The Role of Thermal Treatment in Integrated Waste Management Concepts

The management of waste, which plays an important role in environmental protection in the context of sustainable development of any market economy, has been subjected to significant changes in the European Union in recent decades. The overarching idea that economic activities must be based on more sustainable ecological principles is a growing consensus. Maintaining or improving living standards will not be achieved by a disadvantageous exploitation of nature, but through smarter production techniques. A smart technology is defined here as a technique that uses less material and less energy for the production of goods and which causes the least possible pollution emissions. Today, it is indisputable that the success of efforts to ensure a prosperous and sustainable society depends on the use of smart technologies in all economic processes.

The economic benefits of resource-and environmentally-friendly activities outweigh any economic cost disadvantages by far. The annual increase in global population is currently over 100 million persons. That means that each year a dignified existence of 100 million people including their rights to natural resources must be ensured. The assumption is not exaggerated that in the near future, producers of both industrial and agricultural products that do not consider the sustainability factor in their choice of production processes risk to lose their competitiveness.

In relation to waste management, the considerations outlined above lead to a hierarchy of choices with a priority placed first, on waste prevention and second, on waste recycling.

Alone in the European Union, hundreds of thousands of different products are bought and sold, with new ones added daily. Worldwide, some 12 million chemical compounds are bought or sold. It is inevitable that, in spite of all prevention and recovery strategies, a significant proportion of goods consumed will become waste at the end of their useful life. This waste consists of a wide variety of different components, including heavy metals, plus a variety of organic materials such as polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, furans, etc. which individually or in combination produce negative effects on humans and nature, though their human toxicological classification is often not known. Therefore, it is one of the most important tasks of waste management to treat waste in such a way that its properties affect the environment no more than the naturally existing level of emissions present in the natural environment.

Copyright:	© Thomé-Kozmiensky Verlag GmbH
Quelle:	Waste Management, Volume 2 (September 2011)
Seiten:	9
Preis:	€ 0,00
Autor:	Professor Dr.-Ing. Oktay Tabasaran

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