Z-squared: an evaluation of waste management options

About the report

An evaluation of waste management options for the proposed 2,000 home Z-squared community in the Thames Gateway.

The report is one of ten in our Z-squared research report series.

Published April 2006
Pages 40

Download report PDF

........................................................................................................
BioRegional is a registered charity – if you would like to make a donation for this report please visit www.justgiving.com to do so securely on-line – suggested donation £4.00.  

Your support will help us to continue developing vital solutions for sustainable living.

Introduction

BioRegional Development Group (BioRegional), in partnership with the WWF, have launched an initiative to design and develop a 2,000 dwelling (5,000 inhabitants) zero-waste and zero-carbon (‘Z-squared’) community in the Thames Gateway outside of London. The aim is to demonstrate the commercial viability of an infrastructure-led concept design of a sustainable community whose residents only consume their “fair share” of the earth’s resources.

The Z-squared project is committed to a waste management strategy that promotes high levels of waste separation in order to maximise recycling, recovery and re-use. Its objective is to match individual waste stream characteristics to the most suitable treatment options in order to divert as much as is possible from landfill. Such an approach is commensurate with the UK’s hierarchical waste strategy which recognises that disposing of waste in landfill is the least sustainable waste management approach.

But achieving a ‘zero waste’ goal, through waste reduction, re-use and recycling alone is currently not feasible because the level of contamination of residual Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) restricts a proportion of it from being recoverable for conversion into a value-added product. Consequently, there will always be some proportion of the waste generated that will require further management such as via energy recovery or through disposal in a landfill.

BioRegional therefore commissioned waste experts Juniper to evaluate small-scale treatment technologies for converting this residual waste fraction into energy and then to compare such an approach against other disposal or recovery options.

Download report PDF
........................................................................................................
BioRegional is a registered charity – if you would like to make a donation for this report please visit www.justgiving.com to do so securely on-line – suggested donation £4.00.  

Your support will help us to continue developing vital solutions for sustainable living.