Waste Management Practices for Domestic Waste in China and the UK - Essay Example

?Waste Management Practices for Domestic Waste in China and the UK Introduction Dealing with solid waste has been a big problem in most developing countries around the world and most researchers are trying to come up with easy ways to solve the problem. Solid waste is all around the world: in businesses, homes and work places, and everyone is responsible for this waste. Waste management is a complicated discipline, especially in highly populated countries such as China and the UK, where having a system that controls waste reduction is almost impossible. Some people throw a lot of waste, some recycle, but at the end of the day, the waste has to be discarded. However, waste management is not limited to public education, recycling, and environmental education, and waste reduction, garbage collection, composting landfill maintenance, government regulation, data analysis and public relations. In largely populated countries, staff is required to learn new strategies for advancing and adapting techniques of waste diversion, collection and disposal and complying with administration regulations. In major countries such as the UK and China, there are programs responsible for ensuring that all waste material is well regulated and does not affect the environment. There are several measures that the two countries use to ensure that domestic waste management is under control, and in some of these measures, there are some similarities and differences in the steps taken. Comparison China and UK have similar issues regarding sold waste management; for example, there is lack of consistent and reliable waste cost management, and quantity data make arranging for waste management policies difficult. This is because the two countries are densely populated especially in major cities (Shaw & Hawkins 2004, p. 97). The waste quantities in the two countries are also raising at an alarming rate with dramatic change in composition and negligible waste reduction efforts. Waste management affects every person who lives in the city, and the higher the population, the more solid waste will be expected in the same city and, if not well controlled, environmental pollution will be massive and out of control. The UK and China lack consistent decision-making processes especially for strategic policy and planning toward technology selection for waste management, cost recovery, classified segment involvement, contribution to the planning process and insufficient public access to information on how to recycle or reduce waste products (Ellis 1999, p. 115) . China and UK are both trying to come up with solutions of managing solid waste in their major cities and they are coming up with reviews and reports that work to improve the performance. They have come up with landfills that are classified depending on the kind of waste. For example, waste is classified as either degradable or non-degradable (Ellis 1999, p. 86). Both countries are trying to come up with successful waste management schemes and have willing participants to care for the environment. For example, in UK, there is the W12A landfill site opened in 1977, which is a well managed and designed waste management dumping area. It was expected to serve the city for at least 15 years with approval from the UK government body for waste dumping (C. Judd & S. Judd 2011, p. 202). However, operations in both countries do not convene design standards, especially in pollution management; where waste collection procedures are frequently not rationalized. Allocation of finances for waste management in the two countries has been difficult because there are inadequate tipping fees and user charges. Protecting the air has been an important aspect in China and the UK with both countries collecting and destroying landfill gas to decrease greenhouse gas discharge and potential stenches (Neubert & Dyck 2008, p. 112). After decomposing, garbage produces unpleasant smells and gases, one of them being methane, which increase global warming more than carbon dioxide does. In the two countries, gases are collected and contained through inserting pipes after drilling into the landfills. Examples of gases collected include methane which is converted to weaker gases widely used in daily activities. The Chinese and British climate changes after the collection and conversion of the landfill gas, which is important for the environment and is encouraged by different regulatory bodies around the world (Dhamija 2006, p. 55). Though there is no centralization of collection and conversion of the landfill gases, the two countries are trying to pool resources together to meet waste management requirements and the staff involved to ensure the process works for the century and protects the atmosphere. China and the UK screen everything that goes into the landfill sites when dealing with waste. The process starts with the collection staff and then goes to the site where all the incoming trucks are weighed and checked at the scale room (Berg, Hassenzahl & Raven 2011, p. 201). The data collected per day is used to calculate revenue from all non-city vehicles as well as keep the right records of the waste products entering the facility. Records that indicate changes of waste brought into the facility helps the governments in the two countries understand the trends of solid waste around the cities, which, in turn, assists in organizing and planning waste programs (Ellis 