating a sustainable waste management infrastructure presents tremendous challenges and opportunities. Waste is divided into three main classifications: hazardous or special waste, which includes all waste that is harmful to human health; municipal waste, including ordinary domestic refuse like most food wastes, light industrial and commercial wastes; and inert waste which includes clean earth and most solid building material. Historically, the UK has stored waste in landfills and has become very proficient at safe storage of a range of waste. However, since 2002 European law does not allow many types of untreated waste in landfills; this opens up the door for new technologies and opportunities in the waste management sector. European practice is to rely on a hierarchy of waste treatment. The highest level is waste minimisation, then comes recycling, which depends upon having an acceptable end use for the waste material. After recycling is energy reclamation, either as heat or electricity, and at the bottom of the hierarchy is landfill, intended to be the last resort.

Sector Profile
Approximately 12,000 people are directly employed in the UK as professionals in the waste industry and the number is increasing rapidly as the regulators struggle to administer ever-increasing legislation. The industry side of waste management is growing more slowly as industry endeavours to become increasingly more competitive.

Issues and Trends
A main issue in this sector is using heat treatments to convert waste into energy. While mass incinerators already partly achieve this, much effort and research is being undertaken into other heat treatments to extract energy and reduce waste to a minimum volume, while still minimising gaseous emissions to atmosphere. Another increasing trend is recovering by-products, such as methane, from current land fills and using them to create renewable energy sources of electricity. Recycling has increased with the UK Government new setting targets to reduce waste and there is a need to create and fulfil a continuous demand for recycled products. EU environmental legislation is spurring even more development of waste management resources.