Solid waste services in Aurora are what at one time were simply called garbage management. For all of mankind’s time on the earth, solid waste has been an issue and as more people inhabit the earth, the more solid waste there is to dispose of. Waste is being generated by every consumer as well as the waste that is generated by manufacturing industries, commercial establishments, the healthcare industries, etc. Solid waste management is the system that is used to handle all this waste; it is a combination of efforts between street side garbage collection, recycling, landfills and incineration.
In all first world nations, solid waste management is a multi-million dollar industry, irrespective of the amount of money; it is an absolute necessity for survival. Waste services in Aurora collect tons of waste annually; sort it for recycling and eventual disposal. The goal of waste management is to reduce the amount of garbage that ends up in landfills, waterways, etc; all of which is polluting the environment in which we all have to live in. Although the goal is recycling into something that can be reused or repurposed, solid waste management also encompasses the development of sustainable ways to handle garbage to make sure that it is no longer dumped into the ocean or into ill prepared landfills.
There are a number of different types of waste, all of which has to be dealt with one way or another. The first type of waste is that which is recyclable, these are objects or material that are no longer wanted but are still useful as a source of raw material for future production. To deal with recyclables, specialized facilities have been constructed that can deal with scrap metal, glass, plastics and paper products. A second type of waste material is toxic waste; this is material that has the potential of harming the environment if not disposed of properly. This category includes electronic waste, an ever increasing problem in out “throw away” society. Green waste is by far the easiest to dispose of as most people can build a compost heap in their yard so that biodegradable material can be returned to the soil.
The largest percentage of solid waste is collected in containers, anything from a household garbage can to an industrial roll off container that is most often used by companies.