What is garbage recycled into? How to start a waste recycling business in Russia. Legal side of the issue

Materials accepted at landfills:

• Household waste from residential buildings, institutions, enterprises engaged in the trade of industrial and food products.
• Waste from construction organizations that can be equated to municipal solid waste.
• Industrial waste of the 4th hazard class can be accepted if their amount does not exceed one third of the accepted waste.

Waste, the import of which is prohibited to the landfill:

• Construction waste of the 4th hazard class, which contains asbestos, ash, and slag.
• industrial waste 1, 2, 3 hazard classes.
• radioactive waste.
• Polygons are arranged according to strict sanitary standards and only in those areas where the risk of human infection with bacteria through air or water is minimized. The occupied area is designed for approximately 20 years.

Composting

This processing method is familiar to gardeners who use decayed organic materials to fertilize plants. Waste composting is a disposal method based on the natural decomposition of organic materials.

Today, a method is known for composting even an unsorted stream of household waste.

It is quite possible to get compost from garbage, which could later be used in agriculture. Many factories were built in the USSR, but they stopped functioning due to the large amount of heavy metals in the garbage.

Today, composting technologies in Russia are reduced to the fermentation of unsorted waste in bioreactors.

The resulting product cannot be used in agriculture, so it finds application right there, in landfills - they are covered with waste.

This disposal method is considered effective provided that the plant is equipped with high-tech equipment. Metals, batteries, and plastics are first removed from the waste.

Advantages of incineration:

• less unpleasant odors;
• the number of harmful bacteria, emissions decreases;
• the resulting mass does not attract rodents and birds;
• it is possible to obtain energy (thermal and electrical) during combustion.

Flaws:

• expensive construction and operation of waste incineration plants;
• construction takes at least 5 years;
• when waste is burned, harmful substances enter the atmosphere;
• incineration ash is toxic and cannot be stored in conventional landfills. This requires special storage.

Due to the lack of city budgets, inconsistency with waste processing companies and for other reasons, the production of waste incineration plants has not yet been established in Russia.

Pyrolysis, its types and advantages

Pyrolysis is the burning of garbage in special chambers that prevent the access of oxygen.. There are two kinds:

• High temperature - combustion temperature in the furnace over 900°C.
• Low temperature - from 450 to 900°C.

When comparing conventional incineration as a waste disposal method and low-temperature pyrolysis, the following advantages of the second method can be distinguished:

• obtaining pyrolysis oils, which are subsequently used in the production of plastics;
• the release of pyrolysis gas, which is obtained in sufficient quantities to ensure the production of energy carriers;
• the minimum amount of harmful substances is released;
• pyrolysis plants process almost all types of household waste, but the waste must first be sorted.

High-temperature pyrolysis, in turn, has advantages over low-temperature pyrolysis:

• no need to sort waste;
• the mass of the ash residue is much less, and it can be used for industrial and construction purposes;
• at a combustion temperature above 900 ° C, they decompose dangerous substances without getting into the environment;
• the resulting pyrolysis oils do not require purification, as they have a sufficient degree of purity.

Each of the waste recycling methods has advantages, but everything depends on the cost of installations: the more efficient and profitable the disposal method, the more expensive its installation and the longer the payback period. Despite these shortcomings, the state is striving to implement projects for efficient and safe waste processing, realizing that these technologies are the future.

Whole Last year i live in the most natural backwoods corner - at least that is the impression after a good dozen stores within walking distance, a stack of shopping centers and other "benefits of civilization", which are extremely rare, but still had to be visited. Now this is not the case - the nearest store is a couple of kilometers from the house, bus stop, school and pharmacy - even further away.

It is not difficult to overcome this distance lightly, with two small children it is already more difficult, but this is not about that, but about the fact that garbage containers are also somewhere on the horizon.

The city is small, and there is no question of sorting garbage here, and it will not help either: there are no waste processing enterprises in my area. However, this is the case almost throughout the country, with very rare exceptions. In supermarkets, a huge row is occupied by plastic disposable utensils intended for picnics, on which it ends up in most cases. And in the European Union, which is usually scolded, they want to approve a directive to combat plastic waste. They are going to completely abandon disposable items, the production of which uses plastic. Statistics provided by the EU says: more than 70% of all waste generated is plastic. The EU plans to ban as many as ten categories of goods (yes, this is a drop in the bucket in the general abundance, but Moscow was not built right away), among which are sticks for balloons, cotton buds, cocktail tubes, and so on in the same vein. For these things, it is easy to find analogues made from natural materials, or at least those that have a more benign effect on the environment. The same European Union sets a goal: by 2025, to find a way to recycle and then use for 95% of all plastic produced. But what now?

