How do they deal with garbage in different countries? How garbage is disposed of in different countries of the world Waste recycling in different countries.
Brazil is an example of the contradiction that has developed in the modern world between the paradigm of accelerated economic development and the need to preserve the environment. All developing countries face this problem, in one form or another, but for Brazil it is more acute than for many others. This is due, first of all, to the fact that Brazil is a real world reserve, a record holder for biodiversity and volumes of natural resources. What are the main environmental challenges Brazil faces and what is its response?
We are not exaggerating at all when we call Brazil a grand nature reserve. The country has the most extensive rainforest areas in the world, and its flora and fauna comprise 12% of the world's biodiversity. The Amazon River can also be called a real natural treasure house, which forms around itself specific natural territories, the study of which continues to this day. Brazil also has a long coastal strip with beautiful beaches that attract tourists from all over the world. These factors, not least, determine the special attitude of Brazilians to environmental issues.
The abundance of natural resources, however, does not always imply concern for the environment and lack of problems. Like any other country, Brazil faces a huge number of environmental challenges, all of which are related to human activities, accelerated agricultural and industrial production, urbanization and the irrational use of the gifts of nature.
Water and air pollution
The air over Brazil is often not filled with the scent of tropical forests. Brazil is one of the regional leaders in the emission of CO 2 and other gases, such as methane. The country is also one of the ten countries in the world with the largest volume of emissions of harmful gases into the atmosphere. At the same time, microscopic particles of various origins also enter the air - from cement and combustion products to heavy metals and minerals. All of them can cause serious harm to human health, negatively affect the ecosystem as a whole, and also contribute to global warming. Although Brazil has done a lot of work to reduce CO2 emissions (levels dropped by 41% from 2005 to 2011) and other harmful gases, and has developed and implemented several programs at different levels in this area, air pollution remains a big problem. According to research by AIDA (Inter-American Association for the Protection of the Environment), the development of legislative initiatives did not take into account the various capabilities of the Brazilian states, some of which, for financial and other reasons, simply cannot fulfill the obligations imposed on them.
The situation with water pollution is perhaps even worse. The owner of the world's vast water reserves, Brazil is constantly experiencing water shortages for both food and agricultural purposes. In addition, huge damage is inflicted on key Brazilian resorts on a permanent or sporadic basis, whose waters suffer from violations of environmental legislation. The states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina are fighting for the purity of their famous beaches, but they often lose. In the summer of 2017, for example, the Argentine press wrote with concern about water contamination on most of the beaches of Brazil, the most popular holiday destination for Argentines. Referring to the Brazilian environmental authorities, the publication Clarín, in particular, noted that only 42% of the beaches have passed control studies, while the rest may pose a threat to health to one degree or another.
Soil pollution and the problem of waste disposal
Extensive land use for agriculture and livestock production, widespread use of pesticides and other toxic substances, and increasing deforestation are causing severe soil degradation in Brazil. Environmental activists have been sounding the alarm for years. According to some estimates, substances that have been banned for many years are often used in Brazilian agriculture, including modified versions of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, or DDT. This causes colossal damage to soils, provoking their rapid degradation. In some cases, the use of toxins also leads to desertification.
Separate damage to the soil is caused by an abundance of solid waste, the disposal of which is difficult, which is especially felt in large urban agglomerations that produce tons of garbage every day. For example, an average resident of São Paulo produces 1.3 kg of garbage per day, a resident of Rio de Janeiro - 1.6 kg, and an inhabitant of Brasilia produces 1.7 kg of waste per day. Although many large cities have recycling facilities, much of the waste never reaches them and ends up in open landfills. The latter, in turn, are practically not regulated in any way, poisoning the soil, water and air.
Also, do not forget about the large-scale deforestation. It cannot be said that this problem negatively affects only the atmosphere, water or soil, since the destruction of forests means the destruction of the entire ecosystem formed in them. In the recent past, Brazil was able to curb deforestation, but since 2015 the process has begun to gain momentum: from 2015 to 2016, deforestation increased by 29% at once, causing serious concerns among environmentalists about a rollback in Brazil's environmental policy.
