Solid Waste

Management.

1 | Page

Environmental
Science.

Environmental Science

Submitted by

Saad Munir.
Submitted to

Sir Sabahat.
Class

BS-Commerce 6th semester.

Assignment on Solid Waste

Management.
2 | Page

Introduction to solid waste

management
Solid waste is the unwanted or useless solid materials
generated
from
combined
residential,
industrial
and
commercial activities in a given area. It may be categorised
according to its origin (domestic, industrial, commercial,
construction or institutional); according to its contents (organic
material, glass, metal, plastic paper etc); or according to hazard
potential (toxic, non-toxin, flammable, radioactive, infectious
etc). Management of solid waste reduces or eliminates adverse
impacts on the environment and human health and supports
economic development and improved quality of life. A number
of processes are involved in effectively managing waste for a
municipality. These include monitoring, collection, transport,
processing, recycling and disposal

3 | Page

Solid-waste management, collecting, treating, and disposing

of solid material that is discarded because it has served its
purpose or is no longer useful. Improper disposal of municipal
solid waste can create unsanitary conditions, and these
conditions in turn can lead to pollution of the environment and
to outbreaks of vector-borne diseasethat is, diseases spread
by rodents and insects. The tasks of solid-waste management
present complex technical challenges. They also pose a wide
variety of administrative, economic, and social problems that
must be managed and solved.
In ancient cities, wastes were thrown onto unpaved streets and
roadways, where they were left to accumulate. It was not until
320 BCE in Athens that the first known law forbidding this
practice was established. At that time a system for waste
removal began to evolve in Greece and in the Greek-dominated
cities of the eastern Mediterranean. In ancient Rome, property
owners were responsible for cleaning the streets fronting their
property. But organized waste collection was associated only
with state-sponsored events such as parades. Disposal methods
4 | Page

were very crude, involving open pits located just outside the
city walls. As populations increased, efforts were made to
transport waste farther out from the cities.

After the fall of Rome, waste collection and municipal sanitation

began a decline that lasted throughout the middle Ages. Near
the end of the 14th century, scavengers were given the task of
carting waste to dumps outside city walls. But this was not the
case in smaller towns, where most people still threw waste into
the streets. It was not until 1714 that every city in England was
required to have an official scavenger. Toward the end of the
18th century in America, municipal collection of garbage was
begun in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. Waste
disposal methods were still very crude, however. Garbage
collected in Philadelphia, for example, was simply dumped into
the Delaware River downstream from the city.

Central principles of waste

management
5 | Page

There
are
a
number
of concepts
about
waste
management which vary in their usage between countries or
regions. Some of the most general, widely used concepts
include:
Waste hierarchy
The waste
hierarchy refers
to
the
"3
Rs" reduce, reuse and recycle,
which
classify
waste
management strategies according to their desirability in terms
of waste minimisation. The waste hierarchy remains the
cornerstone of most waste minimisation strategies. The aim of
the waste hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical
benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of
waste; see: resource recovery.The waste hierarchy is
represented as a pyramid because the basic premise is for
policy to take action first and prevent the generation of waste.
The next step or preferred action is to reduce the generation of
waste i.e. by re-use. The next is recycling which would include
composting. Following this step is material recovery and wasteto-energy. Energy can be recovered from processes i.e. landfill
and combustion, at this level of the hierarchy. The final action is
disposal, in landfills or through incineration without energy
recovery. This last step is the final resort for waste which has
not been prevented, diverted or recovered.[4] The waste
hierarchy represents the progression of a product or material
through the sequential stages of the pyramid of waste
management. The hierarchy represents the latter parts of the
life-cycle for each product.[4]
Life-cycle of a Product
The life-cycle begins with design, then proceeds through
manufacture, distribution, use and then follows through the
waste hierarchy's stages of reuse, recovery, recycling and
disposal. Each of the above stages of the life-cycle offers
opportunities for policy intervention, to rethink the need for the
product, to redesign to minimize waste potential, to extend its
use.[4] The key behind the life-cycle of a product is to optimize

6 | Page

the use of the world's limited resources by avoiding the

unnecessary generation of waste.
Resource efficiency
Resource efficiency reflects the understanding that current,
global, economic growth and development can not be sustained
with the current production and consumption patterns. Globally,
we are extracting more resources to produce goods than the
planet can replenish. Resource efficiency is the reduction of the
environmental impact from the production and consumption of
these goods, from final raw material extraction to last use and
disposal.
This
process
of
resource
efficiency
can
address sustainability.
Polluter pays principle
The Polluter pays principle is a principle where the polluting
party pays for the impact caused to the environment. With
respect to waste management, this generally refers to the
requirement for a waste generator to pay for appropriate
disposal of the unrecoverable material.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Methods

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Methods of waste reduction, waste
reuse and recycling are the preferred options when managing
waste. There are many environmental benefits that can be
derived from the use of these methods. They reduce or prevent
green house gas emissions, reduce the release of pollutants,
conserve resources, save energy and reduce the demand for
waste treatment technology and landfill space. Therefore it is
advisable that these methods be adopted and incorporated as
part of the waste management plan. Waste reduction and reuse
Waste reduction and reuse of products are both methods of
waste prevention.