Of the total amount of resources extracted by mankind, only 10% are used to make products that we really need and benefit, and another 90% are future waste. I remember a phrase from a speech by Mikhail Zadornov - "We did not miss the quality, but the bright cover, the packaging!" Apparently, the statistics are right, and in some cases frankly lousy quality is forgiven for a beautiful box. Yes, and God would be with her, with that packaging, if it were, where to put it, but there is nowhere! MSW, they are - solid household waste - tend to accumulate. Proper disposal and recycling are still at the level of the exception rather than the rule, although it should be quite the opposite.

In many European countries there is interesting system: instead of outweighing headache on waste disposal to municipal authorities, the legislation once and for all decided - the manufacturer himself is responsible for the recycling of the packaging of his product. A consumer can come to any supermarket and hand over absolutely any container, which will be sent back to the manufacturer for further processing, and the store is obliged to accept it and give out a certain penny at the checkout. The logic is simple to disgrace: if you have to spend resources on processing the containers you made, then you will try to use packaging materials as economically as possible. Even if you invest the cost of processing in the price of the goods, this stage still cannot be avoided. And here are the consequences: in Russia, municipal enterprises, not businesses, are responsible for the removal and disposal of waste. There is no need to talk about the cleanliness of cities in Europe and in Russia. I really want to stay in rose-colored glasses - for now I believe that it's all about the problem of garbage disposal, and not the ability to calmly screw up on the street / in nature and go on about your business.

Be that as it may, but the disposal of waste, whether raw materials from enterprises or residential areas, is a very painful issue for Russia. Waste processing plants are far from being in every city: in some places they are, of course, but basically these are enterprises that can offer only banal waste incineration, and not its full processing. All manipulations with waste at such enterprises are most often carried out manually, which increases the complexity and duration of the process. And the West, for the most part, abandoned this method - environmentalists proved long ago that when burning garbage, no less (or even more) harmful substances are emitted into the environment than as a result of the work of any industrial enterprise. The path of simplification is not always the most correct one, but for some reason it is precisely along this path that Russian public utilities are skipping, and I do not mean ordinary hard workers, but the higher stratum. Where is the garbage usually taken? to the nearest landfill. Cities are overgrown with such dumps, which from time to time are covered with a thick layer of clay and earth to give them a more or less decent appearance. But you can’t constantly increase the height of the dump, right? And free places, where you can place another landfill, every day less and less, especially around metropolitan areas. But the garbage is not getting smaller, rather, the opposite is true. Small-town managers cannot or do not want to solve this problem, so it came to a question to the president during hotline. The question was asked last year, and the landfill in Balashikha was closed. But, probably, it would be more correct to say that it was simply transferred from Balashikha.

And here's what's interesting. If in European countries they are concerned about where to put the accumulated garbage, how to recycle it, and how not to harm the environment, then some Asian and European states they do exactly the opposite: for them, garbage, even their own, even someone else's, is a way to earn money. In pursuit of replenishing the treasury, they buy waste in neighboring countries in order to dispose of it on their territory. For example, the capital of Ghana, Accra - one of the districts of the city is a natural cemetery of electronic waste. Broken electronic devices, used batteries, computers - almost 215 thousand tons of this stuff is annually imported into Ghana from Western Europe to rest in a "personal" landfill. Add here almost 130 thousand tons of your "good", and do not forget to take into account that local waste processing enterprises are very far from the level of modern and environmentally friendly plants. Yes, some of the waste is recycled, receiving the status of recyclables, but the lion's share is simply buried in the ground. And let it be buried, be it paper or food waste, but no - for the most part it is plastic of all stripes, and heavy metals. Burying this "wealth" again and again, Ghana is gradually becoming an environmental time bomb.