Countermeasures
One of the first steps towards the formation of an integral system of environmental protection was made during the period of the military dictatorship. In 1981, Law No. 6.938 “On National Environmental Policy” was adopted. The law was basically guided by the provisions of the previous Brazilian Constitution on the ecological and environmental functions of the state, and the main purpose of its creation was to find a balance between economic development and nature conservation. The significance of the 1981 Law can hardly be overestimated. With changes and additions, it has survived to this day, and it was within its framework that the National System for Environmental Protection was formed (port.Sistema Nacional do Meio Ambiente, or Sisnama), and the Register of Environmental Protection was created (port.Cadastro de Defesa Ambiental ). Sisnama, in particular, is responsible for environmental policy and environmental quality improvement at all levels - from federal to municipal.
Another important step was Supplementary Law No. 140 of 2011. It modifies and expands the environmental management system, while making it more decentralized and more democratic than the 1981 version. Conceptually, this document reflects modern patterns of environmental management, including the vision of caring for the environment as a common cause of the state and society, and emphasizing the social aspects of ecology.
In addition, international documents that determine the general vector of movement are of great importance for Brazilian environmental policy. Brazil is known for its environmental activity, it hosted the largest summits on this topic in 1992 and 2012, acting not only as a host country, but also as one of the main locomotives for the development of final documents. Brazil signed and ratified the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement with a strong commitment to reducing CO2 emissions. Among the documents on which the country relies, one can also mention the 1992 UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the 2001 International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and many others.
The issue of waste disposal is acute in many regions of the world, and even the most developed countries cannot yet boast of an absolutely debugged waste collection and recycling system. This is due not only to technological capabilities, but also to the mentality of peoples and governments.
Garbage disposal in Japan
In Japan, for example, people do not pay for waste disposal services that are burned in expensive stoves at special factories. Apparently, this is due to the Japanese character - they would not spend their money on it, but would simply leave their trash everywhere. However, the Japanese will have to pay for disposal if they throw away the unsorted waste bag.
Waste disposal in Germany
In Germany and Austria, things are completely different. The Germans not only pay for the disposal of waste, they carefully sort the trash that remains after themselves and leave it in specially designated containers, respectively. About the same can be said about Australia.
Garbage disposal in the USA
In the United States, this issue is also treated very responsibly: almost every house is equipped with a special device that grinds and processes household waste in order to then flush it down the drain.
Waste disposal in Russia
As far as recycling in Russia is concerned, this has never been seen as a serious topic of thought. Garbage was simply dumped in specially designated places outside the city. To date, this kind of procedure has not changed much. Most of these "landfills" have long failed to meet international sanitary and epidemiological requirements. Almost all of them pose a serious threat to the ecology of Russia and neighboring countries: various kinds of hazardous toxins such as carbon monoxide and methane appear in landfills. Pathogenic bacteria and carriers of infections, of course, exacerbate an already difficult situation. In other countries, they have long learned how to extract real profit from waste and its processing, but Russia has a long way to go in the field of such a business. There are very modern waste incinerators installed in Russia, but most of them are not working at full capacity. The fact is that foreign technologies are used for their operation, which are ineffective in our country. Unfortunately, in some cases, the waste problem is solved as follows: garbage is simply dumped in the nearest forest or along the highway.
“Approximately seven billion tons of household waste is accumulated in Russia every year; of which six million tons are in Moscow and the Moscow region (about 350 kg of garbage per person per year). "
Today, scientists argue about the various methods of waste recycling in Russia and are trying to introduce them into people's daily lives. They even developed a project according to which the energy generated during processing can be used for power plants.
Speaking about new technologies in this area, it is impossible not to note the advanced developments of engineers from other countries of the world.
For example, while most countries are struggling to deal with waste management issues, making landfills close to cities and poisoning the environment, Dutch engineers seem to have found a solution. They went beyond the idea of making new household items from recycled products and found ways to build roads from garbage.
In short, according to this technology, specially processed raw materials are pressed into separate bars, which will be connected already at the facility under construction. Strict quality control at the manufacturing plant allows you to be confident in the quality of the new coating; in addition, these plastic roads can withstand temperatures from about -40 to +80 degrees Celsius.
To begin with, about the methods of disposal. The first and main one is incineration. By the way, it is also more common. There are many waste incineration plants. The second way is to drip it. Only biodegradable waste can be instilled. The third is recycling, that is, processing for further use. Recently, this method has been very popular. Moreover, waste is sorted by type, and each type is put into its own container. Containers are containers and bags of all kinds of colors: each garbage has its own color of the tank. And only then the sorted waste is transported to recycling plants. The most intelligent in this respect were the French. They screwed chips onto the trash cans. And now they have information about filling the tank and when it is necessary to take out the garbage that has accumulated there. This information helps in adjusting the routes of the garbage trucks: where to go first, where to last. A good way to optimize time and effort.
