If you were asked, which is the most environmentally friendly, landfills, recycling, or incineration of waste, which would you say it is? If you guessed recycling, you are correct! But does being environmentally superior make it the overall best option for waste disposal? There are many times that recycling is not possible. Incineration can be a good option and in some places it is used to generate power, but it requires careful management in order to be safe. Sometimes, a landfill is the only possibility. You might think of landfills as toxic dumping grounds, but that is not the case. Modern landfills are eco-friendly, due to the laws, regulations, and standards enacted at the urging of environmental experts and conservationists. Let’s take a closer look at all of the different methods of waste disposal, and the pros and cons of each.

• We’ll begin by discussing landfills. Did you know that landfills can be used as a source of energy? If landfills are mined for materials and energy, we can extract valuable materials from them, including aluminium, zinc, copper, steel, as well as fuel. We can also upcycle mineral residue from landfills and create green, low-carbon cement. This type of usage can transform landfills into an opportunity for resource recovery and a source of employment, rather than a threat and an expense. What’s more, modern regulations ensure that methods like anaerobic digestion are used in landfills, and that landfills are monitored and protected against leakage and other hazards. The problems of landfill sites arise primarily from the simple fact that our space is finite. Waste has been discarded in landfill sites for more than 100 years, and while most landfills in prosperous nations are protected by the aforementioned regulations, in places like Asia and Africa you can still find landfills that are simply waste dumps. A landfill site that has no protection technology is a dangerous place, causing concerns not only for local pollution of soil, water, and air, but also for global concerns in terms of greenhouse-gas emissions. The good news is that, in addition to finding ways to make landfills safer and more productive, we have also greatly reduced the amount of waste that goes into them. In the UK, the amount of waste that ends up in the landfills has dropped from 25,019 tonnes in 2010 to 12,634 tonnes in 2020, and is continuing on a downward trend.
• Next up, incineration. The use of a waste incinerator must be handled properly. An incinerator can certainly prevent waste from piling up in a landfill, which not only clears up waste but also reduces the risk of groundwater contamination. However, it is not without its hazards and complications. Done safely, incineration can be used as a source of energy. Handled incorrectly, though, incinerated waste can produce toxic fumes. What’s more, the cost of putting technology in place to productively incinerate waste is prohibitive, so incineration is really only a practical solution in the developed world. Still, a look at the example set by Sweden shows the promise of using incineration alongside other waste disposal methods. Sweden recycles about half of the waste it generates, and most of the rest goes to waste-to-energy incineration plants that produce enough energy to power over two million homes. Less than one percent of Sweden’s solid waste ends up in a landfill.
• Recycling is the superior option in many ways. By recycling instead of sending waste to the landfill, we can greatly reduce carbon emissions. What’s more, recycling allows us to spend fewer resources producing new items, which means less cost as well as less industrial waste. When plastic items are created from recycled materials, for example, this uses only about two thirds the energy that it would take to produce new items from virgin materials. This is not only true of plastic, but of many other items as well. Glass can be recycled infinitely, as can some metals, and using recycled materials to produce new products conserves our natural resources, including timber, water, and minerals. What’s more, it reduces air pollution, not only by decreasing the need for incineration or landfills, but also by reducing the energy used in gathering and processing raw materials. Another benefit of recycling that sometimes goes unnoticed is job creation. Recycling generates two jobs per 1,000 tonnes of waste, while waste disposal only generates one job per 10,000 tonnes. However, there is only a 44 percent recycling rate in the UK as of the latest figures. What’s more, many items sent to recycling centres cannot be recycled, due to contamination.

What can be done for better waste management? It starts at the household level. The mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle is the way forward. By reducing the amount of rubbish each household generates, we can keep recyclable items out of the landfill and send reusable items where they will do the most good. This will result in the preservation of our precious natural resources, the protection of the environment, and the prevention of landfill overflow.

Since 2017, WRC Skip Hire has been providing hassle-free waste management services, offering a wide selection of skips for both home projects and building sites. Our fully insured and licensed skip hire is available to clients throughout Scotland, and we work hard to understand our clients demands so that we can meet their needs while providing a complete waste management solution in full compliance with Zero Waste Scotland regulations. We are leaders in the recycling and waste sector, and we’re committed to remaining current with the latest solutions in technology, keeping up with the ongoing modifications and development of recycling and waste legislation. Additionally, as a local, family owned business, we are dedicated to providing unmatched service delivery, going above and beyond for our customers to ensure their needs are met. For more information or to make an enquiry, call 0141 812 1587 or contact us through our website.