Using the example of the Chitarum River in Indonesia, one can talk about a situation that has long ceased to be something terrifying for a number of countries, and, so to speak, has become a habit with them, turning into something ordinary. So, Chitarum is a full-flowing stream running past Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, towards the Java Sea. It is very important not only for the five million people permanently residing in its basin, but also for the whole of West Java as a whole - water from Chitarum is used in agriculture, industrial water supply, and much more. But, as it usually happens, several dozen textile enterprises lined up on the banks of this river, which "gift" Chitarum with waste in the form of dye residues and other chemicals. If this could be dispensed with, then the trouble is small: treatment facilities could solve this problem at least a little. The fact is that the river is very difficult to see, and not to be confused with another landfill: its surface is completely covered with a variety of garbage, most of which is the same plastic. In 2008, the Asian Development Bank allocated half a billion dollars in loans to clean up the river: Chitarum was named the most dirty river peace. The grant went as intended, but things are still there. While those in power were deciding what to do with the river, the people were so accustomed to throwing everything superfluous into it that the proverb about the hunchback and the grave comes to mind. Moreover, the fishermen who were left out of work due to the pollution of the Chitarum (fish that managed to survive and adapt to living conditions in such a cesspool are simply dangerous to eat) found new way earnings: they collect plastic garbage from the surface of the river and hand it over to recycling centers, where they are paid a small penny for this. So everyone is happy - some "laundered" the money, the second continue to earn money, the third do not bother with a place where you can throw garbage. The fish are just unhappy. But she is silent, so everything is in order.

She is also silent in the Pacific Ocean, where a real island was formed from plastic garbage. I have already mentioned it on this resource, I will provide a link at the end of this article. Dozens of "entrepreneurs" gather here every day, collecting everything of value from the garbage patch. It's a shame that for many of them this way of earning is the only one.

All over the world, researchers of this problem unanimously repeat: you need to be more economical, this only decision"garbage issue". Instead of tossing a tin can or shampoo bottle into a landfill, where they are rolled into the ground and left to decompose on long years, you can recycle them into something useful. This option is especially respected in the West, because recycling means that you can earn / save money on conditional garbage again, or even more than once.

In Russia, South America, Africa and Asia, people have not yet developed a rule for themselves - to sort garbage. Despite the fact that it is outrageously simple, we still throw everything into one container - construction garbage and waste from cooking, read newspapers, glass bottles and so on, so on, so on. We do not yet have containers with the inscriptions "For glass", "For food waste", "For plastic", and so on in public areas - what kind of "specialized" containers can we talk about, if ordinary ones can not be found everywhere like right now in my place of residence. in Western Europe and North America They have been practicing this method for a long time, because they realized that it is easier and more economical to sort waste right away in residential areas, and the resources that are freed up at enterprises that are freed from sorting can be sent for recycling.

An interesting system exists in Germany. In addition to the usual separate waste collection here, there is also Duales System Deutschland GmbH - in fact, a legally established requirement, according to which any manufacturer is obliged not only to reduce the amount of material spent on product packaging, but also to develop it either quickly decomposing in the natural environment or not delivering special hassle during processing at the corresponding enterprise. If only we had such a law! But so far, a similar level is only in Germany, even the rest have not kept up with it European countries- theoretically, the Germans can even dispose of garbage from other countries, not only their own.

Not bad "garbage issue" is solved in Australia: quarterly in each locality up to 350 Australian dollars are allocated specifically for waste collection and recycling. Yes, landfills exist, but rather as a temporary storage, a kind of transshipment base: waste sorting also takes place here, but in a more global sense. Construction waste is transported in one direction, waste products from livestock farms- to another. Each landfill has its own purpose, and each type of waste has its own processing method and options for further use.

However, as the most original way of garbage disposal, I would like to single out Semakau - one of several dozen Singaporean islands. The reason for the selection is simple: the fact is that this piece of solid earth is not earth at all, more precisely, not all of it consists of it. Semakau is an artificial island that began construction in 1999 and is scheduled to be completed by 2035. Since Singapore is a lot of islands, it is simply not possible to organize a landfill in the truest sense of the word, but this garbage does not get any smaller. The islanders found interesting solution: approximately 38% of the waste produced can be burned, another 60% is recycled, and the remaining 2% of the waste that cannot be either burned or otherwise usefully disposed of is sent to Semakau. Now its area is 350 hectares, and continues to grow. The construction of Semakau took 63 million cubic meters of waste: before being sent to the "construction site", they were filled in strong plastic blocks, subsequently securely tightened with a fabric impermeable membrane. The blocks are dumped into a closed "bay", fenced with a kind of dam, preventing their spread across the ocean. The resulting surface is fastened, covered with a fair layer of fertile soil, planted with trees and turns into several hundred more square meters of a completely inhabited, beautiful zone. The quality of water in the water area around Semakau is continuously monitored: over all these years it has not suffered, so the local ecological situation quite inspires confidence - you can swim here, and fish caught in the vicinity of the "garbage island" can be eaten.

