Urban waste & disposal

• Energy from waste

  Electricity and heat produced when general waste is safely burned at high temperatures and under carefully controlled conditions
• Incineration

  Thermal treatment of waste (burning)
• Industrialisation

  The process by which an economy is transformed from primarily agricultural to one based on the manufacturing of goods.
• Inorganic waste

  Material that is non-biodegradable. It is chemical substances of mineral origin.
• Landfill/burial


  The disposal of waste material by burying it.
• Leachates

  Toxic waste water containing arsenic, lead, solvents and other contaminants leached* from illegal dumps and landfill.
• MSW - Municipal Solid Waste

  Commonly known in the UK as refuse or rubbish. Most definitions do not include industrial waste, agricultural waste, medical waste, radioactive waste or sewage sludge.
• Organic waste

  Material that is biodegradable and comes from either a plant or animal.
• Recovery

  The selective extraction of disposed materials for a specific next use, such as recycling, composting or energy generation.
• Recycling

  When materials from which items are made are be reprocessed into new products
• Reuse

  The action of using something again.
• Urbanisation

  An increase in the proportion of a country's population that lives in towns and cities.
• Waste stream

  The complete flow of waste from its source through to recovery, recycling or disposal.