Waste Management Statistics Encourage Efficiencies

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.

We need to look beyond the government when it comes to waste management. Each organization has to be acutely aware of the repercussions of its entire lifecycle operation. This includes preproduction and end of life. It looks as if legislation will, in future, punish an organization that is seen to be efficient and displays waste management statistics that are higher than 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.

Legislation aimed at forcing emitters to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that they are responsible for will actively encourage organizations to reduce their carbon footprint. Part of this process will require them to analyze waste at all levels of the operation and a reduction is likely as efficiencies are realized.

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.

Conventional methods of waste management are known to have significant adverse effects on our overall health, the condition of our waterways and the long-term degradation of our atmosphere. The traditional methods often involve additional carbon emission issues due to the very collection and transportation of the material. Much more emphasis should be placed on recycling and reuse.

As each element of an organization’s supply chain has the capability of producing excess, senior management must analyze waste management statistics closely. Efficiencies must now be demanded and must be followed through to ensure compliance.