In Soviet times, pioneers collected and handed over waste paper and scrap metal. But these phenomena did not have a mass character. In those days, there was a tradition to throw garbage into a ravine near the nearest forest. Even fifteen or twenty years ago, it was easy to find points for receiving dishes and hand over beer bottles for one and a half rubles. Now in Russia there is no tradition of sorting garbage, there are only single points of such collection and several companies plastic recycling, waste paper and old car tires.

How is garbage handled in Japan, the US and other countries? How efficient are incinerators? How to give a second life to plastic bottles, aluminum cans and cardboard? How much waste is recycled in Russia?

Shot from the movie "Wall-E"

Japan

Waste sorting is mandatory for all residents of the country. Depending on the day of the week, the townspeople put out the trash certain type, which is taken away by garbage collection services. “The waste disposal system in Tokyo itself is designed in such a way that residents have no other way to get rid of garbage, except for separate. If unsorted waste is put out on the day of “burning garbage”, then they simply will not be picked up and a warning sticker will be attached, ”said the head of the Waste Disposal Department of the Tokyo Environmental Department in an interview with Russia-1. Failure to follow the rules results in fines. Illegal dumping of garbage is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of 10 million yen, which is more than 5 million rubles as of March 2018.

More than 90% of all plastic bottles in the country are recycled and made into new products - including bottles and new fabrics, for example, for the form of Manchester United football players. They try not to add new oil products to the turnover. Instead, almost all bottles produced in Japan are made from recycled granules.

“At meetings with residents every six months, we show all indicators on gas emissions. We tell both good and bad, and what problems the factories have, breakdowns. And they have their own standards, which are several times stricter than government indicators,” said Motoaki Koboyashi, director of the Tokyo Waste Management Association, head of the international communication department in 2017. At the same time, Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, promised to build factories in the region using the same technology.

Waste incineration plant Katsushika, Tokyo.

Russia

The very composition of household waste makes it possible to use 60-80% of it as a raw material for industry or for composting. This is hampered by the lack of separate waste collection and the low level of development of the waste processing industry as a whole. Instead of sorting waste into briquettes and selling them for production, the contractors of the company's management companies take waste to landfills, sometimes to closed or illegal ones. Not so long ago, it was normal to throw broken cupboards, car parts, batteries and milk cartons into the nearest ravine - the same was practiced not only in Russia, but also in Austria, one of the most advanced countries in the world at the moment in terms of sorting and recycling.

In Russia, there are companies that deal with waste processing. The only plant in the whole country that, like in Japan, makes granulate from old plastic bottles for the production of new ones, is located in Solnechnogorsk, Moscow Region, and has been operating since 2009. Excursions were previously organized to the plant. One of the participants noted not very pleasant smell: bottles are brought here from all over the country from garbage containers, and in Russia it is not customary to wash waste.

Bottles are converted first into PET (polyethylene terephthalate) flakes and then into pellets, which are used to make bottles. Plarus sends pellets for quality control to CJSC Plant of New Polymers Senezh, a primary PET manufacturer, which is part of the same corporation.

PET flakes.

The RBgroup plant operates in Gus-Khrustalny: it sells PET flakes and polyester fiber, from which "sintepuh" is made for stuffing children's toys for pillows and "balls" for children's furniture and cushion chairs.

PET granules.

PET granules are used for the production of packaging for auto chemicals, cosmetics, containers for beer and soft drinks, milk, water, oil and juices, for bags, jackets and other clothing, pallets for confectionery, containers, cans for household goods and electronics.

The "bottle" segment in Russia is one of the key ones. Baltika, one of its directly related companies, invested 20 million rubles in 2017 in separate collection waste and installed 2.5 thousand special containers in 20 cities of Russia, transferring 914 tons of PET for processing.

Blanks for plastic bottles.

Waste paper in Russia is also recycled, including at the factories left over from the Soviet era. The League of Waste Paper Recyclers unites 60 companies that account for 80% of all recycled waste paper in the country. On the part of the state, companies are helped by Law No. 458 “On Production and Consumption Waste”: it provides for the obligation of manufacturers of any product to dispose of 20% of the packaging, otherwise they must pay an eco-fee.

Each ton of waste paper costs about 10 thousand rubles, while it is taken to landfills for 60 billion rubles a year. They process 3.3 million tons out of 12 million tons that are formed per year. Processing capacities are able to "digest" 4.15 million tons, so they are experiencing a shortage of raw materials. The League in 2016 had to lobby for a ban on the export of waste paper so that this waste would not be taken out of the country for 4 months.

