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The European Landfill Directive requires the phased reduction of biodegradable waste disposal to landfill. One option, with significant potential to divert biodegradable municipal waste from landfill, is to encourage householders to compost their organic waste at home and this approach is supported in principle by the UK Government. However, whilst the benefits of home composting are recognized, there is uncertainty about the actual quantitative effectiveness of this approach to biodegradable waste management and, currently, Local Authorities responsible for municipal waste disposal and recycling do not receive credit or recognition for promoting this activity in the UK. This project aims to quantify the amounts of waste diverted from landfill through home composting, and other household waste recycling methods, by measuring the effects of these practices on the quantity and composition of residual waste produced at the individual household level. An automatic weighing system was fitted to a refuse collection vehicle (RCV) to provide data on the waste arisings from 324 households in the urban Borough of Runnymede, West London. The households were allocated into four groups according to the waste management practices: home composting; home composting + kerbside recycling, kerbside recycling only and a control group who did not compost or participate in the kerbside recycling scheme. The RCV weight data were complemented by a detailed compositional analysis of residual waste collected from the households. This paper presents a summary and overview of the key results and outputs from the research programme.

This research introduced the concept and practice of composting to a school community. It represents a possible option of diverting a considerable amount of organic residues from the Municipal Landfill. At a test community in Araguari, the Escola Estadual Antônio Nunes de Carvalho Filho, a composting experience was planned and executed using biodegradable waste from the school kitchen and also from students´ homes and some commercial donators located in the school s neighborhood. This experience is part of the study of a new system of household waste management in the City of Araguari that is being implemented by the Municipal Department of the Environment. The research, from the introduction of the topic, through obtaining students acceptance and participation, all the way to the production of two batches of compost, took eight months. An excellent quality compost was obtained, which will be used in the school garden and in the creation of a new tree nursery at the school. Attending to one research objective, the composting practice is now being considered as candidate to integrate the course schedule. It is expected that the school community multiplies its knowledge to the citizens who directly or indirectly interact with it. The first experience of this multiplication has already occurred. As part of this project the students of the test school, upon invitation, presented their results to the community of another school, Escola Centro Educacional Municipal Mário da Silva Pereira. After this knowledge multiplication, it will be easier to convey the concept of divided collection of solid waste to all the residences of Araguari in the near future. To have a sustainable future it is essential to change the attitudes of people towards solid waste, and the present project has provided a means to do just that. Este trabalho consiste na introdução à comunidade escolar do conceito e da prática de compostagem e o que ela representa em termos de desvio de resíduos biodegradáveis do aterro municipal. Numa comunidade cobaia em Araguari, a escola Estadual Antonio Nunes de Carvalho Filho, foi realizada uma experiência de compostagem utilizando-se resíduos biodegradáveis oriundos de sua cantina como também das residências dos próprios alunos e alguns empreendimentos doadores que se situam nas redondezas da escola. Para o município de Araguari, a experiência integra o estudo de um novo sistema de gerenciamento de resíduos sólidos domiciliares na cidade que está em fase de implantação pela Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente O desenvolvimento do trabalho junto à comunidade escolar para introduzir o assunto, obter aceitação e participação dos alunos e professores, e produzir duas bateladas de composto, teve duração de oito meses. Como resultado da compostagem, foi formado um composto de boa qualidade que será utilizado na horta já existente na escola e na criação de um novo sistema de arborização também na escola. Em atendimento a um dos objetivos do estudo, a prática de compostagem passa agora a ser considerada como candidata a integrar a grade curricular da escola em questão. Espera-se que após este aprendizado, a comunidade escolar multiplique seus conhecimentos aos cidadãos que convivem com ela, direta ou indiretamente, situação esta já demonstrada através de uma primeira experiência de extrapolação feita pelos alunos da Escola Antonio Nunes para os alunos da Escola Centro Educacional Municipal Mário da Silva Pereira. A partir desta multiplicação de conhecimentos, uma adaptação, aceitação e compreensão da coleta diferenciada de resíduos sólidos a ser desenvolvida em todas as residências de Araguari, num futuro muito próximo, será facilitada. Para se ter um futuro sustentável é imprescindível que haja uma mudança de atitudes nas pessoas e o presente estudo contribuiu para que isso acontecesse. Mestre em Geografia

Organic wastes are produced from a variety of sources such as agriculture, horticulture, forestry, industry, sewage treatment and households. These wastes are mainly derived from crops grown on land and contain elements, such as N, P, K, and S, originally found in the soil as nutrients. The major element of organic matter (C) is however derived from the CO2 taken up by the plant from the atmosphere. The current trend is to recycle and reuse organic wastes as a resource, and their disposal in landfill is being actively discouraged 7,8,10,11 . Recycling organic wastes to land would benefit soil quality, sequestrate C into soils, return the nutrients removed from the soil in crop offtake, and help to establish a more sustainable use of soil and fertilizers.

This paper evaluates the two well-known final waste disposal methods, incineration and landfilling. In particular we compare the social cost of two best-available technologies using a point estimate based on private and environmental cost data for the Netherlands. Not only does our comparison allow for Waste-to-Energy incineration plants but for landfills as well. The data provide support for the widespread policy preference for incineration over landfilling only if the analysis is restricted to environmental costs alone and includes savings of both energy and material recovery. Gross private costs, however, are so much higher for incineration, that landfilling is the social cost minimizing option at the margin even in a densely populated country such as the Netherlands. Furthermore, we show that our result generalizes to other European countries and probably to the USA. Implications for waste policy are discussed as well. Proper treatment of and energy recovery from landfills seem to be the most important targets for waste policy. Finally, WTE plants are a very expensive way to save on climate change emissions.

