Key Terms: Urban Waste & Disposal (AQA A Level Geography): Revision Note

Urban waste generation - key terms

Commercial waste – Waste produced by businesses such as offices, restaurants, and shops, including food waste, paper, plastics, and hazardous materials.

Construction waste – Material discarded from building, demolition, and renovation sites, including concrete, bricks, wood, and asbestos.

Domestic waste – Household waste such as food, plastics, paper, garden waste, and electrical goods.

Global waste trade – The international export of waste, often from HDEs to LDEs or EMEs, for processing or disposal.

Illegal dumping – The unauthorised disposal of waste, especially common in LDEs, leading to pollution and health hazards.

Industrial waste – By-products of manufacturing and power generation, including packaging, hazardous waste, and ash.

Institutional waste – Waste from facilities like hospitals, schools, and government buildings, often including paper, food, and non-medical waste.

Leachate – Liquid that drains from landfill, potentially polluting soil and water unless properly managed.

Lifestyle factors – Habits such as processed food consumption or reliance on disposable products, which increase the complexity and quantity of waste.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) – Waste collected by local authorities, typically from households, institutions, and public spaces.

Open dumping – A waste disposal method used in many LDEs where waste is burned or left exposed, causing pollution and health issues.

Recycling rates – The proportion of waste that is recycled; varies widely between countries and depends on infrastructure and public behaviour.

Sources of waste – Different sectors that generate waste: domestic, industrial, commercial, institutional, municipal, and construction.

Throw-away culture – A consumer mindset that leads to the frequent disposal of items such as clothing or electronics after minimal use.

Waste per capita – A measure of how much waste is produced by each person in a country; often highest in HDEs.

Waste streams – Flows of waste from origin to disposal or recycling; divided into material-based (e.g. paper, metals) and product-based (e.g. electronics, batteries).

Alternative approaches to waste - key terms

3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) – A waste hierarchy promoting reduced consumption, reuse of items, and recycling to limit landfill and resource use.

Energy recovery – The process of generating energy through incinerating waste, converting heat into electricity or steam.

Foraging – Collecting unused or discarded food from public spaces as a way to reduce waste.

Freeganism – A lifestyle choice involving reclaiming and eating discarded food to reduce environmental impact and consumerism.

Greenhouse gas reduction – An environmental benefit of recycling and energy recovery, which reduce the need for raw material extraction and fossil fuels.

Incineration – The burning of waste at high temperatures, sometimes with energy recovery; reduces landfill volume but can produce toxic ash and emissions.

Landfill – The disposal of waste by burial; modern sites are lined and managed, but still pose environmental concerns such as methane release.

Leachate ponds – Facilities used to collect and treat contaminated liquid runoff from landfill sites.

Recovery – Reprocessing waste into new products or materials (e.g. crushed concrete used as road base).

Recycling – Converting waste materials into new products; reduces environmental impact but requires infrastructure and energy.

Repurposing – Finding new uses for items instead of discarding them (e.g. using bottles as plant protectors).

Submergence – The illegal dumping of waste into oceans, causing severe harm to marine ecosystems.

Trade – The export and import of waste between countries, often involving unregulated or hazardous waste disposal in LDEs.

Waste ash – Residue left after incineration; can sometimes be repurposed, but may contain toxins needing specialist disposal.

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) – A waste category covering discarded electronics, often exported to LDEs for informal recycling.