Waste management, why it’s important and how it works
Whether you’re overseeing the operation of a company or an entire city, waste management is paramount. Waste management has an impact on many parts of our lives, including public health and cleanliness. Read on to find out more about waste management, its importance and how it works.
What is waste management?
Waste management refers to the process of ensuring that all waste is disposed of safely and responsibly. This includes organising the right machinery to deal with the waste, organising the rotas and schedules of waste management staff and establishing a logistical chain that disposes of all waste in the most appropriate manner. Waste might refer to a wide range of materials, products, and items, including packaging and food waste to industrial and mechanical waste.
Why is waste management important?
Waste management is important for several reasons, the first of which is that it keeps premises and public areas clean and tidy. A clean and tidy environment is where people want to be, so locations with good waste management will benefit from more tourism. This is the case in Qatar, which has focused greatly on public improvement in upcoming events.
Another significant benefit of waste management is that public health improves. Consider a factory, for example. Good waste management means that excess chemicals and materials are taken away from the factory floor, which reduces the risk of accidents on the property and increases the health of workers that spend less time next to waste. But waste that is disposed of safely also means that fewer chemicals are being released into the atmosphere and fewer new products are being manufactured, reducing the amount of pollution in the air.
How does waste management work?
The way that waste management works can vary depending on the type of waste in question. For the sake of this example, we’ll discuss general waste such as litter and rubbish. The first step in this waste management process is gathering the waste. In public, councils and authorities place bins on streets to collect people’s waste, encouraging them to dispose of it responsibly rather than dropping it on the ground. This significantly speeds the process up, as the public does a large part of the job out of civic pride.
After this point comes the logistics. This includes having staff members empty the bins and then transport all waste to the relevant recycling centers. Once the waste has been sorted, all recyclable waste will be distributed and reused, while the remainder will end up in landfill. While this isn’t ideal, the amount of waste being dumped in landfill has significantly dropped in recent years.
Waste management technologies in airports
Airports make use of several waste management technologies. By balancing these technologies, airports become completely clean environments and remove the risk of contamination on the property and make the quality of life within the airport far higher. Some of these technologies include:
Airport design and consultancy
The focus of the inside of an airport’s design makes a significant difference to the standard of waste management inside the airport. Airports are reliant on having plenty of receptacles in place for people to use when disposing of waste, and the earliest stages of design are an ideal point for this. By planning ahead of time for basic utilities such as waste management solutions, airports increase their chances of resolving waste management issues quickly. This is also the case in any further redesigns and when planning any and all adjustments to terminals, with waste playing a significant role in the way that people perceive airport terminals.
CCTV systems and sensors
Knowing exactly where waste is and the role it plays throughout the airport is an underlying feature of the waste management process. Understanding waste’s location means that the airport sends maintenance people out to the right places at the right times, and having items such as weight sensors in receptacles means that airports know when individual bins are full. This is ideal for airports at peak traffic times, as having a rota in place may not be enough to empty bins at the right time. Introduce smart technology and solutions into the waste management process and gain a significant competitive edge.
More effective use of maintenance staff is one of the most significant tools an airport has available to it. Maintenance crews are responsible for completing some of the more important tasks in the airport, which includes maintaining a pleasant atmosphere for all of the passengers that are taking flights that day. By working in tandem with other systems, maintenance crews react to waste accumulation and collect it, removing it from public spaces and keeping the terminal clean and tidy throughout busy traffic.
If you’re interested in learning more about how waste management systems work and how to apply them in a range of organisations, contact the Bayanat Engineering Qatar team today. We offer a number of services that can support industries in Qatar and beyond to learn more you can visit our website.