In garbage recycling, Japan is ahead of the rest. She could not overtake only Brazil. The Japanese are considered to be smart people and will not waste their energy. Everyone knows that this country is located on an island. The island is small: there are a lot of people, there is not enough space. There is nowhere to store garbage. And since there is nowhere to put it, you need to recycle it. How? Most of the waste is incinerated. The thermal energy released during this process is used to heat the flower greenhouses. I collect flowers and immediately sell them for a small price. All kinds of household appliances, old bicycles, furniture I take apart, restore and again for sale.
They have plastic containers near each house. Waste items, household and food waste are put there - each garbage has its own tank and its own color. Moreover, each container has its own name corresponding to the type of waste. The most interesting thing is that 20 types of raw materials are extracted from the garbage in nine groups, not excluding batteries, vegetable oils, car batteries. The entire population and even children are involved in the collection and sorting of garbage. Separation of waste begins at home.
The Japanese even learned how to make building materials from organic waste. This very material, when interacting with sea water, becomes as strong as concrete. It is used to build artificial islands along the coastal strip. These islands are populated by people, houses, business centers, parks, airports are being built. As they say, there is where to work, relax and spend the night. Moreover, these artificial territories are no different from the real ones. And since Japan does not stop developing the territory of the World Ocean, the need for such a building material will be in demand for a long time.
Well, we got to Brazil. The tendency is to recycle, and here it has spread. There is such a city of Curitiba. He managed to overtake and take first place in the collection of valuable household waste on earth. Most of paper (70%), plastic (60%), metal and glass are recycled. Japan with its 50% was left far behind, and in fact it is considered the leader. The poor are involved in garbage collection, in a very interesting way. In some countries, a monetary reward is given for collecting raw materials. Here they acted differently: for 6 bags of garbage, they give one bag of food. Every week in 54 poor districts I receive food for 102 thousand people, which allows us to collect 400 tons of waste every month.
In America, garbage is collected in plastic bags. As they fill, the bags are tied up and taken out into containers near the house. And from there they are taken by special services, taken to conveyors and sorted. Bottles, paper, cans, and beverage bottles are removed from the mountains of garbage. They send all this stuff for processing. All sorts of notepads are made of paper, notebooks marked "recycling" - made from waste. The rest of the garbage is sent for burial. Fortunately, there is where - America is a big country.
There was a problem with metal beverage cans. So they solved it very quickly. For each bank handed over, they gave out 5 cents and it went on. A good way to make money, which is what some have been doing. Some time passed and small presses for paper, cardboard, cans began to go on sale. And now they stand in every institution and press, press, press.
Here is one sketch for example. One man (one Jung from Detroit) set out to build a castle. For this, for 20 years, he collected various household waste from the surrounding landfills. For what the eye catches, then he took it. This business ended with the construction of a house with two floors, 16 rooms, a large hall with a fireplace. There were spiral staircases and even a drawbridge. To top it off, the house was surrounded by a moat of water. And all the construction cost a minimum of money, since their garbage was made.
Germany and Canada are not much different from their neighbors. Residents divide their garbage into three parts: food waste and small pieces of paper go to compost. Everything that can be recycled - glass, waste paper, hardware, plastic - is recycled. What cannot be disposed of is collected separately and for burial.
Everything is quite simple and solvable. The main thing is to be most interested in not being overwhelmed by the products of your own life at one fine moment.
Every new day, humanity leaves behind tons of garbage that accumulates on the planet, causing irreparable harm to it. The problem of its processing all over the world is becoming more acute - and everywhere it is solved in different ways. How much does it cost taxpayers from different countries to dispose of them, when landfills will become a thing of the past and whether progressive methods of fighting plastic are hitting the wallet of citizens - the correspondents of "RG" tell about this.
In American cities, garbage collection is most often carried out at a single rate. On average, the cost of this service ranges from $ 10 to $ 40 per month. Hazardous chemicals are disposed of separately for $ 50-100, old furniture or household appliances for $ 80-130, and construction waste for about $ 200. In recent years, municipal authorities have increasingly introduced a differentiated scale in order to encourage residents to reduce the amount of waste they dispose of. For example, in Newport, Virginia, it will cost $ 22 to remove a 60 gallon (about 227 liters) tank, and $ 28 a month for 90 gallons (340 liters). In Seattle, Washington, the smallest 12-gallon container will be removed for $ 23 a month, and the largest for $ 111.