1999, p. 100). In order to exploit the time used in the facilities, China and the UK take good care of the landfills by allowing only acceptable materials to be dumped in specific landfills. Space is a valuable aspect in waste management and only materials that have been composted or recycled are allowed to take any space at the landfill. Private sectors in both countries have been involved in waste management, which has hindered the government in taking care of the waste disposal issue. The private sector makes the process inconsistent and unclear because there are no transparent acquisition practices and municipal cash flows (Hosetti 2006, p. 71). The subsidies are not sustainable either, when the private sectors are involved as the regulatory framework is never clear. However, the government is able to handle solid waste management by having adequate delineation between central and local government and providing enough finances to handle the waste and landfills in both countries. Private sectors try to have separate landfills, which cannot work in extremely populated countries where space is very important. This makes the private sector suggestions to have separate landfills completely unbudgeted by the government in both countries. While trying to manage waste, there have been operational challenges along the way in both countries (Berg, Hassenzahl & Raven 2011, p. 137). These include functional difficulties in the landfills especially with environmental conditions that cannot be controlled by humankind. Very windy days in the landfills can especially be stressful to people who live near the sites. Though the facilities are mostly equipped with permanent yet moveable litter fences that are supposed to trap blowing garbage, the garbage still finds its way to other places, which makes it very hard to keep the site clean (Krishna & Sasikumar 2009, p. 12). Waste management staff is on constant lookout for new ways of reducing the side effects that come with the landfills. Some of the negative effects of waste disposal include soil segmentation disruption and excessive growth of unwanted grass. Though the soil may be rich in nutrients, excessive nutrients may cause the plants to wither, which is a negative effect on the environment. However, the two countries have insisted on the landfills having urgent improvement of all operating conditions and have them operate according to standards of sanitary landfills. China and UK have also had discussions on the need of having additional landfills around cities in the two countries. This will assist in reducing waste product that is disposed in the city streets, as well as help in monitoring and evaluating all the revenue collected from waste management. The new landfills would be able to cater for the needs of the two countries for at least the next two decades or more if well managed (Stoskopf & Johnson 2010, p. 99). The main reason for more landfills projects is the increasing population around major cities, which will evidently lead to massive waste production, which can, in turn, be hazardous to human beings and animals. More landfills would indicate proper channels of managing the solid waste and also lead to introduction of proper channels of turning some wasteful material to useful products such as some gases. Contrast China has the highest amount of waste in the world with a recent amount of 190,000,000 tones of MSW, and no country has ever experienced as rapid or as large an increase in waste generation. With a population of more than 1.3 billion people, waste management in China is becoming more complicated as there are some parts in the country with no agency responsible for waste collection (Schultz 2004, p. 66). Unlike China, the UK has a manageable population which means that solid waste management is a civic responsibility where the municipalities and government work together on large economies that need regional facilities. There are regulations and agreements set by the municipality that ensures all budgetary allocations are sufficient for waste management. Some rules defined by the municipality are regulations against clandestine dumping, related sanctions and littering. In China, the waste management arrangements overlap due to increasing quantities of waste, increasing complexity needed for appropriate service delivery; rising budget allocations, apparatus procurement and private zone contracting that require improved regulation (United Nations 2009, p. 152). However, the suggestions laid down in China are yet to be implemented, unlike in the UK where most of them are already functional and waste management is a smooth process. China has made renovations in major cities in their waste collection centers to facilitate more compaction as packaging is increasing throughout the country. China is already one of the top five consumers of luxury products in shopping malls and grocery stores with various products being packed in plastic wraps. The thickness in magazines and newspaper is also growing as more advertisement of products is increasing, which, in turn, increases waste products in the urban areas. Electronic goods such as computers, hand phones, audio and video which are waste products are also increasing as customers are trying to upgrade to new versions. In the UK, they are trying to come up with products that can be recycled and degradable materials to try to reduce waste products in major cities in the country (Nelson, Novotny & Hao 2010, p. 97). There have