Waste management - England Golf

The Maintenance Facility:
Best practice guide to the management of selected maintenance streams
...Continued
Engine breakdown is usually the fault of only
one or two parts leaving the remainder in good
working order.
Many parts of a broken down engine can
be salvaged for spares in other machines.
Salvage merchants may pay for useable
engine parts—look in the Yellow Pages for
your nearest dealers.
Repairing broken machinery is far more
cost effective than buying new.
When cleaning any oily machine parts,
ensure run-off is treated as ‘special waste’
and is passed through a water treatment
area.
Vehicle operating fluids (see also oil
management section)
This is one of the areas of greatest concern
regarding motor vehicles. Although the
disposal of fluids from ELVs is a major
issue, the effects of inappropriate treatment
of fluids removed during servicing are also
significant.
Much of the waste oil collected for recovery
in the UK is processed (by removing
excess water and filtering out particulates)
and used as a fuel burnt in heavy industry
and power stations. The preferred option
for lubricating oils is re-refining for re-use
as a base lubricant, although this doesn't
currently occur on a large scale in the UK.
Waste oil from nearly 3 million car oil
changes in Britain is not collected. If
collected properly, this could meet the
annual energy needs of 1.5 million people.
There are 1,500 oil recycling bins in Britain
for lubricating oil only. Call the Oil Care
Campaign on 0800 66 33 66 or use the
post code search on their website
www.oilbankline.org.uk to find the
location of you nearest oil bank.
Tyres
See tyre management section.
Batteries
See batteries management section.
Alternative fuels
A number of machinery manufacturers are now taking their environmental responsibilities
very seriously and pioneering the use of less environmentally damaging fuels.
The main alternatives to traditional fossil fuels at the time of writing include bio-diesel, liquid
petroleum gas (LPG) and electric motors.
Bio-diesel is a fuel made from animal or vegetable fats which performs identically to petrol/
diesel but produces less exhaust gases. It is also biodegradable and less damaging to the
environment if spilt.
LPG is one of the fastest growing commercial fuels in the UK. It is a by-product of North
Sea oil production and is a mixture of butane and propane. Almost any vehicle can be
converted to run on LPG and many cars, vans and maintenance machines are now
constructed with the option of LPG. Its use within an engine gives no discernible
difference to traditional fuels and emits up to 99.8% less pollutants.
Electric motors have come a long way over the past few years with ‘hybrid’ cars now
becoming commonplace on our roads. The use of an electrically powered mower or golf
cart may at first seem environmentally sound but we must consider how the energy is
produced in the first instance. If the machine is charged up from mains electricity then we
are simply moving the pollution to a different source (i.e. the power station). Far more
desirable than this is the use of small scale generators in-house. Wind turbines and solar
panels are now available commercially and the technology is now becoming such that
they are economically viable.
Engine emissions
During the combustion process, internal combustion engines of all types generally produce,
in varying quantities, the following substances:
Oxides of nitrogen (NOx), a contributor to photochemical smog and to ozone layer
damage
Carbon monoxide (CO), a toxic gas (harmful to humans, animals and plants)
Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), the most significant cumulative 'greenhouse gas'
Hydrocarbons (HC), a constituent of photochemical smog
Sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), an element in acid rain formation
Lead (Pb), a toxic heavy metal
Particulate matter, a potential carcinogen and inhibitor of photosynthesis in plants.
Water (H 2 0), an important contributor to the ‘greenhouse effect
Types of engines
The vast majority of maintenance machinery use one of the following engine types:
2 stroke engine fuelled by a petrol/oil mix or converted to propane
4 stroke engine fuelled by petrol, diesel or propane
4 stroke engines generally produce higher CO, CO 2 , and NOx, but lower HC than 2 stroke
engines. Two stroke engines emit relatively high levels of HC in both burnt and unburned
form, but low levels of NOx. Diesel engines are more fuel efficient than 4 stroke or 2 stroke
petrol engines and therefore emit lower overall CO and CO 2 . However, they produce greater
quantities of SO 2 , nitrogen dioxide and particulates.
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Best Practice Approach for English and Welsh Golf Clubs
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