Waste Glossary

Waste - an umbrella term for any material that is to be disposed or diverted, including industrial, biological, household, municipal, organic, biomedical, radioactive wastes (Government of Canada, 2024).

Solid waste - Trash or garbage 

Municipal solid waste - Trash or garbage consisting of everyday products discarded by the local public, businesses and institutions (Government of Canada, 2024).

Waste production - the waste produced 

Diverted waste - Waste that has been redirected from ending up in landfills, and is instead processed in through a waste treatment such as recycling, incineration or anaerobic digestion (Government of Canada, 2024).

Residual waste - nonhazardous industrial byproducts. This includes waste materials—whether solid, liquid, or gas—generated from industrial, mining, and agricultural activities (Government of Canada, 2024).

Hazardous waste - In Canada, hazardous wastes and hazardous recyclable materials are identified by characteristics such as flammability, corrosiveness, or inherent toxicity. These substances can present various risks, including skin damage upon contact and potential contamination of groundwater, surface water, and soil due to environmental leaching (Government of Canada, 2017).

Non-hazardous waste - any waste that does not pose a risk to human or environmental health (Government of Canada, 2017)

Residential waste - the garbage sent to waste facilities from individual households (Government of Canada, 2024).

Non-residential waste - the garbage sent to waste facilities from businesses and institutions (Government of Canada, 2024).

Circular economy - production and consumption model focused on extending the lifecycle of materials and products through sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling them for as long as possible (Government of Canada, 2022).

Waste management - Waste management encompasses the collection, transportation, processing, treatment, and disposal of waste. It also involves overseeing and regulating the procedures for collecting, transporting, and processing waste (United Nations, 1997).

Waste recovery - The process of making use of or repurposing materials that would otherwise be disposed of. The aim is to unburden waste landfills, preserve natural resources, and fight climate change (Government of Canada, 2024).

Landfills - Site of disposal of waste materials.

Incineration - A form of waste treatment that involves burning hazardous materials at at high temperatures to eliminate contaminants (Government of Canada, 2024).

Recycling - The process of transforming waste to reusable material.

Anaerobic digestion - A form of oxygen-free waste treatment where bacteria decompose organic materials—like animal manure, wastewater biosolids, and food scraps (Government of Canada, 2024).

References:

Government of Canada. (2024.) Municipal solid waste management in Canada. Retrieved June 22, 2024, from https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/municipal-solid/environment.html 

Government of Canada. (2022). Circular Economy. Retrieved May 12, 2024, from https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/conservation/sustainability/circular-economy.html 

Government of Canada. (2017). Canadian Environmental Protection Act and hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable materials. Retrieved May 16, 2024, from https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/canadian-environmental-protection-act-registry/general-information/fact-sheets/hazardous-waste-recyclable-materials.html

United Nations. (1997). Glossary of Environment Statistics. Retrieved May 17, 2024, from https://unstats.un.org/unsd/envstats/Glossary/SeriesF/SeriesF_67E.pdf