been introduced quantity based fees that facilitate waste transfers to landfills in form of tipping fees that provide direct incentives to reduce waste materials. Infrastructure in China is not as good as that of the UK, which makes it very difficult to recycle and quantify waste. China has no outlets, which creates disparities between safety standards and health, environmental aspects, working experiences and law enforcement in the country. Unlike in the UK, it is very difficult for environmental agencies to monitor the recycling process without proper channels brought by poor infrastructure and lack of good communication channels. Landfills in China are not well audited and the fate of waste materials and the staff working there remain unclear to Chinese law (Shaw & Hawkins 2004, p. 89). The UK has municipalities that regulate waste management in urban areas, which are the major contributors of waste products (Nelson, Novotny, & Hao, 2010, p. 243). Their role includes recruiting volunteers for educating the public on importance of waste recycling and reduction. They also have the responsibility of providing freedom to local authorities to launch incentives schemes that are used to ensure that waste products are recycled ensuring waste reduction in major cities. The UK is already making use of search incentives which have helped in waste management over the years (Berg, Hassenzahl & Raven 2011, p. 112). There are several ways that have ensured most of the recommended ideas have been implemented. These include economic structures that encourage and ensure use of environmental friendly products only, reuse of some goods instead of filling them in landfills, discouraging the use of non-recycled and hazardous waste and encouraging the use of secondary resources. The UK has also been setting new goals regarding waste minimization and disposal while reviewing landfills of some materials (The Stationery Office 2006, p. 414). China has concentrated on making space for building houses for waste storage and recycling over the years, unlike the UK where the houses are already in use. Government green procurement has also increased in the UK, which makes it easy to manage waste products in the country. This is because there are laws put across to be followed regarding waste, and anyone who breaks them is required to pay certain fees that go to landfills programs. The UK has a composting association that has a duty to estimate the amount of waste product that is suitable for composting annually. The association has a license for the regulation that defines how composting is like any other biological transformation procedure that may in future be beneficial to the soil, ecological improvement and other agricultural benefits. Composting activities in the UK include the reclamation and recycling of organic substances, making use of waste products effectively by spreading it on the soil for ecological and agricultural benefits and improvement, biological management of pending disposal and efficient storage waste products for future use. In China, composting materials are not as sufficient as those in the UK because they cannot function effectively to sustain the large population in the country (United Nations 2001, p. 13). Though there are organizations that try to recycle waste products in the country, a more stable channel is required to handle the rising amounts of waste product. There is also a need for introducing ways of using the waste products for agricultural purposes in the country. This will not only reduce the amount of waste in urban areas but also provide job opportunities to various people who are not yet employed (Dye, Newlands & Dhir 2003, p. 38). Composting of waste product is also an efficient way of controlling air pollution from the landfills in urban areas. Conclusion Managing waste products has not only affected China and the UK but has been a big issue in all the countries around the world, especially in developing countries with high populations concentrated in urban areas. There are Third World countries that have difficulties taking care of the liquid waste because their drainage systems are a mess, which has proved to be health hazards to different communities in those areas. When it comes to solid waste, they do not have enough landfills and those available are not well managed, which leads to waste products being scattered all over. Waste management is a big task that requires efforts from every individual around the world; otherwise, the environment is adversely affected. There are various ways of reducing waste products especially in the streets: recycling products, separating degradable materials from non-degradable ones when collecting trash and ensuring that everybody respects the environment. There is also the aspect of paying for the services of those who do the work of managing the landfills as they ensure that the waste is put in good use and it is not affecting the environment. Waste management has been practiced for decades and there have never been the best ways to completely have control of the waste products, but with the improved technologies and techniques waste products will be manageable in the future. References Berg, LR, Hassenzahl, D & Raven, P 2011, Environment, John Wiley & Sons, New York. The Stationery Office 2006, Keeping the lights on: nuclear, renewables and climate change; sixth report ... House of Commons, London. Dhamija, U 2006. 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