3R Concepts in Solid Waste Management

Solid Waste:

Solid waste refers to the range of garbage arising from animal and human activities that are
discarded as unwanted and useless. Solid waste is generated from industrial, residential and
commercial activities , mostly occur from industrial site.

Solid Waste Management:

Solid Waste Management is defined as the discipline associated with control of generation,
storage, collection, transport or transfer, processing and disposal of solid waste materials in a
way that best addresses the range of public health, conservation, economics, aesthetic,
engineering and other environmental considerations.
In its scope, solid waste management includes planning, administrative, financial, engineering
and legal functions. Solutions might include complex inter-disciplinary relations among fields
such as public health, city and regional planning, political science, geography, sociology,
economics, communication and conservation, demography, engineering and material sciences.
The primary goal of solid waste management is reducing and eliminating adverse impacts of
waste materials on human health and environment to support economic development and
superior quality of life.
It includes these steps:

 Collecting of waste
 Treatment of waste
 Disposal

Waste Management
Solid waste management in Textile :
Textile industry is the leading and foremost industry of Pakistan. Textile industry is considered
as the backbone of the country's economy. In present days textile sector is facing lot of crises,
from all of them one is its waste management. Cotton is the basic raw material which used the
yarn manufacturing and yarn then for other processes of textile supply chain. Here we studied
and discussed all other types of waste of textile sector which some what also originate from the
cotton. The synthetic solid waste also discussed in the domain of spinning waste, weaving
waste, chemical/processing waste and garment waste. The aim of this paper is to manage these
all types of waste by analyzing and studying the variables which are Proper Recycling,
Transportation, health care for collectors, fully equipped staff and through management
succession. And we conclude that if these variables manage properly than it can control the
harmful effects of waste and also play a vital role in the improvement of financial condition of
the textile industry.
3 R’s :
To improve overall waste management system these 3 steps must be follows

 Reduce: Reduction of waste generation (Don’t be wasteful. Reduce garbage.)

 Reuse: Reuse of products and parts (Use things again and again.)

 Recycle: Use of recycled resources (Recycle resources for reuse.)

As per Missouri Department of Natural Resources,

“The three R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle – all help to cut down on the amount of waste we
throw away. They conserve natural resources, landfill space and energy. Plus, the three R’s save
land and money communities must use to dispose of waste in landfills. Siting a new landfill has
become difficult and more expensive due to environmental regulations and public opposition.”
 3 R’s in Textile Industry:

REDUCE:
Reducing water consumption:
Water is used extensively throughout textile processing operations. Almost all dyes, specialty
chemicals, and finishing chemicals are applied to textile substrates from water baths. In addition,
most fabric preparation steps, including desizing, scouring, bleaching, and mercerizing, use
aqueous systems. The amount of water used varies widely in the industry, depending on the
specific processes operated at the mill, the equipment used, and the prevailing management
philosophy concerning water use. Reducing water consumption in textile processing is important
for furthering pollution prevention. Water consumption in a textile factory can be reduced by
implementing various changes such as;

 Repair leaks, faulty valves, etc.

 Turn off water when machines are not running
 Reduce the number of process steps
 Using water efficient processes and equipment

Reducing chemical consumption:

The majority of chemicals applied to the fabric are washed off and sent to drain. Therefore,
reducing chemical consumption can lead to a reduction in effluent strength and therefore lower
treatment costs, as well as overall savings in chemical costs. Various options for reducing
chemical use are listed below:
 Recipe optimization
 Dosing control
 Pre-screen chemicals and raw materials
 Chemical substitution
 Correct storage and handling
 Process changes

Energy conservation:
As with water conservation, reductions in energy use can result in substantial savings and lower
emissions from boilers or generating plants. They include optimizing compressed air generation,
installing compressor control systems, and general housekeeping .Reduce cooling loads,decrease
condensing temperature (as a guideline, reducing condensing temperature by 1ºC will yield
savings of between 2% and 4% of annual refrigeration cost); Increase evaporating temperature
(as a guideline, increasing evaporator temperature by 1ºC will yield savings of between 2% and
4% of annual refrigeration cost); Compressor control, incorrect control of compressors can
increase costs by 20%, or more; Boiler blow down, economizers, insulation, flash steam recovery,
good housekeeping, installing heat exchangers, optimizing plant environmental conditions,
shutting off of lighting, air-conditioning, etc.

