ABSTRACT

Waste management is now a widely accepted term, encompassing all the measures associated with waste avoidance, safe treatment, resource recovery, re-use, and waste disposal, while at the same time considering the environmental and economic factors (Bilitewski et al., 1997). Over the past several decades, many developed countries have become increasingly focused on the major issues relating to waste management: how and where to dispose of the waste generated by a modern society. This focus has fostered the concept of a revised waste hierarchy, a system in which emphasis is placed on waste avoidance rather than on waste disposal (Bilitewski et al., 1997).