Maximizing resource recovery from waste streams

Resource conservation and waste management have become two sides of the same argument. According to the Institute for Local Self Reliance in the U.S., the recycling revolution begun in the 1960s was a reaction "to the levels of waste in our economy and the pollution and suffering these habits cause worldwide" [1, 2]. However, the recycling target-setting of the early 1990s was focused on diversion from landfill, and it has taken another 10 years for the focus to shift back to the resource values approach, driven largely by the application of Life Cycle Assessment to the waste management system. This paper examines materials in the waste stream to determine the "value proposition" in each material group, and to examine options for efficient resource use and recovery. Specifically, it discusses waste management issues associated with clean fill, food waste, timber waste, concrete and bricks, green waste, paper and board, metals, plastics, and glass.