Waste Types (source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_waste_types )
Agricultural waste
Animal by-products
Biodegradable waste
Biomedical waste
Bulky waste
Business waste
Chemical waste
Clinical waste
Coffee wastewater
Commercial waste
Composite waste
Construction and demolition waste (C&D waste)
Consumable waste
Controlled waste
Demolition waste
Domestic waste
Electronic waste (e-waste)
Food waste
Gaseous wastes
Green waste
Grey water
Hazardous waste
Heat waste
Household waste
Household hazardous waste
Human waste
Sewage sludge
Industrial waste
Slag
Fly ash
Sludge
Inert waste
Kitchen waste
Litter
Liquid waste
Marine debris
Medical waste
Metabolic waste
Mineral waste
Mixed waste
Municipal solid waste
Nuclear waste (see Radioactive waste)
Packaging waste
Post-consumer waste
Radioactive waste
Low level waste
High level waste
Mixed waste (radioactive/hazardous)
Spent nuclear fuel
Recyclable waste
Residual waste
Retail hazardous waste
Sewage
Sharps waste
Ship disposal
Slaughterhouse waste
Solid wastes
Special waste – see hazardous waste
Toxic waste
Uncontrolled waste
Waste heat
Wastewater
Winery wastewater
Waste Categories
There are many waste types defined by modern systems of waste management, notably including:
· Municipal Waste (includes Household waste, Commercial waste, and Demolition waste)
· Hazardous Waste (includes Industrial waste)
· Bio-medical Waste (includes Clinical waste)
· Special Hazardous waste (includes Radioactive waste, explosives waste, and Electronic waste (e-waste))
Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage (US) and refuse or rubbish (UK), is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. This is the category of waste that I am particualrly focused on.
Litter consists of waste products that have been disposed of improperly, without consent, in an inappropriate location. Litter can also be used as a verb. To litter means to throw (often man-made) objects onto the ground and leave them as opposed to disposing of them properly. While most litter is associated with containers, wrappers and paper product; dumped items may include furniture, appliances (white goods), old electronics (e-waste), abandoned vehicles or construction materials. These categories of waste often contain hazardous materials. The distinction between littering and illegal dumping is sometimes defined by volume or the location of the disposed of waste.
Post-Consumer Waste (source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-consumer_waste )
Post-consumer waste is a waste type produced by the end consumer of a material stream; that is, where the waste-producing use did not involve the production of another product.
Quite commonly, it is simply the garbage that individuals routinely discard, either in a waste receptacle or a dump, or by littering, incinerating, pouring down the drain, or washing into the gutter.
Post-consumer waste is distinguished from pre-consumer waste, which is the reintroduction of manufacturing scrap (such as trimmings from paper production, defective aluminum cans, etc.) back into the manufacturing process. Pre-consumer waste is commonly used in manufacturing industries, and is often not considered recycling in the traditional sense.
Types of Post-Consumer Waste
· packaging
· parts that are not needed, such as fruit skins, bones in meat, etc.
· undesired things received, (e.g.: advertising material in the mailbox; a flyer received in the street without having the opportunity to refuse; dust, weeds, fallen leaves, etc.)
· things one no longer needs, e.g. a magazine that has been read, things replaced by new versions, clothes out of fashion, remaining food that one cannot keep or does not want to keep
· broken things, things no longer working, spoiled food, worn-out clothes, clothes which no longer fit
· outgrown items toys, clothing, books, schoolwork
· disposables such as Kleenex and finished batteries
· human waste, waste of pets, waste water from various forms of cleaning
· “post-life waste”: (one’s body or ashes; things people do not want and cannot sell; broken/unused cars)