The shortage of raw materials leads to the closure of projects. “The Germans who own the Knauf plant in St. Petersburg are shocked by what is happening in our country. The plant was supposed to increase the volume of production for the processing of raw materials by 50%, but due to a shortage of waste paper, the project was frozen. We decided to carry out only modernization, as a result of which in 2018 the volume of waste paper processing will be 290 thousand tons per year, but we could process 400 thousand tons. But paper rots at landfills,” says Denis Kondratiev, a representative of the League of Waste Paper Recyclers.

This situation could be changed by the establishment of separate waste collection throughout the country and the desire of manufacturers of goods to make a positive contribution to ecological state countries. Manufacturers believe that the state should be responsible for separate collection, and in the event of an increase in packaging recycling standards, they will have to raise the cost of goods.

The volume of the waste paper market in Russia.

The waste paper recycling process includes several stages: collecting, sorting, obtaining waste paper, removing impurities and cleaning - after which the material enters the production of paper or cardboard.

Scheme of the waste paper recycling process in the general cycle of production and consumption of paper products.

Batteries, light bulbs, smartphones, mercury thermometers in Russia most often end up in a landfill. In order not to throw away toxic and hazardous waste in ordinary containers, you can sort it at home and then take it to collection points located in various shopping malls and stores: Ikea, LavkaLavka, VkusVill.

Items for the return of whole or damaged mercury thermometers can be found at the link. If the thermometer breaks, call the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Energy-saving light bulbs also contain mercury, so they should not be mixed with ordinary garbage: you can find addresses on the Open Data Portal where they can be handed over in Moscow.

In the following articles we will talk about how to bury hazardous waste how they fill up with electronics African countries how copper is mined from monitors, gold is mined from smartphones, and how batteries are recycled.

The environment has always been a source of resources for mankind, but for a long time its vital activity did not have a noticeable impact on nature. Only since the end of the last century, under the influence economic activity noticeable changes in the Earth's biosphere began to occur. They have now reached alarming proportions.

Scale of the problem

The rapid growth of population and the level of consumption of natural resources, the current pace of material production lead to a thoughtless treatment of nature. With such an attitude, a huge part of the resources taken from nature is returned to it in the form of waste, harmful and unsuitable for further use.

Scientists have calculated that 5 tons of garbage are generated daily in the world, while its amount increases annually by 3% in volume. The accumulation of domestic waste on the surface harms the environment, polluting water, soil and atmosphere and threatens the possibility of the existence of all life on the planet in general. Therefore, one of important issues worldwide is the disposal of household waste.

Classification of household waste

Household waste can be classified according to several criteria.

So, according to the composition, household waste is conditionally divided into biological residues and non-biological waste (garbage).

• rats;
• cockroaches.

Cockroaches can be a peddler different kind diseases

Non-biological waste includes:

• paper;
• plastic;
• metal;
• textile;
• glass;
• rubber.

The process of decomposition of these wastes can last about 2–3 years and in most cases is accompanied by the release of toxic substances that harm the environment and humans.

According to the state of aggregation, waste is divided into:

• hard;
• liquid;
• gaseous;
• pastes;
• gels;
• suspensions;
• emulsions.

By origin, waste is divided into:

• Industrial - a type of household waste obtained as a result of production.
• Construction - are formed during construction and installation work, the production of work on the repair of roads, buildings, as well as during their demolition.
• radioactive waste.
• Municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated in the residential sector, trade enterprises, educational, health and social facilities.

These are goods that have lost their consumer properties over time and turned into garbage, and also include road and yard garbage as MSW.

The most significant part of household waste is MSW. For each type of waste, there are special ways to dispose of waste.

Waste recycling

The process of disposal of solid waste occurs in several stages:

• collection;
• transportation;
• accommodation;
• neutralization;
• burial;
• storage;
• processing;
• disposal.

First of all, the process of getting rid of garbage involves its careful sorting. The task of pre-sorting waste and their disposal is greatly facilitated by the separate collection of waste, promoted in most European countries.

Methods for the destruction of municipal solid waste

There are various options for its destruction. So, the main way to dispose of solid waste is burial at special sites (landfills).

At landfills, irretrievable waste is destroyed - the processing of household waste, as a result of which they almost completely cease to exist as waste. The disposal method is not suitable for all types of MSW, but only for non-combustible waste or for substances that emit toxic substances during combustion.

The advantage of this method is that it does not require significant financial costs and the availability of large plots of land. But there are also disadvantages in the application of this method - this is the accumulation of gas during underground decay of waste.

Briquetting is a new, yet not very widely used in practice, way of getting rid of solid waste. It includes preliminary sorting and packaging of homogeneous waste into separate briquettes, and then their storage at specially designated areas (landfills).