Removal and disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) in America is a profitable business, the total annual turnover of which is estimated at $ 55-60 billion. In recent decades, the share of private companies in the market for such services has grown steadily, while the share of municipal authorities has dropped to about 20 percent. The United States is called a consumer society, and consumption generates garbage, which American households throw away more annually than any other country - about 250 million tons.
For a long time, landfills remained the cheapest and most common way to dispose of waste in the United States. Until about the 1980s, about 90 percent of MSW was exported there. But the growing density of housing and population, especially near large metropolitan areas on both coasts, has led to a shortage of land for landfills and increased prices for them. Regions where the population density is low, and the territory is sufficient, earn money by collecting garbage from their neighbors. For example, Ohio charges other regions $ 35 for receiving a ton of garbage, while Alabama only charges $ 19.
In 1976, the Resource Conservation and Recycling Act was passed, which became the legal foundation of the garbage industry. The document obliged all operators of landfills to provide guarantees of the availability of financial resources not only for the period of operation of the landfill, but also for its maintenance after the volume is exhausted and closed. As a result, the number of such landfills in the United States dropped from eight thousand in 1988 to about two thousand by 2010. The use of separate containers for different types of waste has become the norm. In addition, the rise in energy prices has made it profitable to build waste incineration plants with subsequent energy generation. Today there are 86 such enterprises in the United States. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, about 50 percent of the garbage goes to landfills, about 30 to 35 percent is recycled, and the rest is incinerated.
Germany
The cost of garbage collection and processing in Germany depends on the location of the apartment or house. The results of a study by the private institute IW Consult on the example of 100 German cities showed that the difference can be up to 300 euros. So, in Flensburg (Schleswig-Holstein), removal and disposal of household and bulky waste, food waste and waste paper costs the property owner or tenant 111 euros per year, and in Leverkusen (North Rhine-Westphalia) - 481 euros. This amount can be up to 10 percent of annual utility costs, although it is usually not that high. If we proceed from the most modest salary of German citizens in the amount of 20 thousand euros per year, then it can be argued that this burden does not fall heavily on the pockets of consumers. Waste collection fees also depend on many other factors. Waste bin volumes and collection intervals, as well as occupancy per square meter, play an important role. In addition, when calculating costs, the budgetary debt of a particular settlement for the construction of an incineration plant is taken into account, as well as - which is important for the regions of the former GDR - for the reclamation of landfills.
In general, the structure of financing waste collection and disposal in Germany is very complex. The owners of apartments and houses pay for the removal and incineration, as well as the recycling of household waste from the so-called "container with general waste". Ultimately, the entire amount falls on the shoulders of citizens in the form of utility costs. For the disposal of garbage from the so-called "yellow container", in which the Germans collect plastic and iron packaging, the companies that supply their goods to the shops pay. However, the concerns do not have to pay for the final disposal of the packaging of their export products. Some firms add disposal costs to the price of their goods. So the ordinary consumer should partly pay for the separate processing of packages according to this scheme.
The owners of private houses pay for the installation of waste bins for paper and cardboard, and the costs of bins in the courtyards of apartment buildings are borne by the local administration. However, some of the fees are levied on businesses using cardboard packaging. Glass and plastic bottles are generally accepted back in stores for money. Glass containers are reused, and granules are made from plastic bottles for recycling. Wine or spirits bottles and glass jars are collected in public glass containers, which are also paid from the pocket of producers or local budgets. The so-called "bio-containers" for organic (mainly food) waste will now be mandatory for all residents. The collection and composting of this waste will also be paid by the citizens themselves.
Germany is one of the most "garbage" countries in Europe: more than 600 kilograms of household waste per year are accounted for here per citizen. However, landfills in Germany were completely abandoned 30 years ago. Thomas Fischer, a representative of the German Ecological Aid union, told RG that landfills are the Stone Age, the most harmful way of waste disposal for nature and people. It completes the five-point scale of the effectiveness of possible waste treatment methods. The cleanest way is to avoid packaging. In second place is the reuse of raw materials. Recycling is the third option. However, the share of recyclable materials extracted fluctuates between 31 and 41 percent. Therefore, in Germany, the fourth method is still widely practiced - the use of waste incineration plants.
At present, the rehabilitation of the old landfills, a legacy of the 1960s and 1970s, is almost complete. Thomas Fisher emphasizes that such landfills are especially dangerous for the population and the environment, on which garbage is dumped indiscriminately, for example, radiators, batteries, transformers, organic matter, food waste. However, there were no such dumps in Germany. Trash was usually taken to landfills in an already sorted form. Moreover, they were all far from settlements.
