Glossary - Waste Management and Environmental Terms

Best Practicable Environmental option (BPEO) - summarised by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution as "the outcome of a systematic consultative and decision making procedure which emphasises the protection and conservation of the environment across land, air and water. The BPEO procedure establishes, for a given set of objectives, the option that provides the most benefits or least damage to the environment, as a whole, at acceptable cost, in the long term as well as the short term." Biodegradable Municipal Waste (BMW) – the portion of the municipal waste stream [see definition of municipal] that is capable of undergoing anaerobic or aerobic decomposition, such as food and garden waste, and paper and paperboard. Civic Amenity Site – site for the collection of recyclable materials and bulky household waste. Commercial Waste – waste from premises used for the purpose of trade or business, sport, recreation or entertainment. Compost – organic matter decomposed aerobically or anaerobically and used as a fertiliser or soil conditioner. Construction/Demolition Waste – masonry and rubble wastes arising from the demolition or construction of buildings or other civil engineering structures. Contaminated Land – land which has been subject to the addition of a material or materials to such a degree as to render it unfit for its intended purpose. Controlled waste – refers to household/municipal, industrial and commercial waste. Environmental Impact – the total effect of any operation on the surrounding environment. Essential Interim Landfill Capacity – the Waste Management Strategy provides for the development of additional landfill capacity to meet essential capacity needs identified by District Councils prior to the establishment of an integrated network of waste management facilities. Groundwater – water held in water-bearing rocks. Hazardous Waste – a waste that, by virtue of its composition, carries the risk of death, injury or impairment of health, to humans or animals, the pollution of waters, or could have an unacceptable environmental impact if improperly handled, treated or disposed of. The term should not be used for waste that merely contains a hazardous material or materials. It should be used only to describe wastes that contain sufficient of these materials to render the waste as a whole hazardous within the definition given above.