The fate of waste

What's in our trash bags?

There is our life, those of our families and those around us.
There is the story of each of us: the sweet of an apple, the content of coffee, the can of an evening with friends, the jam jar that is so much enjoyed, the bottle of our favorite bubble bath, the newspapers we've already read and much more.

We know the life of the objects well until the moment we decide to throw them, but do we know what their path will be after the dumpster?
What do we know about their fate? What is the journey he exchanges?

The legislation that establishes the subject is very articulated: a law in particular indicates the road to be followed, the European Directive 2008/98/EC which aims to protect the environment and health by preventing the negative effects of production and waste management.

To better protect the environment, Member States must take measures to treat their waste in accordance with the following hierarchy, which applies by this priority order:

  1. Reduction: but is it really possible to reduce waste? Find how
  2. Reuse: many objects, old or battered, can still have a useful life. Find out where
  3. Recycling: all the waste is at least partly recyclable but unfortunately, sometimes it is too "polluted" by foreign materials. The first step to maximize recycling is careful recycling! Find how
  4. Other types of recovery, for example the recovery of material and / or energy: with waste that cannot be recycled, excellent compost can be produced or large quantities of energy can be obtained. Find how
  5. Disposal: this is really "the last resort"! If you have produced a waste, but it was not possible to reuse it or recover material or energy, then it will be disposed of in a landfill. Find how