As with any
industry, Solid Waste has it's own "language". We hope
this Glossary of terms will help with your understand of waste
management. If you have further questions, please contact the
Waste Reduction Educator
at 1-866-758-2299.
Balefill - a designated location where waste is baled, crushed, compacted or tied up before being placed in the ground for disposal
Compost - a mixture of decaying organic matter used to improve soil structure and provide nutrients; examples are leaves, food waste, manure
Electronics Recycling - refers to programs specific to recycling electronic products in Nova Scotia. Please click here for more information.
Garbage - items that are no longer of any use; items that cannot be reused or recycled and must be disposed of in a landfill or balefill
Household Hazardous Waste - household items which cannot be safely disposed of in the regular garbage stream and require special handling; any item or material marked corrosive, toxic, reactive or flammable; examples include paint, petroleum or oil products, pesticides, batteries, cleaners and solvents, pharmaceuticals, propane
ICI Waste - non-residental was generated by industrial, commercial or instutional activities; waste created by schools, hospitals, manfacturing, restaurants, offices, etc.
Landfill - a location where loose solid waste is disposed of in the ground
Leachate - liquid which collects at the bottom of a landfill as a result of precipitation, uncontrolled runoff, irrigation water, or moisutre contained in the waste
Plastics (also see Resin Symbols) - polymers made of strings of carbon and other elements; derived from oil; plastics are available in a wide variety of molecular compositions and densities which are classified by resin symbols
Organics Cart - large 65 gallon capacity wheeled cart used for storing organics for collection; usually distributed with a small kitchen bin for indoor use
Reuse - to use an item over and over again; for example, a travel mug vs. paper cup
Reduce - to cut down on the amount of waste an individual creates; can be achieved by buying in bulk and reducing packaging waste, buying only products that you can reuse like rechargeable batteries, or recycle like tetra packs
Recyclables - items that can be broken down and converted into new materials for use; for example, pop bottles can be recycled into more pop bottles or carpeting
Refundables - recyclable items on which consumers pay a deposit and which can be returned to an Enviro-Depot for refund; examples are plastic or glass beverage bottles, alumimum cans, steel juice cans
Source Separation - the activity of separating garbage from recyclables, refundables and organics at the location of waste creation
Tetra Pack - paperboard, laminated packaging especially suited to storing liquids
Tipping Fee - the fee paid for disposing of waste at a landfill or balefill site
Tipping Floor - the location at the balefill or landfill site where waste is dumped out of a collection vehicle, or tipped, before being processed
Transfer Facility - the location where waste material is unloaded from smaller collection vehicles and held until larger vehicles transport the material to another site. The East Hants Transfer Facility holds organic materials until it is trucked to Fundy Composting in Brookfield, Nova Scotia for processing. Recyclable items are shipped to the Materials Recovery Facility at Kemptown, Nova Scotia for sorting and baling before being shipped to processers.
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