End-of-pipe Challenges within Waste Management

Waste Management – a multidisciplinary field of knowledge and competence

Associate professor Elisabeth Román, Narvik University College

Waste Management – a multidisciplinary field of knowledge and competence

The waste concept – what is waste?“ At thing or product the holder has discarded or is going to be

discarded”EU: Waste shall mean any substance or object in the categories set out in Anex 1 which the holder discards or is required to discard.

Actual questions: Is waste something no one longer wants? At what moment is a product turned into being waste? Who decide a useful product to turn into being waste?

Waste management does not deal with these questions:When a product is discharged by the owner it is treated as wasteregardless of the further quality of the product for further use.

Mobile life cycle

1. Production

2. Use

3. End of life

Mobiles turned to be waste, is hazardous:

Of ca 63 grams metal 99 % are:

Aluminium (Al)

Iron (Fe)

Copper (Cu)

Cobalt (Co)

Zinc (Zn)

Nickel (Ni)

Tin (Sn)

Crom (Cr)

Lead (Pb)

A new mobile ”is born”

Lifetime of mobiles in 2000? In 2010?

What happens when it is turned to be WEEE?

Producers responsibility?

BAT for recovery and recycling?

Disassembly Production Line?

Taking care of heavy metals and plastics?

Export to Africa or Asia?

Sustainable production?

Reverse chain management?

IncinerationEU: Control of heavy metals and environmental hazardous compounds

Landfill for hazardous waste

Landfill or dumpDiffuse spread of heavy metals and POP into soil and water

EU: Controlled end-of pipe emissions into marine systems

Heavy metals or POPs entering food chain

Alternative routes

Alternative ways of waste management

Increasing

sustainability

Sustainable production

Waste minimizing: Product is made for long life-time

Reuse and recycling: Product or part of the product isrecycled into new products or energy

Incineration: Mass loss, energy production and

emmision control

Landfill: Ultimate method for non-recyclabe products Some emmision control

Dump: The ultimate method for non-developed countries. No emission control

WEEE burning at dump in Archangelsk

Geological delimitation of a landfill

Regional waste company in Narvik, Norway

Landfill 1 -terminated (1997)

Leachate –

pipes into fiord

Administration

Landfill 2 – still under operation

Pipe for burning biogas from landfill 2

Sorting station for waste

Leachate indicators for Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and Waste Electronics (WEEE)

Leachate reflects the content of the waste put on the landfill

In general the following parameters are elevated in leachate from landfills of MSW:

MSW Leachate Indicators: Conductivity, COD, NH4-Nitrogen, Iron (Fe), Mercury (Hg), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd).

WEEE Leachate Indicators: Aluminium (Al), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Cobalt (Co), Zinc (Zn), Nickel (Ni), Tin (Sn), Crom (Cr), Lead (Pb)

98,9 % of total metals in mobiles are hazardous

Challenges: Sustainable production (SP)

Amounts and new products of mobile phones has increased during last years

Producers intense competition to reach new markets is more important than SP

Producers responsibility is lacking Turnover time is decreasing → more WEEE Lack of open industrial systems Lack of research within Reverse Chain

Management

Challenges: Sustainable Waste Treatment

Lack of organized WEEE collection system

Large distance between Mobile-Producer and Mobile-Waste-Producer

Peoples tendency to ignore their own role as polluter

Challenges: End-of pipe for WEEE

1. Recipients Marine systems Fresh water Ground water Soil2. Heavy metals are persistent Tenfold up-concentration at each level in

food chain Animals migrations moves leachate

pollution over large distances

Still optimistic!

Thank you for attention!