Briquetting of waste makes it possible to significantly save space

The garbage packed in this way is pressed, which greatly facilitates its transportation due to a significant reduction in volume.

Briquetted waste is intended for further processing and possible use for industrial purposes. Along with such a method as the processing of municipal solid waste, when briquetting, they can be transported for disposal or disposal by heat treatment.

In fact, this method is similar to the burial method, but in practice it has a number of advantages over it. The disadvantages of the method are that the heterogeneity of the emitted waste and the preliminary severe contamination in the garbage containers and the change in some components of the waste creates a great difficulty in briquetting.

And the high abrasiveness of components such as stone, sand and glass interfere with the pressing process.

Since these methods of recycling have a number of disadvantages, despite their low cost, the best option will be the complete disposal of garbage during its processing into recyclable materials and fuel, as well as its possible reuse.

A new way to dispose of waste

Garbage disposal

When recycling garbage (the Latin root utilis is useful), the waste can later be used for various purposes.

Waste to be disposed of includes:

• all types of metals;
• glass;
• polymers;
• yarn and fabric products;
• paper;
• rubber;
• organic household and agricultural waste.

The most efficient method of disposal today is recycling.

In other words, recycling is a special case of the concept of "utilization of municipal solid waste".

During recycling, waste is returned to the process of technogenesis. There are two options for recycling waste:

• Reuse of waste for its intended purpose after appropriate safe handling and labeling. For example, reuse of glass and plastic containers.
• Return of waste after processing to the production cycle. For example, tin containers - in the production of steel, waste paper - in the production of paper and cardboard.

Some types of waste that can no longer be used for their intended purpose are recycled, after which it is more expedient to return them to the production cycle as secondary raw materials. So, part of the waste can be used to produce heat and electricity.

In addition to those already listed, the disposal of solid waste can be carried out by several more methods. Each of them is applicable to a certain kind waste, and has its advantages and disadvantages.

Thermal processing of waste

Thermal processing refers to several methods:

• burning;
• low temperature pyrolysis;
• plasma treatment (high temperature pyrolysis).

The simple incineration method is the most common and one of the cheapest methods of waste management. It is during incineration that large volumes of garbage are utilized, and the resulting ash takes up less space, does not undergo decay processes, and does not emit harmful gases into the atmosphere. It is non-toxic and does not require specially equipped places for burial.

The main thing in this method is that when burning garbage, a large number of thermal energy, which recent times learned to use for autonomous operation of enterprises engaged in waste incineration. And its surplus is redirected to city stations, which makes it possible to provide entire areas with electricity and heat.

The disadvantage of this method is that during combustion, in addition to safe components, smoke saturated with toxic substances is formed, which creates a dense curtain over the earth's surface and leads to a significant violation of the ozone layer of the atmosphere, contributing to its thinning and the formation of ozone holes.

High temperature and low temperature pyrolysis

is a waste gasification process that takes place at a melting temperature higher than in a conventional processing plant (over 900°C).

As a result, a vitrified product is formed at the outlet, which is absolutely harmless and does not require further disposal costs. The scheme of this process allows to obtain gas from the organic components of the scrap, which is then used to generate electricity and steam.

The main advantage of this method is that it allows you to successfully solve the problem of environmentally friendly waste disposal without unnecessary costs for preliminary preparation, sorting, drying.

The advantages of low-temperature pyrolysis (temperature from 450 to 900°C) are:

• use for processing almost all types of household waste, previously carefully selected;
• obtaining pyrolysis oils used in the production of plastics;
• release of pyrolysis gas suitable for further use.

In addition, there is such a waste disposal method as composting. Since most of the waste is made up of various organic residues, they are subject to rapid decay in the natural environment.

The composting method is based on this property of organic substances. In the process of composting, not only does a huge part of the garbage that pollute the environment get rid of, but also substances useful for agriculture - fertilizers - are obtained in the process.

The presented methods of waste disposal allow waste processing with the least negative impact on the environment.

Video: A modern approach to waste disposal

The modern world does not stand still. Every year, production volumes increase, population growth and urban expansion continue. At the same time, the problem of waste disposal has ripened. On the ground, special landfills for waste products are present in limited quantities. At the same time, the volumes entering them exceed their capacity, so the garbage mountains increase every day. Untreated heaps of waste negatively affect the ecological state of the planet. That is why there was a need to create high-quality waste processing plants. These facilities should only be used modern methods waste processing and recycling. It is worth noting that the garbage generated by mankind refers to different groups danger. For waste recycling to be efficient, for each separate species choose your own disposal method. But first they need to be sorted.

