Different Wastes

Municipal Waste

The image shows a bin on a street packed full of household and commerical waste.

Municipal Waste

The image shows a bin on a street packed full of household and commerical waste.

Household waste is produced within a home setting, while Commercial waste comes from premises used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a trade/business or for sport, recreation, education or entertainment. Both of these wastes together are labelled Municipal Waste.

The quantity of municipal waste recovered in 2011 increased by 5% on that reported in 2010 (from 42% to 47%, as a proportion of waste generated). The landfill of municipal waste decreased by a corresponding amount. The total managed municipal waste arisings comprised 1,406,576 tonnes of household waste, 1,114,829 tonnes of commercial waste and 25,172 tonnes of street cleansing waste (EPA, 2013).

Biodegradable municipal waste includes items like wood, paper and cardboard that can undergo biological decomposition. Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is combustible materials that can be converted into energy in an industrial furnace.

Agricultural waste comes in both non-natural and natural forms. Non-natural waste includes packaging, non-packaging plastics (silage wrapping), animal health products (syringes) and waste from machinery (oil, tyres and batteries).

Manufacturing is the second greatest source of waste. The waste includes: food, beverages, basic metals, paper products, wood products and chemical products.

Construction and demolition waste is the unwanted material that arises from construction, renovation and demolition activities. The amount of waste generated in this sector has decreased dramatically because of the economic downturn. The quantity managed in 2011 (2,498,946t) represented a 3% decrease on that reported in 2010. 2,358,714t of waste was estimated as recovered and 35,404t (2% of the overall managed) was disposed at EPA licensed landfills (EPA, 2013).