Payments for the construction and maintenance of incinerators initially come from three budgets - federal, land and local. Each plant costs 200-300 million euros. Since it is impractical to build separate small installations, there are only 54 high-capacity waste incineration plants on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. Local administrations are legally obliged to enter into contracts with recycling companies or incinerators, to which they then pay from their own budget from funds collected essentially from local residents. Such a system functions thanks to the strictest and consistent financial control at enterprises and in local administrations.
Italy
In Italy, the tax on waste processing consists of two quotas - fixed and variable. The fixed part refers to the square meters of housing, the variable is calculated based on the number of family members. Recently, a real "garbage" scandal erupted in Italy: by mistake the communes calculated the tax in such a way that each family member had to pay an average of about 40-50 euros per year for each square meter of the house. Although the real cost is only 1-2 euros. It turned out that large cities, such as Milan, charged their citizens in general 70-80 percent more than the norm. The "RG" correspondent also fell victim to this mistake and is now going to challenge it.
Over the past decade, Italy has gone through a series of "garbage crises", from which many large cities have failed to this day. Among the main "losers" is primarily the capital of Italy. All the troubles with waste at the Eternal City began after the closure in 2013 of the largest landfill in Europe (25 hectares) - the Malagrotta landfill. At one time, it caused colossal damage to the ecology of the Galeria Valley, polluting the air and poisoning the soil with arsenic, mercury and ammonia. Since no replacement for "Malagrotte" was found, there is still no place to unload the garbage collected by the city services. As a result, some areas of Rome, including the central ones, from time to time become overgrown with mountains of waste and are filled with stench, which is reported by the site "Disgusting Rome". There, the townspeople on a daily basis keep a "trash chronicle", uploading photos from local dumps. It got to the point that the EU authorities intervened, officially threatening the authorities of Rome and the Lazio region with sanctions.
Since local enterprises and landfills cannot cope with the processing and sorting of waste (about 5-6 thousand tons daily), the capital is forced to send garbage not only to other regions of Italy, but even abroad. Since August 2016, a recycling plant near Vienna in Zwentendorf regularly receives "garbage trains" from Rome. The transportation of 100 thousand tons of waste to the city treasury costs 14 million euros per year. Even the serious penalties provided for the unwillingness of the Romans to abide by the rules of garbage etiquette do not allow the issue to be fully resolved. For example, the violator must pay up to 150 euros for cardboard cups, pieces of paper and chewing gum thrown out by the urn. A cigarette butt that has not ended up in the trash can is estimated at 300 euros, and an unauthorized table or refrigerator that is illegally displayed on the street will cost its owner 500 euros.
South Korea
The correspondent of "RG" in Seoul receives a general bill for the rent, which includes light, water, cleaning of the territory, elevator maintenance, garbage disposal. Garbage is included in the "other services" section - there are about six or seven of them up to the washing of parking spaces. These services make up no more than ten percent of the entire receipt. The total rent bill usually comes out at the level of 163-217 thousand Korean won (9400-12 500 rubles) per month, and the average salary for middle-class Koreans is 3.8-4.3 million Korean won (218-250 thousand rubles).
About a quarter of a century ago, the country's authorities had to spend a lot of effort, time, money and nerves to explain to fellow citizens that it is necessary to introduce a new waste treatment system. It involves the separate sorting of garbage by the residents themselves. In the end, this system took root and operates to this day, gradually becoming more and more strict. Waste disposal is not cheap, but there is no other way out, all costs are borne mainly by residents of houses or owners of certain institutions and organizations.
Many foreigners complain that there are few trash bins in Korea. This is true, but deliberately done to make people be more careful about garbage handling. Nowadays, you can't just bag all the waste you have and throw it into the trash bin at the front door of your house. All rubbish should be categorized as follows: paper, plastic, polyethylene, glass, iron, food waste and "other waste". For the latter category, in each administrative district of a large city, its own special bags are issued, where all the rest of the garbage must be packed. If you threw it away in a simple plastic bag, then the garbage cars that arrive every morning will not pick it up, but you will be calculated by the video cameras that are installed near each garbage complex near the residential area. And then a solid fine will come. The same will happen if you don't carefully sort your waste into categories.
