Europe has a big waste problem, we are creating more than ever and not responsibly discarding or recycling the majority of it. Some people just look at their household waste as an indicator of what waste can consist of, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Waste can consist of food and garden waste, construction and demolition waste, mining waste, industrial waste, e-waste, old cars, batteries, plastic bags, paper, sanitary waste, medical waste, old clothes, furniture the list goes on.
They are many reasons we produce so much waste here in Europe, one of the main reasons is Europe's large population, this has a direct impact on our consumption. Naturally, the more people in a geographical area the more consumption and therefore more waste, as populations all around the world continue to rise so does their waste. Another reason for Europe's ever growing waste is the thousands of factories located throughout the continent, although considerably smaller than continents such as Asia, Europe still produces huge amounts of products in a wide variety of sectors from food production to car manufacturing and to clothing and leather goods. All these sectors produce massive volumes of waste, for example, a New Land Rover Discovery produces 35 tonnes CO2e per vehicle, and with 425,974 vehicles sold worldwide by Landrover Jaguar last year you can quickly do the maths on that huge sum.
It must also be noted that the growth of populations has a huge bearing on waste. Construction of homes and the consumption of new home furnishings also produce huge amounts of waste. According to a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) study, an estimated 8,000 lbs of waste is created from the construction of a 2,000 square foot home. The majority of the 8,000 lbs is wood, cardboard, and drywall. Almost all of that waste ends up in landfills and not properly recycled.
It is crucial that we focus on two aspects - one, do we need to produce on the scale that we currently do and more importantly is making sure that waste is disposed of in the correct manner. whether that be recycling the waste, reusing it or destroying it to reduce any potential damage to the environment.
This is where incineration comes into play, not all waste can be incinerated, nor should it be, but for the waste that needs to be destroyed, it provides a safe, quick and effective way of removing harmful waste on a consistent basis.
Incineration is viewed by some as bad for the environment, but that couldn't actually be further from the truth when done properly. Modern-day incinerators come with secondary chambers and even pollution control systems that are designed to mitigate waste fumes entering the atmosphere. These systems are used to remove harmful and hazardous waste from communities all across the world when landfill isn't a suitable option, they can be used to destroy hazardous medical waste, fallen livestock and pharmaceuticals to name just a few.
All across Europe hospitals, manufacturing plants, food processing and agricultural facilities all benefits from using on-site incinerators as a way to remove waste and increase biosecurity to protect their staff, livestock and local communities, Incinerators help by destroying waste at the source and therefore limit the spread of disease and hazardous material.
If you believe an incinerator would help your business then please feel free to call us on +44 (0) 1704 884020 or email our expert sales advisors at [email protected] where they will be more than happy to discuss your options. Incinerators can not only save you money with expensive waste collection but they can also help manage your waste more efficiently and reduce harmful waste getting processed incorrectly.
