Worldwide Trash Disposal (Case Study Sample)

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WORLDWIDE TRASH DISPOSAL
Part One: Report Abstract
In the past few decades, the case of global warming or greenhouse effect has been a major concern to environmentalists, lobby groups, non-governmental organizations and governments and their institutions all over the globe. This case outlines the importance of global waste management in the bid to prevent the emission of greenhouse gases. The environmental relevance of this case is the prevention of global warming and hence the elimination of the impending climate changes. This has then called on for the ethical considerations of ensuring that the citizens, wastes management organizations and governments take measures to separate waste and engage in waste material re-use and recycling. These should be in such a way that it does not have negative implications on the citizens and that they fully support the efforts. Various stakeholders are pointed out and they include the public, waste collection and management organizations and the government and its institutions. Other indirect stakeholders include national environmental organizations, international organizations such as the EU and lobby groups. It is clear that through massive investment in innovative technologies in waste collection and construction techniques, we can rid the global trash disposal crisis.
Part Two: Case Study Summary
There is no doubt that these days many nations face alarming waste management crisis, as their landfills reach capacity and by that affecting the environment negatively. However, there are now new methods in which waste-collection is done and there are also new construction techniques to help in the disposal of waste. As we all know waste management is entirely linked to environmental quality and climate change, so whenever paper, food and other waste breakdown in land fields, we notice that large amounts of methane are erased; Methane is an organic compound that can trap heat more than carbon dioxide. The process below shows how the waste breakdown affects the environment.


It is also known that waste management can affect human health directly if the management is not well organized. As we all know chemicals from degrading waste can contaminate water supplies, which we need in our daily life, and also the harmful dioxins released from incinerators can also affect the soil and poison the plantations. However, if the landfills are not taken care of, then such places may become shelter for rats and flies, which are dangerous agents for fatal diseases. This is clearly seen in the streets of the city of Naples in Italy where they have tons of trash that forced the government to transport its waste to Hamburg in Germany. The two cities are facing challenges to variety of approaches to waste management. One of the solutions is that both cities used the most modern waste management technology and these days Hamburg produces 1.4 million tons of waste and recycles nearly 60 percent of it.  These days most European countries can hardly meet the 2020 target in dealing with reducing the amount of the ecological waste put into landfills to 35 percent instead of 75 percent and this is a huge problem to the European communities. (Kallman, 2008)
It is observed nowadays that many Dutch cities have managed the waste with a PAYT program (pay as you throw) that urges people to buy plastic garbage bags depending on the waste they expect to produce. By this, the recycling rate increased from 45 percent to 65 percent. We can also take the United States as an example in which the method of re-use and recycling is very effective in waste management.
  According to Kallman, more than 7,000 communities are using the PAYT method in waste management and this has helped people to reduce the amount of waste produced. It’s also obvious that management of waste can be dangerous and can affect the environment and human health negatively. If recycling is expanded with modern trash collection schemes and clean incinerators then the volume of waste produce will be dramatically reduced.
Environmental Relevance
The disposal of waste is now affecting vast areas of land in many countries in the world, especially the USA and some other countries in Europe like France, Germany and Austria. Such countries are using the recycling process to get rid of waste and see the community use a lot of recycled materials without any complaints. Recycled materials are cheap and they help save the environment from being harmed by the amount of waste used by people.
Ethical Relevance
Ethically most countries in the world encourage their people to separate the material of waste and take into consideration the recycling process as a means to help the environment being polluted and affected.
Part Three: Stakeholders and their ethical motivations
This case affects a number of stakeholders, directly or indirectly. The direct stakeholders include the general public, waste collection and management organizations and the government and its allied institutions. The indirect stakeholders on the other hand include the environmental lobbyists, national environmental organization and international organizations such as the European Union.
Each of the above stakeholders plays specific roles in the global trash disposal case. Firstly, the public generates most of the waste and seeks for ways to dispose it off. The waste collection and management organizations collect this generated waste from the households and offer disposal services. The government has the role of establishing the waste collection and disposal principles to govern both the public and waste collection and management organizations. Fourthly, the national environmental organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are established to put on the checks and balances regarding the control of environmental impact resulting from waste disposal, for example International organizations and in particular the EU have established guidelines to be met by all member countries. Lastly, environmentalists and environmental lobby groups play the guidance and watchdog role. They put on the alarm in case of any environmental concerns that they note. (Kallman, 2008)
Similarly, these stakeholders have significant influence on the global trash disposal crisis. The public directly determines the total amount of trash generated and how much of this is re-used or recycled. For this reason, the public influences how this trash is disposed and hence its impact on the environment. The trash collection and management organizations influence the environmental impact depending on the technologies and constructions used. For example, landfills and incinerators are still environmental hazards as compared to re-use and recycling. The government’s effect comes in the regulations and enforcement of the trash disposal rules. If for instance it shows lenience to the public and the collection and disposal originations, the environment will be negatively affected (De Cremer, 2009, p.227).
The national environmental bodies such as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) affect the case because they act as the controllers. They check the government and ensure that all principal rules are enforced. International organizations such as the EU offer directives and standards to be followed and adhered to by all member countries. The EU’s waste and landfill directives forces European countries to rethink their waste disposal or risk being sued like Italy (Kallman, 2008). Environmentalists and environmental lobby groups raise the alarm when any of the direct stakeholders is not playing their part. Kallman says that environmental concerns only come to light when these efforts fail.
The two ethical motivators that have shaped the decisions made in this case are related to health and the environment. Public health is greatly undermined by poor waste disposal. For this reason, many or the decisions have been made so as to curb diseases and ensure a healthy popu...