Biogas (landfill gas):

Gas resulting from the fermentation of landfilled waste in the absence of air (methane/ carbon dioxide)

Biological recovery:

Organic waste processing technique using composting or methanisation techniques

Civic amenity facility:

Often confused with a landfill. A guarded, fenced-off area where local residents can dispose of and sort their recoverable, hazardous or bulky waste.

Composting:

Transformation by micro-organisms (microscopic fungi, bacteria...)or organic waste to a humus-like product in the presence of water and oxygen.

Controlled landfill site:

Equivalent to a sanitary landfill, and also referred to as a technical landfill.

Dioxin

Chemical compound resulting from the combustion of organic matter. 210 types of dioxin exist, 17 of which are considered to be harmful.

DW (domestic waste):

Waste resulting from household consumption and collected by traditional or selective collection.

Energy-from-waste (EfW):

Recovery of calories contained in incinerated waste, allowing thermal or electrical energy to be generated.

Fly ash:

Residues from domestic waste incineration fume cleansing.

Greenhouse effect / Gas

A natural system of trapping the Earth's heat. Solar rays, which penetrate the atmosphere to reach the Earth’s surface, are then partly re-radiated by this surface. Certain gases present in the atmosphere absorb these ascending rays and reflect them back to the surface as heat, which allows the Earth to be at a temperature of 15°C. Human activity contributes to the increase in content of these gases (carbon dioxide CO2, methane CH4 and chlorofluorocarbons CFCs) in the atmosphere, which in turn, raises the Earth's temperature.

HDW
(hazardous domestic waste):

Waste presenting a danger to mankind and the environment and requiring particular precaution when processed (batteries, aerosols, paints...).

HIW
(hazardous industrial waste):

Toxic waste, presenting a danger to mankind and the environment and requiring particular precaution during processing.

Incinerator :

Facility subject to authorisation, designed to incinerate waste. More and more incinerators now recover waste in the form of electricity or thermal energy. The by-products of incineration (bottom ash and fly ash) are processed with a view to controlling the impacts of this activity both on mankind and on the environment.

Inert waste:

Waste which unlikely to evolve physically or chemically (non toxic, non biodegradable, very low solubility in water, non oxidizable), for example, backfill, rubble...

Leachates:

Water loaded in organic or mineral pollutants following contact with landfilled (or composted) waste.

Material recovery:

Waste processing technique, allowing reemployment, reuse and recycling (eg: waste resulting from selective collection, which is recycled, bottom ash recovered for use in toadway capping layers).

Medical waste:

Waste resulting from medical activity, including hospital waste. 

NHIW
(non hazardous industrial waste):

Waste resulting from an industrial or commercial activity but which is comparable to domestic waste and hazardous domestic waste. For example, cardboard, wood, packaging material, etc.

Processing:

Reduction, within controlled conditions, of the initial pollutant potential of waste and/or waste volumes before landfill.

Recovery:

Generic term encompassing the reemployment, reuse, recycling or regeneration of waste.

Recycling:

Direct re-introduction of a waste type into the production cycle from which it originates as a total or partial replacement for a new material. For example, melting down broken bottles to make new ones. Newspapers, magazines and glass can be recycled if they are selectively collected. Textile products and fermentable materials cannot be recycled.

Regeneration: 

Physical or chemical procedure, which provides waste with the necessary characteristics needed to allow it to be used as a replacement for a new raw material. For example: recycled paper re-generated by de-inking.

Residual waste:

Waste, resulting or not from processing, which is no longer likely to be processed in the current technical and economic conditions. The recoverable fraction has either already been extracted or the waste's pollutant or hazardous nature been reduced (often, but not necessarily, "waste resulting from waste").

Re-use:

Use of waste for a similar purpose (for example, returnable bottles) or a different purpose from that for which the material was originally intended (for example, using tyres to protect the hull of trawlers).

Selective collection:

Any collection which separates certain types of waste (for example, packaging, glass, paper…), with a view of recovering them.

Sorting centre:

Specific sorting and waste regrouping facility to which waste may be sent following collection. Also referred to as a Material Recycling Facility (MRF).

Sorting at source level:

Separation of waste per type of material, carried out by residents in their homes or by companies(sorting on the production chain, industrial waste tips).

Uncontrolled dump site:

A landfill that receives all types of waste in conditions, which do not respect the rules in force for, controlled landfills. 

Void space:

The space that still remains to be filled by waste in a landfill.