Each garbage complex has a special box where you need to dump the leftovers of food. But it will open only with a special card that each tenant of a house has. When loaded into a box, food waste is automatically weighed, and at the end of the month, the total volume is summed up, based on the weight, the bill for disposal is determined, it is added to the general receipt for rent and other household services.
You can't just throw out your old TV, computer, sofa and other appliances or furniture in Korea. To do this, you need to submit an application to garbage companies, get an invoice for the disposal of this garbage, and only after paying the check your unnecessary sofa or refrigerator will be taken away. As you might guess, the larger and heavier the item, the more expensive it is to process it. In some cases, the bill can even go for hundreds of dollars. Why is it often in Korea that old equipment is gladly given away for nothing - throwing it away will cost a pretty penny.
There are garbage disposal plants in Korea, but there are already closed-loop systems, thanks to which you will not feel any smell or other unpleasant side effects. Suffice it to say that waste processing complexes are often located right in large cities at underground levels, and if you are not told that waste is being disposed of somewhere nearby, then you yourself will not guess.
In general, Korea has made and is making a lot of efforts to optimize the waste disposal process as much as possible, making it compact and environmentally friendly. This approach is inevitable, if only because the country has one of the highest population density indicators in the world, and there is simply no place for landfills.
Brazil
In Brazil, there is no unified government fee for the collection and recycling of waste. Officially, these responsibilities are entrusted to municipalities, spending funds from their own budget on "garbage" needs. Over time, the cost of waste management costs began to exceed the financial capabilities of municipalities, and since 2018, some have proactively started introducing a special tax. One of the first on this path was the city of Curitiba, the capital of the state of Parana, with a population of almost 2 million people. The new tax was calculated based on the area and type of premises. For private properties of low-income citizens, whose total area does not exceed 70 square meters, a 50 percent discount is established, and the total amount is 135 reais per year (2300 rubles). For the rest of the owners of residential premises - 274 reais per year (4,700 rubles), for commercial areas - 475 reais (8,200 rubles).
To understand the big picture: the largest city in the country, São Paulo, with a population of more than 12 million people a year spends more than 1.5 billion reais (about 25 billion rubles) on waste collection and disposal. In general, Brazil annually allocates more than 16 billion reais (268 billion rubles) for these purposes.
In 2010, the National Solid Waste Management Policy was granted the status of a law. Its implementation pursued the authorities' ambitious plans to restore order in this area. However, the noble goal - to solve the garbage problem as soon as possible - did not bring the expected results. The volume of waste produced in the country corresponds to the level of developed countries - it is 390 kilograms per person per year. At the same time, garbage disposal approaches are more similar to the practice of poor African countries. It was assumed that by 2014, when the country hosted the World Cup, the classic primitive garbage dumps in the open will cease everywhere. But if their number has decreased, it is quite insignificant. Today in Brazil there are about 3 thousand such sites, most of them are ordinary landfills, where there is no system of waste separation, land reclamation or sorting. According to the latest estimates, the country produces up to 80 thousand tons of household waste annually, and almost half ends up in such landfills. The rest of the mass goes to more modern landfills, where, according to the law, the following elements must be present: a waterproof base, systems for pumping out and processing the pulp formed over time, installations for capturing gases released during the decomposition, as well as other electronic measuring instruments for environmental monitoring. But, as practice has shown, the law is not observed everywhere, and many of such modern landfills built in recent years do not meet the declared standards.
The fines for the violations revealed cannot be compared with the income received from landfills. The most recent example of this inconsistency is the case of the city of São Sebastian do Paraíso in the state of Minas Gerais). In 2013, the local prefecture allocated 2.5 million reais (approximately 44 million rubles) for the construction of a modern landfill capable of receiving up to 50 tons of garbage per day. Moreover, this project bore the status of a pilot and was intended to serve as an example for the entire state. But everything was limited to the appearance of an ordinary landfill with the outward signs of its modernized version, and the fine for violations in the field of environmental protection amounted to only 49 thousand reais (855 thousand rubles).
At the same time, there are positive examples. At the end of 2017 in the capital of Brazil, the largest landfill in Latin America, Lichao da Estustural, was shut down. Located just 20 kilometers from the official residence of the President of the country, it existed for almost 60 years. During this time, more than 40 million tons of waste from Brasilia and the surrounding area were brought to its territory.
The results of the implementation of the waste sorting and recycling policy can also be called modest. In the overall percentage, significant growth has been recorded since 2010 - about 140 percent. But in reality, only 18 percent of all municipalities in the country use these technologies in one form or another. Even in the two largest metropolitan areas, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, these figures are negligible: only 2.5 and 1.9 percent of all garbage produced in them is sorted and sent for recycling.
