2. What types of waste are there?
 Biodegradable - will rot away like a banana skin
 Non-biodegradable - sits in the ground for years without breaking
down, like plastic
 Domestic – waste produced in peoples houses
 Industrial – waste produced by factories
 Hazardous and non-hazardous
 Nuclear – waste produced from nuclear power plants is extremely
dangerous to human health and causes cancer.
 Toxic – poisonous to humans and the environment
 Recyclable and non-recyclable
 Solid and liquid
 Electrical

3. What are the differences between
HIC and LIC waste production?
 HIC = High Income Country (a rich country)
 LIC = Low Income Country (a poor country)
 HICs create more waste as they have more disposable income (more money)
to buy products (stuff and things)
 Many products in HICs are wrapped in lots of plastic, so lots more waste is
produced.
 Many more people can read and write in HICs which means there is much
more paper waste.
 In LICs people will recycle goods for personal use like clothes.
 In HICs more products are designed for single use only – this is known as a
throw away society!
 LICs tend to be poorer so less people can afford to buy products so less waste
is produced.

4. Different types of Waste in
HICs
HIC’s not only produce more waste than LIC’s but
they also produce different waste:
Electronic goods
White goods
Packaging

5. Domestic Waste in HICs
We throw away 15 million mobile
phones a year
Mobile phones contain harmful metals
like lead and mercury which damage
the planet
It is a sign of a throw away society that
12 years ago we would keep a PC for 10
years. Now we only keep a PC for 3
years.

6. Packaging – 3 types
 Primary Packaging – the wrapping or containers that are taken off
the product by us when we buy it
 Secondary Packaging – larger boxes that are used to group products
together in shops
 Transit Packaging – the cardboard and plastic wrapping like bubble
wrap that is used to load, unload and transport the goods.

7. Packaging
If you look at these two pie charts carefully you can see that the heaviest type of
packaging is paper and board. However it is used to package 25% of products.
Plastic accounts for only 20% of the weight of packaging. However it is used
much more than paper (53%). This is because it is light and quite strong.

8. The Waste Hierarchy
This shows the order of priority that should exist when dealing with waste.
Disposal (at the bottom) means just chucking it in the landfill without doing
anything to it. This is the worst option for waste disposal
Prevention means not using as much packaging in the first place, thus creating less
waste e.g. reusable carrier bags.

9. The Waste Hierarchy
Recycling is the option preferred by most governments because:
•Stops rubbish going into landfill
•Saves energy
•Reduces greenhouse gases
•Saves resources
•Doesn’t cost anything
•Can be done by all households
•Reduces the demand for raw materials (we don’t need new paper when
we can use recycled paper

10. The Waste Hierarchy
Recycling is the option preferred by most governments because:
•Stops rubbish going into landfill
•Saves energy
•Reduces greenhouse gases
•Saves resources
•Doesn’t cost anything
•Can be done by all households
•Reduces the demand for raw materials (we don’t need new paper when
we can use recycled paper