Waste household

This number includes the remains of products associated with the life of people. It can be plastic, paper, food and other similar waste that was thrown out of institutions and homes of the population. The rubbish that we used to get rid of is found at every step. Many garbage is assigned the fifth and fourth degree of danger.

Recycling household waste from plastic should not be done without mechanical impact, i.e. grinding. Further, they are necessarily treated with chemical solutions. Often, after such a procedure, new polymeric substances are made, which are used again to create new products. Household waste such as paper or food waste can be composted and then putrefied. Subsequently, the resulting composition is suitable for use in agricultural business.

Biological decay

Biological species in nature are humans and animals. These two groups also generate a large amount of waste. A lot of this rubbish comes from veterinary clinics, sanitation organizations, catering establishments and similar businesses. Processing of biological waste is reduced to their incineration. Substances of liquid consistency are transported on special vehicles. Incineration is also used for organic waste.

Industrial waste

This type of waste is generated as a result of the functioning of production and technological activities. This includes all construction waste. It appears in the process of installation, facing, finishing and other works. For example, this category of waste includes paint and varnish residues, heat-insulating substances, wood and other industrial “trash”. Recycling industrial waste often involves incineration. Wooden remains are suitable for obtaining a certain amount of energy.

radioactive waste

Such wastes include solutions and gases that are not suitable for use. First of all, these are biological materials and objects containing radioactive components in large quantities (above the permissible norm). The degree of danger depends on the level of radiation in such waste. Such garbage is disposed of by burial, some is simply burned. This processing method also applies to next group the rest of the activity.

medical waste

This list contains all substances that are produced by medical institutions. Approximately 80% of waste is ordinary household waste. He is harmless. But the remaining 20% ​​are capable of causing damage to health in one way or another. In Russia, the disposal and processing of radioactive and medical waste has many prohibitions and conventions. Also, the country carefully spelled out the necessary conditions for handling this group of garbage, methods for their burial or incineration. Special repositories for liquid and solid radioactive components were created. If you need to get rid of medical waste, it is put in special bags and set on fire. But this method, unfortunately, is also unsafe, especially if the drugs belong to the first or second hazard group.

Division into classes

All waste is divided depending on its state of aggregation. So, they are solid, liquid or gaseous. In addition, all garbage is classified according to the degree of danger. There are four classes in total. Garbage belonging to the first degree of danger poses the strongest threat to the planet and living organisms, including humans. These wastes can spoil the ecological system, which will lead to a catastrophe. These include the following substances: mercury, polonium, lead salts, plutonium, etc.

The second class includes residues that can cause an ecological failure that will not be able to recover for a long period (about 30 years). These are chlorine, various phosphates, arsenic, selenium and other substances. The third hazard group includes those wastes, after the impact of which the system will be able to recover in ten years. But only if the garbage no longer affects the infected object. Among them are chromium, zinc, ethanol and so on.

Low-hazard waste - sulfates, chlorides and simazine - is assigned the fourth class. But this does not mean that they practically do not affect humans and the ecosystem. If the source is removed, the organism or nature will be able to recover only after three years. There is fifth grade trash. This means that the waste is completely safe for the environment.

The Importance of Recycling

There are several reasons why competent recycling is necessary:

1. Getting into the environment, most substances and materials turn into pollutants (it is worth considering that our planet is already suffocating every day from the emissions of cars and factories).
2. Many of the resources from which certain materials are created are exhausted. Their stocks are too limited, so the way out is recycling waste.
3. In some cases, objects that have fulfilled their purpose turn out to be a source of substances. Moreover, they are cheaper than natural materials.

More about recycling

Recycling is a change in waste materials until they completely disappear or change the structure so that it is not possible to reuse them. But this word can have another meaning. For example, it is often used in a figurative sense.

Today, a large amount of waste is reused for different purposes. All garbage that is disposed of today is divided into two main groups:

1. Solid household waste (glass, paper, plastic, food waste).
2. Industrial waste (biological, medical, radioactive, construction waste, as well as waste from the transport complex).

Disposal can be carried out in one of several ways, which are also divided into groups. For example, the main methods include heat treatment, composting, which is a natural decomposition method, and waste disposal in special landfills. Some of these recycling methods allow you to get secondary raw materials.

Recycled materials

Usually, all the waste that remains after human production and activities is called "recyclable". But this view is not entirely correct. The fact is that not all waste should be recycled or sent to other needs. There is also a group of waste that is reused only as an energy source (after special treatment), therefore it is also not classified as a secondary raw material. Those substances that, after processing, give out energy, are called "secondary energy raw materials."