An experimental method is developed for setting pragmatic short-term landfill diversion targets of municipal waste in emerging economies. Domestic waste composition is shown to be quite uniform throughout developing countries of Africa, Asia and America. Consequently, the method developed in Brazil is readily exportable to other continents with minor numerical adjustments. It consists of determining the threshold fraction of source-separated waste that private recyclers are able to absorb, and is shown to stand at 67% in Brazil. For construction and demolition debris the target in Brazil is identified through waste analysis to be 90%, which corresponds to the amount of reusable material present in the debris. The method is expected to eliminate the guesswork upon setting diversion targets in municipalities throughout the developing world.

International audience; Worldwide, health and environmental considerations encourage landfill diversion of the organic fraction (OW) of municipal solid wastes, through alternative such as home composting. Of poor sanitation, and trace element and toxic hydrocarbon content (PAH) documentation, this study compared against a laboratory composter (LR), the performance (temperature regime and compost quality) of four 300 to 400 L home composting systems (HC), namely the Plastic (P) and Wood (W) Bins, the Rotary Drum (RD) and the Ground Pile (GP). All were batch loaded with the same food waste (FW) and yard trimmings (YT) mixture for uniform testing. The P and GP performed best in terms of temperature regime, followed by W and LR, while all demonstrated similar dry and organic matter and chemical oxygen demand except for RD with a higher dry matter because of poor aeration. All composts respected regulatory pathogen/parasite counts, trace element and PAH levels

As unrestricted landfilling of Municipal Solid Waste is being progressively abandoned, separation and processing of biodegradable material is becoming a basic component of urban waste management. The principal processing technology available is composting in its two basic forms and applications, namely centralised and decentralised composting. The centralised scheme targets biological stabilisation prior to landfilling. The decentralised scheme targets the preparation of a useful product. Experimental results obtained by the author are presented and discussed that confirm decentralised composting as a definite future option in urban waste management. Educational and technical aspects of the corresponding management problem are described.

The author's research and practical experience with municipal solid waste management have shown the urgent need for new thinking models. Present paradigms are stalemate. They do not allow for flexible approaches to solving an extremely dynamic problem. This paper discusses the basic flaws in present thinking models of residents, municipal administrators and even scholars. Fundamental arguments presented on municipal solid waste relate to nomenclature, destinations, definitions, logistics, social dynamics, social assistance programs, education and employment philosophies. In each case, the consequences of the stalemate are explained in terms of the unsustainable situation of constantly growing landfills. In sequence, proactive thinking models are presented and explained that lead to drastic reduction of landfill size. Several of these models have been tested successfully in small communities and are now available for scale-up. Although of necessity the arguments and models apply directly to Brazil, the basic ideas behind the reasoning may be extrapolated.

Recycling is alive and well in many industrial sectors. This article addresses worn or wasted tires and evaluates the extensive recycling already achieved. This study addresses the efforts of the State of California and the US Army Corps of Engineers to stimulate tire recycling, demonstrating the public sector commitment currently necessary. Albeit, private markets are on the verge of commercial viability at the same time they accomplish a significant diversion from landfills.

The amount of both Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) that is landfilled and of the industrial waste illegally dumped is still in high levels in most regions of Greece. Despite a number of measures that have been adopted during the last years, no significant landfill diversion has been achieved. The present study aims at developing an integrated zero-waste management system in order to reduce the amount of MSW delivered for further treatment or landfilling, while utilizing the diverted waste. MSW and industrial symbiosis will be generated by interacting the MSW management and the operating industries while transferring resources from waste management in order to be used in the industry sector. This strategy includes a balanced set of multiple parallel initiatives and measures that will act as drivers of economic activity and sustainable development trough the achieved eco-efficiency. The development of this waste management plan includes the involvement and participation of the general public so as to obtain consensus and achieve a minimum level of common understanding. This study is focused on the municipality of Preveza in the Hellenic region of Epirus and the potential industrial and MSW symbiosis achieved in the area. Multiple scenarios regarding solid waste generation, local management and co-management options, as well as downstream fate regarding the households as well as the companies and enterprises operating in the area were developed for the next two decades. The results of the study have shown the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the selected rational waste management especially these of the recycling scheme. The output for the municipality of Preveza for the next decades will be very positive in terms both of the waste management cost reduction and the elimination of the negative environmental impacts in the greater of the municipality area.

Management of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE also called e-waste) has become an issue of critical importance recently also in the frame of industrial ecology besides waste management per se, mostly due to their content in hazardous materials and the extensive implications of any intervention in a broad industrial spectrum. The effectiveness of any landfill diversion scheme depends on its acceptance by the local community and the industry, as well as adequate funding. This paper presents a contingent valuation approach in order to examine public environmental awareness and to assess the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the environmentally sound management of WEEE in Greece, based on a suitable, customized and easy-to-comprehend questionnaire. The survey revealed a still relative public ignorance on the subject and a reluctantly limited WTP. The latter is mostly triggered by the fact that respondents believed that associated expenses should be covered either by authorities or manufacturers (protest votes). However, based on the responses of those declaring a positive WTP, the average fee respondents are willing to pay exceeds the current recycling fee. Thus, existing recycling fees could be potentially increased in order to cover additional expenses for the development of infrastructure in areas not currently included in the national WEEE recycling program, as well as to provide the public with a dense network of disposal sites/bins in an effort to boost participation and WEEE recycling rates.