| Waste Management Statistics Encourage Efficiencies |
| Written by Daniel Stouffer | |
| Monday, 12 October 2009 | |
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Waste management is taking on a bigger role within all levels of society. In the United States, federal programs seek to reduce our reliance on traditional waste management methods and are replaced with more preferred initiatives. At state level, the problem is more acute with a number of individual states reporting that they are nearing capacity in terms of available resources. While waste management statistics are much improved over the last 20 years, there is a long way to go.
Waste management is taking on a bigger role within all levels of society. In the United States, federal programs seek to reduce our reliance on traditional waste management methods and are replaced with more preferred initiatives. At state level, the problem is more acute with a number of individual states reporting that they are nearing capacity in terms of available resources. While waste management statistics are much improved over the last 20 years, there is a long way to go. Waste management is not just a governmental problem. At corporate level, organizations must become far more aware of their entire lifecycle operation and assume much more responsibility for waste management and end-of-life implications. Threat of legislation, in place in some jurisdictions already, suggests that an organization could take a financial hit if they are deemed to be inefficient and see their waste management statistics above average. Not only can inefficient processing of waste be harmful to our immediate environment, it can have a major affect on overall climate change as well. Landfills are now seen as being the least appropriate solutions for us, especially as large amounts of methane occur during this process. This particular gas is more than 70 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and as such plays significantly in the fight against global warming. If we look at waste management statistics closely, we can see that the majority of waste is still sent to landfills. Even though the number of locations has dropped off, the existing places have increased in size and capacity. Incineration is not much better an alternative, as nitrous oxide is a byproduct. In the next few years, it is likely that legislation will force those companies that emit greenhouse gases to reduce their reliance and their overall carbon footprint. This would require them to analyze all factors, including waste and as efficiencies come around a net reduction is also expected. The Environmental Protection Agency produces waste management statistics telling us that a staggering 200 million tons of solid waste is produced in this country per annum. Each member of society and each organization must take an element of responsibility for this, as when broken down it can be seen that this equates to 4.4 pounds of waste per person per day. We have sufficient waste management statistics to tell us that our conventional methods are having a significant adverse effect on individual health, the composition of our waterways and the very structure of our atmosphere. We must place additional emphasis on recycling, composting and reuse of products. Not only does the processing of waste create carbon issues but the entire chain of events associated, including collection and transportation, contributes to the problem. Senior management in an organization must study internal waste management statistics closely to see how they can implement processes to achieve maximum efficiencies. Each part of the supply chain must be held responsible. The Article Author: Daniel Stouffer has much more information about waste management statistics and how a visit to www.verisae.com can aid you. |
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