What is biodegradable waste?
Biodegradable waste is organic matter that can be broken down by living organisms. This includes things like food scraps, yard waste, and paper products. While most people think of biodegradable waste as being good for the environment, it can actually cause problems if it’s not managed properly.
When biodegradable waste ends up in a landfill, it doesn’t have the opportunity to decompose properly. This can create greenhouse gases and contribute to climate change. The good news is that there are ways to manage biodegradable waste so that it doesn’t cause these problems.
Composting is one of the best ways to handle biodegradable waste. Composting breaks down organic matter into a rich soil that can be used to improve gardens and landscapes. Another way to manage biodegradable waste is to send it to an anaerobic digestion facility. These facilities turn organic waste into gas and liquid that can be used to generate electricity or heat. With proper management, biodegradable waste can be a valuable resource. It’s important to think about how we dispose of our waste so that we can make the best use of these resources.
1. Food Waste
Food waste has become a global problem. It is estimated that about 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted each year, which translates to about one-third of the world’s food production.
All this food ends up in landfills, where it decomposes and emits methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. Food waste also costs cities billions of dollars in disposal fees and damages the environment by wasting natural resources like water and soil.
Most food scraps can be composted, but some foods should not be composted, such as meat or dairy products. Composting is a great way to reduce your household’s ecological footprint. You are also reducing the amount of trash that you produce and it’s an excellent way to recycle food scraps.
In this section, we will talk about how you can compost your own food at home. Composting is a natural process that turns organic materials into a soil-like material. It is a way to recycle and reuse food scraps and other organic materials that would otherwise go to waste.
Composting can be done in many ways, but the most common way is to create piles or bins of organic materials like food scraps and leaves. These piles are then turned periodically with a shovel or pitchfork until they decompose. This process can take anywhere from several weeks to several months, depending on the size of the pile and how often it’s turned.
There are many benefits of composting: it reduces the amount of waste going into landfills, it can help reduce our carbon footprint by sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it creates fertile soil for growing plants, and it saves you money on buying fertilizer!
2. Paper & Cardboard
Paper and cardboard are different materials that have their own recycling process.
Paper is made from wood pulp and can be recycled by grinding it into a pulp, which is then mixed with water to form a slurry. This slurry can then be used to make paper again.
Cardboard is made from a mix of paper and other substances, such as waxes, clay or straws. The cardboard can be recycled by crushing it into small pieces and then adding water to the mixture in order to extract the fibers. These fibers are processed into new cardboard that can be used for packaging purposes.
3. Yard Waste & Garden Waste
Yard Waste: Yard waste is a type of solid waste that includes leaves, grass clippings, and branches. These are any materials that are generated from yard maintenance such as mowing the lawn or trimming trees. This type of waste can be composted or disposed of in a landfill.
Garden Waste: Garden waste is a type of solid waste that includes plant material such as leaves, grass clippings, and branches. Garden waste is usually disposed of in the backyard compost pile or in the garden itself (by digging it into the soil).
Another way to do it is by using a vacuum system that sucks up the yard and garden waste into a tank and then compresses the tank until all the air is out. This leaves a solid block of compressed yard and garden waste that can be stored in landfills or incinerators.
4. Textiles & Plastics
Textiles are a major contributor to the waste stream, making up around 20% of the total waste.
Textile recycling procedure:
The textile recycling process starts with sorting and removing metal, plastic, and other non-textile items. The sorted materials are then broken down into fibers by a machine or through manual labor. The fibers can then be spun into yarns and woven or knit into new fabric.
Another way to reuse the textile waste is to
1. Sort and bale the textiles by fiber type, color, or pattern
2. Clean and disinfect the textiles in a washing machine or industrial washer
3. Dry and sort again according to fiber type, color, or pattern
4. Package for sale as recycled textiles or use recycled textiles in new products like carpets
Plastic recycling process:
The plastics recycling process starts with sorting and removing metal, plastic, and other non-plastic items. The sorted materials are then melted down to form new plastic products.