Disposal of waste

• At the end of a product's useful life its disposal has to be taken into consideration. There are a number of ways it can be dealt with
• Landfill has been the most commonmethod of organised waste disposal, and continues to be so in many places across the world. It simply involves putting waste into the ground and burying it
• Landfill poses many problems as it can cause pollution of the local environment, such as the contamination of groundwater or soil
• Decaying organic waste also generates methane gas - a greenhouse gas which is flammable and can be explosive
• Many problems occur due to landfill, including the smell coming from the sites, effects on local wildlife and noise pollution, which can lead to reduced property prices
• Alternatives to landfill are being developed across the globe
• Resource recovery is a processs that recovers certain disposed materials for specific use
• Some materials can be recycled, some composted and some can even be used in energy generation
• Waste recycling reduces the use of newly created materials, while composting and energy generation reduces landfill and gives further use to materials
• Energy generation is often referred to as energy recovery
• Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the burning of waste materials
• Incineration can reduce the mass of waste by up to 85%, so significally reducing the volume of landfill
• There are concerns about pollutants in the gas emissions from incinerators, including large amounts of CO2 being discharged into the atmosphere