Waste

Waste and wastes are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance which is discarded after primary use, or it is worthless, defective and of no use.

The term is often subjective (because waste to one person is not necessarily waste to another) and sometimes objectively inaccurate (for example, to send scrap metals to a landfill is to inaccurately classify them as waste, because they are recyclable). Examples include municipal solid waste (household trash/refuse), hazardous waste, wastewater (such as sewage, which contains bodily wastes (feces and urine) and surface runoff), radioactive waste, and others.

Definitions

United Nations Environment Program

According to the Basel Convention,

United Nations Statistics Division, Glossary of Environment Statistics

European Union

Under the Waste Framework Directive, the European Union defines waste as "an object the holder discards, intends to discard or is required to discard."

Types

There are many waste types defined by modern systems of waste management, notably including:

Latest News for: Waste plastic recycle

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Plastic recycling presents an economic opportunity too for Gulf states

Gulf News 03 Jun 2023
This is largely due to heightened awareness of the plastic waste crisis and resulting demand for recycled plastics ... To achieve this, the country has invested in recycling facilities and implemented various initiatives to promote plastic waste reduction ... for plastic waste in 2020....
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Great savings in a circular economy

The Keene Sentinel 03 Jun 2023
“Of the 8.7 billion tonnes of plastic waste produced between 1950 and 2021, only 11 percent has ever gone through recycling ... Efforts to reduce plastic waste include bans on bags and styrofoam take-out containers, regulations on reducing plastic in packaging and in restaurants, and ......
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‘Swimming in plastic’: Greek fishermen fight pollution

Arab News 03 Jun 2023
The collected plastic is transported ... But nearly half of the total, 44 percent, is non-recyclable plastic. Recycling marine waste is a “challenge” because the plastic is degraded by its exposure underwater, said Hana Pertot, sales manager of the Skyplast recycling plant in Megara....
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fight plastic pollution

The Eastern Herald 03 Jun 2023
The Chinese people already understand that from the material point of view, plastic has good recycling ability like other materials such as steel and non-ferrous metals. Plastic pollution will no longer be a problem once waste plastics are recycled and disposed of effectively....
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Letters to the Editor Saturday, June 3

The Daily Gazette 03 Jun 2023
... to reduce the amount of packaging used overall (including single-use plastic and packaging) by 50% over 12 years, make the remaining packaging truly recyclable or reusable, reduce toxins used in packaging, and would hold producers accountable for their waste instead of taxpayers....
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Finding options for wasted food in Olmsted County

Post Bulletin 03 Jun 2023
... recyclables, which could be expanded to include some form of food-waste sorting as a second phase ... While the project will start with sorting paper, plastics and other recyclables, county commissioners are already discussing potential expansion efforts related to food waste....
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Emirates unveils new closed loop recycling initiative to reduce plastic

TravelDailyNews 02 Jun 2023
Emirates’ commitment to reducing plastic waste. Emirates is committed to reducing plastic waste and has already implemented several initiatives in addition to the new closed loop recycling project ... The hygiene covers for bowls on Emirates meal trays and plastic tumblers are made from 80% recycled plastic (rPET)....
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Study: SE Asians don't recycle plastic bottles

The Manila Times 02 Jun 2023
Regional offices have implemented similar programs to motivate more consumers to collect and convert their recyclable wastes and single-use plastics into Environmental Points that can be used to buy groceries and goods, and even pay for utilities like electricity, water and internet service....
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Barangays urged to join global effort to beat plastic pollution

Sun Star 02 Jun 2023
THE Bacolod City Council approved a resolution enjoining all barangays in the city in coordination with the Department of Public Services (DPS) to join the global effort to beat plastic pollution by taking action to recover all recyclable plastic wastes back to circular economy ......
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Unbeaten evil of single-use plasticIn 2022, the Union government banned a range of plastic items ...

Deccan Herald 02 Jun 2023
A note given by the BBMP says that the plastic collected in two streams—by routine door-to-door collection and by seizures—is handed over to dry waste collection centres which are linked to recycling units ... that 1% of the plastic waste is non-recyclable and goes to landfill....
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‘Swimming in plastic’: fishers fight pollution

Taipei Times 02 Jun 2023
The collected plastic is transported to a recycling plant in the industrial area of Megara, near Keratsini, to be turned into pellets to make new products such as socks, swimwear or furniture ... Recycling marine waste is a “challenge” because the plastic is degraded by its exposure underwater, recycling plant Skyplast sales manager Hana Pertot said....
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'Swimming in plastic': Greek fishermen fight pollution

Urdu Point 02 Jun 2023
The collected plastic is transported ... But nearly half of the total, 44 percent, is non-recyclable plastic. Recycling marine waste is a "challenge" because the plastic is degraded by its exposure underwater, said Hana Pertot, sales manager of the Skyplast recycling plant in Megara....
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The global plastics treaty can fight climate change — if it reduces plastic production

Grist 02 Jun 2023
According to Zero Waste Europe, technological solutions like increasing recycling rates and switching to plant-based plastics would only lower that number to about 50 billion metric tons, exceeding the plastics-specific carbon budget by more than 200 percent....

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a media conference during the European Political Community Summit at the Mimi Castle in Bulboaca, Moldova, Thursday, June 1, 2023. Leaders met in Moldova Thursday for a summit aiming to show a united front in the face of Russia's war in Ukraine and underscore support for the Eastern European country's ambitions to draw closer to the West and keep Moscow at bay.
AP / Andreea Alexandru

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