According to local experts, the main problem preventing the adoption of modern approaches to waste collection and recycling is the lack of funding. According to some estimates, Brazil would need more than 11 billion reais (almost 193 billion rubles) in investments to get rid of obsolete landfills. And more than 15 billion reais (262 billion rubles) in the short term to keep the new system operational. It is not possible to find such funds. But there is good news as well. Paradoxically, the economic difficulties in Brazil have led to more than 2 percent reduction in waste generated by the population for the first time in 13 years.
Got to the bottom
Debris was found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench - the deepest place on Earth. Sensational news was reported by the Japan Agency for Science and Technology for the Study of Marine Subsoil. The discovery of a plastic bag at a depth of 10,898 meters was an absolute record, "says a report by Japanese scientists who are exploring the oceans using deep-sea vehicles.
They found that 33 percent of all man-made waste in the ocean is plastic. Another 26 percent are metal products. Everything else is rubber, fishing gear, glass. Sometimes marine inhabitants use plastic objects for their own needs - for example, actinaria corals are attached to it. But at the same time, many cases have been noted when plastic, primarily small objects like lighters or bottle caps, gets inside living organisms - for example, birds and fish swallow it, which leads to their death. Another problem is plastic degradation. Floating on the surface, it disintegrates under the influence of sunlight into smaller and smaller pieces, but at the same time retains its structure. Marine organisms confuse plastic crumbs with plankton and try to feed on it, which is also fraught with dire consequences.
The huge amount of garbage falling into the oceans has led to the formation of whole “garbage continents”. The most famous of these was the "Pacific Garbage Dump" - a giant accumulation of plastic and other man-made waste in the central part of the Pacific Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere with an area of up to 1.5 million square kilometers (this is more than the state of Texas). According to the American oceanographer and yachtsman Charles Moore, who began writing about the "garbage continent" in the late 1990s, 80 percent of the pollution gets there from land, and 20 percent is thrown from ships.
The Ocean Cleanup project, initiated by 18-year-old conservation enthusiast Boyan Slat in 2013, is expected to kick off in summer 2018. The floating plastic barriers will drift across the ocean, pushing the floating debris in front of them to one point where it will be collected for recycling.
Infographics: Anton Perepletchikov / Ekaterina Zabrodina
Perks, banknotes and garbage teleport
Back in the middle of the last century, the problem of garbage was not so acute. The most developed countries simply brought it to Africa and continued to develop further. But very quickly nature showed that everything is cyclical in it. In medieval cities, people simply threw garbage out the window and got the plague as a result. Europeans and Americans received garbage islands in their territories and many other problems from garbage that arrived from Africa, which they sent there. Waste dumped in the desert could not simply dissolve in a vacuum. Since then, the most developed countries have made great strides in terms of disposal and recycling. They approached the issue as always pragmatically, and very quickly learned to make a lot of money out of it.
The garbage business started with division. But not territories or financial flows, but garbage. In European cities, there was massive propaganda about how it is good to put garbage in different bags, and how bad it is to dump it in one heap. Separate collection allowed, even at the consumer stage, to separate organic matter, household waste, glass, plastic, paper, batteries, metals. Secondary sorting took place directly on the conveyor, and then each processor sent the garbage wherever he saw fit.
But if you want not to give, but to receive several banknotes, collect and sort not only your own, but also other people's garbage. This is how some German schoolchildren make money. In the Netherlands, waste-to-fuel plants are also popular. And here, for the collection and separation of waste, you can get discount coupons for utility bills, and even for the purchase of housing.
The Spaniards, unlike other inhabitants of Europe, are not so zealous. They have rubbish on the streets as usual. In some cities, they decided to fight this in a very original way. There are special teleports on the streets of Barcelona. When you throw garbage at them, it immediately ends up in an incinerator.
Surprisingly, according to legend, the British are also not the most clean-cut. In some areas, garbage can only be removed once or twice a week. The authorities are fighting dirty people, punishing them with a pound. Even misplaced trash cans on your lawn can result in a fine of around £ 1,000.
Plastic is one of the most important pollutants of our time
Plastic is one of the most polluting materials for the environment. Polymers are cheap, versatile, and can be used literally anywhere. As a result, almost half of human waste is polymers. Under natural conditions, they decompose for hundreds of years. In the process of decomposition, harmful substances are released, such as styrene, phenol, formaldehyde, etc. At the same time, plastic is difficult and unprofitable to recycle. So in the world, even 10% of plastic waste is not recycled.
