More efforts should be focused on waste avoidance

The message from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs came in a report published today on the link between climate change and waste management. In the report Defra has said that a landfill dominated strategy is no longer acceptable for biodegradable waste and the reduction of rubbish needs to be at the top of the hierarchy.

In the report Defra also states that positive environmental effects can be seen throughout the hierarchy, through initial waste reduction.

The report states: “Waste prevention has a direct impact at the first life cycle stage. Avoiding unnecessary waste, for example excessive packaging, reduces the demand for raw materials which could otherwise have been extracted. This reduces emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and preserves carbon stocks in trees. It also reduces transportation needs and associated fuel consumption and vehicle pollution.

“The knock on effect of this saving is cumulative throughout the whole cycle, saving significant emissions of greenhouse gases which would otherwise have been emitted right through to the disposal of the material. Waste prevention is therefore the most important aspect of waste management in terms of greenhouse reduction, and is where efforts should be focused.

Re-use


Defra has also said that the re-use of materials is almost as effective as this prevents the return of carbon within the materials to the environment for as long as possible. According to Defra this also reduces demand for raw materials and this reduces the impact on raw materials as well as transportation.

The report states that although recycling has positive effects such as reducing the need for raw materials and keeps valuable resources from being disposed of, there are still negative effects.

“Recycling does require an energy input to reform the materials into different products, and this energy usually comes from burning of fossil fuels and the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere,” the report explains.

Defra also says in the report that energy for waste should be seen as higher up the hierarchy than landfill. Some councils have argued that incineration should be at the bottom of the list, even below that of landfill.

The report was published by Defra as part of a world wide response to rising temperatures globally.