Waste

From Free net encyclopedia

(Redirected from Refuse)

For other uses of the word, see Waste (disambiguation).

Image:Vuilnis.JPG Waste, rubbish, or garbage is unwanted or undesired material.

Waste is something which has lost its apparent value to its owner. It is a misplaced resource.

Waste can exist in any phase of matter (solid, liquid, or gas). When released in the latter two states, gas especially, the wastes are referred to as emissions. It is usually strongly linked with pollution.

1 Sources of waste
2 Human waste
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

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Sources of waste

Image:Eea-waste-by-sector-1992-1997.png

Waste produced in the wild is reintegrated through natural recycling processes, such as dry leaves in a forest decomposing into soil. Outside of the wild these wastes may become problematic, such as dry leaves in an urban environment. The highest volume of waste, outside of nature, comes from human industrial activity: mining, industrial manufacturing, consumer use, and so on¹.

Almost all manufactured products are destined to become waste at some point in time, with a volume of waste production roughly similar to the volume of resource consumption. Many manufactured goods are unable to be recycled due to the impracticality of seperating the materials of glass, metal and plastic from each other, or the inability to seperate a metal alloy back to it's base components. This could create a logistical nightmare scenario in terms of how or where the various types of buildings (and the many contents they contain) of present day towns and cities will be disposed of in the distant future.

Post-consumer waste is the waste produced by the end-user (the rubbish one puts outside in the rubbish bin). This is the waste people usually think of. But though the most visible, this is very small compared to the waste created in the process of mining and production.

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Human waste

Image:Waste disposal.jpg Human waste is a term in the English language usually used to refer to byproducts of digestion, such as feces and urine. Human waste can be a serious health hazard, as it is a good vector for both viral and bacterial diseases. A major accomplishment of human civilization has been the reduction of disease transmission via human waste through the practice of hygiene and sanitation, including the development of theories of sewage systems and plumbing. Human waste can be reduced and reused through use of greywater, waterless urinals and humanure systems. In very rural places without sewage systems, small populations allow for the continued use of honey buckets and sewage lagoons without the threat of disease presented by places with more dense populations.

Image:Waste.jpg

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References

This page contains material imported from [1] please see the history of the original article. The original material was licensed under the GFDL v 1.2.

Total waste generation by sector - EEA Countries 1992-1997, European Environmental Agency, retrieved 5 January 2005.

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External links

Template:Commons Template:Wikiquote

BBC - h2g2 - Waste

	Topics related to waste	edit
Compost \| Dustbins \| E-waste \| Garbage truck \| Garbology \| Greywater \| Incineration \| Landfill \| Pollution \| Radioactive waste \| Recycling \| Sewage \| Scrap \| Sewage treatment \| Soil contamination \| Toxic waste \| Waste management