This group includes only those materials that, after a certain impact, can become suitable in national economy. A good example is a canned food can. It can no longer be used to store food, but after being melted down, it is used to make a new food container or other metal objects. Becomes obvious: secondary raw materials are called items that, after being used for their intended purpose, are resources that will be useful for further use. To get a new product or raw material, waste processing is necessary. Today, several methods are used for this, which are described below.

Natural processing

Back in the 20th century, in most cases, the processing of household waste was carried out by composting. Garbage, in particular organic, was dumped into specially dug pits and sprinkled with earth. Over time, the waste decomposed, rotted and was used as fertilizer in agriculture. But relatively recently, this method has been slightly modified. Scientists have developed hermetic installations for heating composted waste. Organic residues in this case begin to decompose faster, which results in the formation of methane, which is biogas. It was he who began to be used to create biofuels.

Specialized companies have appeared that build mobile stations for waste processing. They are used in small villages or on a farm. It has been estimated that such stations large size, intended for cities, it is unprofitable to maintain. It takes a lot of time to get a decomposing product, and the resulting fertilizers still remain unused, and they also need to be disposed of somehow. In addition, there are other wastes that have nowhere to go, so they will accumulate. For example, it is plastic, construction residues, polyethylene and so on. And to create a specialized plant where the processing of municipal solid waste would be carried out is economically unprofitable for the authorities.

Thermal disposal

Thermal processing refers to the combustion of solid household waste. The process is used to reduce the amount of organic matter and render it harmless. Further, the resulting residues are disposed of or disposed of. After burning, the garbage is significantly reduced in volume, all bacteria are exterminated, and the resulting energy is able to generate electricity or heat water for the heating system. Such plants are usually arranged near large urban landfills in order to recycle solid waste passed through the conveyor. There are also nearby landfills intended for the disposal of processed residues.

It can be noted that waste incineration is divided into direct and pyrolysis. With the first method, you can only get thermal energy. At the same time, pyrolysis combustion makes it possible to produce liquid and gaseous fuels. But regardless of the method of thermal disposal, harmful substances are released into the atmosphere during combustion. It harms our ecology. Some people install filters. Their purpose is to retain solid volatile substances. But as practice shows, even they are not able to stop pollution.

If we talk about the technology for processing medical waste, several special furnaces have already been installed in Russia. They are equipped with gas cleaning devices. In addition, microwave, steam-thermal treatment and autoclaving have appeared in the country. These are all alternative methods of incinerating medical and other suitable waste. Residues containing mercury are processed by special thermochemical or hydrometallurgical methods.

Plasma Utilization

This method is currently the most modern way recycling. Its action takes place in two stages:

1. Waste is crushed and compressed under pressure. If necessary, the garbage is dried to achieve a granular structure.
2. The resulting substances are sent to the reactor. There, the plasma flow transfers so much energy to them that they acquire a gaseous state.

To avoid ignition is obtained with the help of a special oxidizing agent. The resulting gas is similar in composition to ordinary natural gas, but it contains less energy. The finished product is sealed in containers and sent for later use. Such gas is suitable for turbines, boilers, diesel generators.

Similar processing of production waste and household waste has been used for some time in Canada and the United States. In these countries, the remains of human life are effectively disposed of, and the end product is used for good as fuel. In the West, they are already preparing to introduce this technology on an even larger scale. But since such equipment is quite expensive, it cannot be purchased by the CIS countries.

Is it possible to solve the problem of waste disposal?

Of course, in order for the processing of solid waste and hazardous waste to take place on highest level requires a lot of financial investment. Political circles should also be interested in this. But for now, we have to make do with obsolete equipment for recycling. According to the authorities, the existing plants cope with the problem, so there is no need to reconstruct and re-equip them. Only an ecological catastrophe can serve as an impetus for this.

Although the problem is vast, it is still possible to solve or reduce its size. The situation requires an integrated approach on the part of society and the authorities. It is good if everyone thinks about what he personally can do. The simplest thing a person can do is start sorting the garbage that he generates. After all, the one who throws away waste knows where he has plastic, paper, glass or food. If it becomes a habit to sort the remains of life, then such garbage will become easier and faster to process.

A person needs to be regularly reminded of the importance of proper waste disposal, sorting and caring attitude to natural resources that he owns. If the authorities do not take measures, conduct motivational campaigns, simple enthusiasm will not be enough. Therefore, the problem of waste disposal will remain in our country at a “primitive” level.