7 | Page

They eliminate the production of waste at the source of usual

generation and reduce the demands for large scale treatment
and disposal facilities. Methods of waste reduction include
manufacturing products with less packaging, encouraging
customers to bring their own reusable bags for packaging,
encouraging the public to choose reusable products such as
cloth napkins and reusable plastic and glass containers,
backyard composting and sharing and donating any unwanted
items rather than discarding them. All of the methods of waste
prevention mentioned require public participation. In order to
get the public onboard, training and educational programmes
need to be undertaken to educate the public about their role in
the process. Also the government may need to regulate the
types and amount of packaging used by manufacturers and
make the reuse of shopping bags mandatory. Recycling
Recycling refers to the removal of items from the waste stream
to be used as raw materials in the manufacture of new
products. Thus from this definition recycling occurs in three
phases: first the waste is sorted and recyclables collected, the
recyclables are used to create raw materials. These raw
materials are then used in the production of new products. The
sorting of recyclables may be done at the source for selective
collection by the municipality or to be dropped off by the waste
producer at a recycling centres. The pre-sorting at the source
requires public participation which may not be forthcoming if
there are no benefits to be derived. Also a system of selective
collection by the government can be costly. It would require
more frequent circulation of trucks within a neighbourhood or
the importation of more vehicles to facilitate the collection.
Another option is to mix the recyclables with the general waste
stream for collection and then sorting and recovery of the
recyclable materials can be performed by the municipality at a
suitable site.

8 | Page

Waste Collection
Waste from our homes is generally collected by our local
authorities through regular waste collection, or by special
collections for recycling. Within hot climates such as that of the
Caribbean the waste should be collected at least twice a week
to control fly breeding, and the harbouring of other pests in the
community. Other factors to consider when deciding on
frequency of collection are the odours caused by decomposition
and the accumulated quantities. Descriptions of the main types
of collection systems are given in the table below
4 Methods of Proper Waste Management,
It is important how you carry out waste disposal. In todays
world where population is on the rise and so is rapid
industrialization, creation of waste material is a common
phenomenon. These wastes are harmful to the environment
and how you dispose them off depends on how they affect the
environment. Proper disposal of waste material helps keep the
environment free from disease causing pathogens and keeps it
green. Given below are four methods of proper waste
management that will help you keep your environment clean
1. Recycling

9 | Page

Recycling is one of the most well know method of managing

waste. It is not expensive and can be easily done by you. If you
carry out recycling, you will save a lot of energy, resources and
thereby reduce pollution. You can also save money if you
recycle. You can recycle papers, glass, aluminum and plastics. If
you want to reduce the volume of your waste material, the best
way to do so would be to recycle. If you recycle, you can
eliminate batteries, tires and asphalt from your waste material
and this prevents them from ending up in the landfills and
incinerator. The municipality of almost all cities encourages
their citizens to take up recycling. Be a responsible citizen and
reduce your waste by recycling.
2. Composting
This is a natural process that is completely free of any
hazardous by-products. This process involves breaking down
the materials into organic compounds that can be used as
manure. You can carry out composting in your own backyard.
You can use the leaves, grass, twigs and add vegetable and
fruit peels and skins. You can useDATS bin hire system to get
the bins for composting. After a few days, you will see that the
matter has decomposed. You can use this compost, which is
rich in nutrients, to improve the soil in your garden.
3. Landfills
Waste management through the use of landfills involves the
use of a large area. This place is dug open and filled with the
waste. The area is then covered up with soil. Landfills are not
safe because they give off gases like methane, which are highly
hazardous. You should not carry out waste management
through landfills if you cannot ensure proper safety means. The
landfill should be properly lined and the waste should not come
in contact with the adjoining areas.
4. Burning The Waste Material
If you cannot recycle or if there are no proper places for setting
up landfills, you can burn the waste matter generated in your
household. Controlled burning of waste at high temperatures to
produce steam and ash is a preferred waste disposal technique.
Combustion reduces the volume of waste to be disposed
significantly. Moreover, solid waste can provide for a
10 | P a g e

continuously available and alternative source for generating

energy through combustion. This energy can be channeled into
useful purposes.

Integrated Solid Waste Management

Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) takes an overall
approach to creating sustainable systems that are economically
affordable, socially acceptable and environmentally effective.
An integrated solid waste management system involves the use
of a range of different treatment methods, and key to the
functioning of such a system is the collection and sorting of the
waste. It is important to note that no one single treatment
method can manage all the waste materials in an
environmentally effective way. Thus all of the available
treatment and disposal options must be evaluated equally and
the best combination of the available options suited to the
particular community chosen. Effective management schemes
therefore need to operate in ways which best meet current
11 | P a g e

social, economic,
municipality.

and

environmental

conditions

of

the

..THE END.

12 | P a g e