Reducing solid waste:

In terms of volume, solid waste is the second largest waste stream in the textile industry next to
liquid effluent. There are a number of waste minimization options available to reduce solid waste,
and these include:

 Reducing the amount of packaging material by improved purchasing practices such as

ordering raw materials in bulk or returnable intermediate bulk containers (IBCs). This
reduces spillages, handling costs, exposure of workers to chemicals and the amount of
storage space required.
 Purchasing chemicals in returnable drums. Enquire if vendors will accept unwashed drums
as this will reduce the waste water generated in the factory. If possible, ordering chemicals
in IBCs rather than bags as these are easily broken, causing spillages.
 Purchasing yarn on reusable plastic cones rather than cardboard cones.
 Reducing seam waste through effective training programs.
 Selling waste fibers, sweeps, rags, yarn and cloth scraps.

Reducing toxicity:
Compounds that contribute to the aquatic toxicity of textile effluent include salt,metals,
surfactants, toxic organic chemicals, biocides and toxic anions. Some methods of reducing the
use of these compounds are to :

 Reduce metal content through careful pre-screening of chemicals and dyes for metal
content and using alternatives where possible.

 Reduce the amount of salt in the effluent by optimizing recipes, using low-salt dyes,
reusing dye baths and optimizing dyeing temperatures.

 Use biodegradable surfactants such as linear alcohol ethoxylates.

 Replace chlorinated solvents with unchlorinated alternatives

 Carefully pre-screen chemicals for their toxic nature using MSDS (Material Safety Data
Sheet).
REUSE :
The second R is reuse. In textile industries there are a lot of things in process that can be reuse
in other processes.By reusing it not only reduce waste but it also save money. Some reuse
examples are give

Re-use process water:

This requires a study of the various processes and determining where water of lower quality can
be used. For example, final rinse water from one process can be used forthe first rinse of another
process.

Reusing water from auxiliary processes:

The water used in the rinsing of ion-exchange columns and sand filters can be reused elsewhere
in the factory.The main environmental concern in the textile industry is about the amount of
water discharged and the chemical load it carries. We can reduce the amount of water
consumption, if these mentioned guidelines are followed

Chemical recovery and reuse:

Chemical use may be reduced through recovery and reuse. For example, sodium hydroxide from
mercerising can be recovered through evaporation. Dye baths may be reused and size can be
recovered for reuse.

RECYCLE :
The third and final R in the 3R Waste Hierarchy is Recycle. Recycling involves recovering the
valuable raw materials from a product, using either mechanical or chemical recovery processes,
and utilizing these as inputs into new products. Recycling is a key concept of modern waste
management. Ninety-nine percent of used textiles are recyclable.some of recycling done in
textile industry are mention below;

Thermal Recycling :
Thermal recycling is intended to recover heat energy generated from the incineration of fibre
wastes as thermal or electrical energy.
Chemical Recycling :
Chemical recycling recovers monomers from waste fibres by polymer decomposition. Impurities
can be easily removed from recovered monomers, so their quality will be made exactly equal to
virgin monomers.

Yarns from Recycled Fibres:

The waste produced in a textile mill is an important factor in determining the operating cost
and therefore in influencing mill profits. The recovered fibers from waste can be used to
produce blended yarns in different portions. These can be reused for the open end spinning
and friction spinning.

Upholstery Material from Recycled Fibres:

At least 3- 4% of the weft yarn including catch ends is unavoidable waste in every type of
weaving machine. The catch selvedge yarn strip is sold at throw away price. The fibers are
separated by the garnetter who uses them for stuffing of pillows and quilts. Use this waste for
making fancy composites for floor covering.

Breakdown of fabric to fibre:

To breakdown of fabric to fibre through cutting, shredding, carding, and other mechanical
processes. The fibre is then reengineered into value-added products. These products include
stuffing, carpet underlay’s, building materials such as insulation and roofing felt, and low-end
blankets.

Re-design of used clothing:

Current fashion trends are reflected by a team of young designers who use and customize
second-hand clothes for a chain of specialty vintage clothing.

Wiping and polishing clothes :

Clothing that has seen the end of its useful life as such may be turned into wiping or polishing
cloths for industrial use. T-shirts are a primary source for wiping and polishing clothes because
the cotton fibres makes an absorbent rag and polishing cloth. Old textiles, mostly cotton are
often converted to wipes, kitchen towels, dusting cloth. If the garments are in a good condition
they are generally passed down to the under privileged people. Garments are collected by
different NGOs to distribute to the people after a natural calamity like floods.
CONCLUSION:
The issues due to textile waste generation are related to over consumption of textiles in
western world. The diversion of old textiles for reuse meets the requirements of clothing for
70% of the population in developing countries. Like other wastes, textile waste disposal
through landfill and incineration is responsible for global warming. Though textile recycling has
old history, today it has become multibillion industry producing innovative high value products.
Many agencies and stake holders are making efforts to contribute towards the aim for saving in
resources of raw materials, energy water etc. and reducing the impact on environment for
sustainable development. In future textile recycling would be as important industrial activity as
textile manufacturing.