Municipal Solid Waste – 290 million tons annually
and growing
Both industrialized and developing nations produce vast amounts of
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Among major industrialized countries, more than
290 million
tons of MSW was generated annually by the mid-1990s.
In the United States, it grew 235 percent during the last 40 years.
Yet
the methods of waste disposal remain primitive. Landfills – occupying
vast tracts of urban land - engulf millions of acres and they continue
to grow rapidly in size. Incineration is not a better solution. Burning
MSW produces air pollution, which is now subject to
tough environmental regulations. Cities and regions struggle with
growing amounts of waste and diminishing options for managing it.
Environmental regulations grow stricter
Global concern about these ineffective and harmful methods has given
rise to numerous restrictive regulations. These regulations have sharply
increased costs and operator liabilities related to MSW disposal. They have also severely limited the future of landfills
and the practice of incineration. In the United States, for example,
many states are passing statutes limiting how much of the MSW stream can be buried in landfills. Costs to consumers are
rising. As a result, there is a critical need for new methods and
technologies to manage and convert MSW.
California law requires that 50% of the MSW be recovered and many
communities are working hard toward meeting this requirement. Our
process exceeds this mandate by up to an additional 35% while producing
profitable commodities and saving the trucking and disposal costs
associated with landfilling.
Can we afford to be a “throw-away” society?
Despite good-faith efforts, relatively little MSW is
recycled. The remainder stands as a total loss of valuable raw materials
to landfilling and incineration. The current practice of
burying and burning MSW is not a sustainable solution for
today’s needs – or for future generations whose quality of living will
be determined by current environmental practices.
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