The creation of biopolymers is seen as one of the global solutions in the fight against plastic. Already, many of them are actively used in various areas of life. In medicine, during surgical operations, water-soluble polymers are used, which are assimilated by the human body without harm. There are much fewer of them in other areas. However, with the advancement of technology, bioplastics are increasingly appearing among conventional packaging and household goods. This is because before it was simply not profitable for manufacturers to invest in this industry. The production of bioplastics was much more expensive. But with the development of technological progress, obstacles are gradually being removed. In 2013, the biopolymer market was just under $ 65 million. Now it has grown by about three times. According to forecasts, by 2020 the total number of bioplastics will be 5-7% of all polymers. Now it is about 1%.
One of the most widespread biopolymers at the moment is polylactide. It is extracted from lactic acid. The Swiss company Sulzer has set up a plant for the production of such plastics in the Netherlands, which produces about 5,000 tons of biopolymers per year. Interestingly, the company did not have to completely change the technology. For the production of bioplastics, it was enough to slightly modernize the plant for the production of conventional polymers. Even more interesting is that one of the main shareholders of this company is a financial group from Russia - Renova.
Plastic processing is also cultivated in Switzerland itself. To simplify the process, it is customary in the country to separate garbage not only by quality, but also by color. In this case, the container lids are stored in a separate container.
In the United States, polymer waste is dealt with in different ways. For example, in Minneapolis and Saint Pau, it is in principle forbidden to sell food in plastic packaging unless it is made from biopolymers. The states have a program for sorting polymer waste, which is encouraged by the state. For the collected bottles, citizens receive various preferences - from monetary rewards to benefits and bonuses. And in one of the US universities, they came close to technologies that in the future can help get rid of plastic in principle. The plastic is placed in a barrel with a catalyst and heated for 3 hours at a temperature of 700 degrees. The plastic then turns into carbon, which is used to charge the batteries. They are said to work much better and longer than others.
In Japan, 20 years ago, laws were passed severely restricting the use of hydrocarbon polymers. Legal entities pay much less taxes if they sort or recycle such waste themselves. Individuals receive various preferences, for example, in the form of reduced utility bills, etc.
In Germany, the problem was approached differently. In addition to being a cult of waste sorting and separation, German clothing brands also use recycled plastics. The Puma brand has produced a special line of clothing called InCycle. The German "cycle" (which is how the name is translated) included traditional sportswear made from natural fabrics interspersed with polyester, which was obtained from recycled plastic bottles. The entire collection has been created from biodegradable raw materials. The company has installed special waste bins in its stores where you can throw out worn-out shoes. The part that is not biodegradable will go to the production of new clothes. The other will be a polyester granulate, which the manufacturer claims is not harmful to nature.
In Edmonton, Canada, they learned how to make biofuels from plastic waste. It is mainly used for racing cars. Methanol is obtained from the waste, which allows the car to reach tremendous speed. The processed products are also used to heat the city.
In China, scientists conducted an experiment with the decomposition of plastic using petroleum ether with iridium. The plastic is heated with this catalyst at a temperature of 150 degrees. What is obtained from decomposition can be used as fuel. However, the disadvantage is that part of the catalyst is capable of decomposing 30 parts of plastic. Considering that iridium is an expensive material, its commercial use is currently not profitable. Scientists continue to work to reduce the cost of technology.
Plastic recycling in Russia
In Russia, the problem of plastic recycling, like many other types of waste, is quite acute. One of the main problems is that we do not have a common understanding of what to do with plastic, how to sort it, etc. This is not counting infrastructural problems, lack of technology, laws. At the same time, Russia is still taking certain steps in the fight against plastic.
For example, scientists from the Samara University have developed a technology for creating bioplastics based on organic waste, herbs and fruits. At the Kemerovo University, work was carried out on a genetically modified plant based on tephroseris (field cross), which is capable of decomposing plastic.
In the Komi Republic, in the city of Emva, there is a plant for the production of paving slabs from recycled plastic. There are special waste bins in the city, where the population throws out plastic containers. As a result, 30 m2 of plastic paving slabs are produced every day.
Polymer waste is one of the main problems of the 21st century. Different countries struggle with it in different ways. But one thing is clear: waste recycling, possibly on a par with virtual reality, IT, gadgets, is becoming one of the most promising areas of business.
