Waste - recycling & processing
Integrated Waste Management (IWM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) are helping address waste management challenges and increasing resource efficiency from a more holistic perspective. In particular, IWM and LCA help to avoid simply solving one problem while creating another. These rely on life cycle thinking - taking into account upstream as well as downstream effects of providing goods as well as services (jointly referred to as products). Collection and sorting are at the centre of any successful waste management system. The four main waste management technologies surrounding the collection and sorting system (landfill, material recycling, thermal treatment, biological treatment) must be considered equally when developing a waste management strategy for any location. Flexibility in technology application for a specific location is also an essential component of the IWM concept. Data based decision support using Life Cycle Assessment tools facilitates the selection of the most appropriate waste management technologies (not necessarily all four) needed to deliver an environmentally optimised IWM system for a specific location. In combination with economic and social considerations, this approach helps waste managers to design more sustainable solid waste management systems.
