Principles of Sustainable Waste Management
Population and household growth in Hertfordshire will put increasing pressure on waste management in the county. Consequently, the need to actively manage waste streams in Hertfordshire has never been more significant.
Sustainable waste management can be actively addressed through the planning process in the following ways:
- reducing the quantity of materials required for the building
- reducing the amount of waste generated
- management of construction and demolition wastes
- materials specifications (e.g. use of reclaimed and recycled materials)
- provision of recycling space/facilities
The nationally accepted framework or approiach for achieving reductions in waste arisings and sustainable waste management is the Waste Hierarchy.
Waste hierarchy
The waste hierarchy provides a framework within which the most desirable waste management options are set out. This hierarchy is applied to all waste streams, not only those directly influenced by this Guide.
Waste reduction:
By preventing waste before it occurs, money can be saved on the collection, treatment or disposals costs of waste. It also reduced the environmental impact and costs of extracting more raw materials, production and use.
Materials reuse:
Reusing products and materials for the same (or alternative) purpose is the next preference. Before a material can be reused it should be assessed for its quality as it may be necessary to make minor repairs or additions before the product can reach the required standard.
Recycling and composting:
Recycling involves the collection, separation and processing of wastes to make new products, e.g. newspapers are regularly recycled either to make new newspapers or eco-friendly home insulation. Composting is the same process but with organic wastes, e.g. food waste composted to make new fertiliser products. Recycling and composting processes usually require some energy to work well; however, the energy and cost to alternatively make new products from scratch are usually much greater. The economic viability of recycling/composting depends on factors such as the quality of the waste stream, the transport distances involved and the market price for the recycled materials which can fluctuate significantly. The aim should be to recycle construction wastes as close to their source as possible as they are typically heavy mass and volume to transport.
Energy recovery:
Energy from waste incineration is the last option to consider when avoiding landfill. Incineration recovers a proportion of energy from the waste stream; however, usually much less than by recycling/composting, reusing or reducing the waste generated in the first instance.
Landfill disposal:
Disposal is the option we are trying to avoid. The only landfill in Hertfordshire currently accepting waste (Westmill in Ware) could reach full capacity as soon as 2020.
Designing out waste
By using alternative design solutions, the quantity of materials required can be reduced, which in turn will reduce the quantity of wastage. Alternative design solutions might also remove the need to undertake on site activities that produce waste.
To support design teams WRAP have published a guidance document explaining how to ‘design out’ construction waste. The document contains five principles:
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Design for reuse and recovery.
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Design for off site construction.
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Design for materials optimisation.
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Design for waste efficient procurement.
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Design for deconstruction and flexibility.
The document can be downloaded for free from here. WRAP have also created a Designing out Waste Tool for Buildings (DoWT-B), which is an online options appraisal tool to indicate the opportunities to ‘design out waste’. The DoWT-B provides an overview of the value of the materials typically consumed and wasted and investigates the benefit of waste reduction actions.
Proximity principle
The transportation of waste can incur significant environmental and nuisance impacts plus unwanted additional cost. Therefore, waste should be processed or disposed of as near as possible to the point of its production.