Environmental Issues

Solid waste management


  • Soil wastes are discarded or left over solid materials produced due to human activities. The terms rubbish and trash are often used interchangeably for these solid waste materials.
  • Various sources of solid wastes : municipal waste, industrial waste, mining wastes, hospital wastes, hazardous wastes, defunct ships and e-wastes which are responsible for landscape pollution / third pollution / refuse pollution / solid pollution (or) land pollution.
  • All solid wastes generated by us should be collected and divided into three categories biodegradable, recyclable, and non biodegradable.
  • Biodegradable wastes are put into deep pits in the ground and be left for natural breakdown.
  • Non - biodegradable wastes pose problem in disposal is varying way which are listed below.
  • Recovery and recycling should be carried out for articles such as tins, cans and other metal wastes, glass, plastic [Do not burn plastic as on burning it release dioxin (a carcinogen) and PCB].
  • Source reduction is an important method, where garbage and other organic biodegradable wastes are taken out of urban areas and used for formation of compost, biogas and manure. Cow dung, human excreta and other organic wastes of farm houses are used in gobar gas plants to get manure as well as biogas for domestic use.
  • Burning of solid waste having organic waste is done by 2 methods (i) Incineration (ii) Pyrolysis.

 

Incineration

Pyrolysis

 Controlled aerobic combustion at a temperature of 850°C - 1000°C

 It is anaerobic combustion at a temperature of 1650°C

 

  •  Dumping (land filling) is piling of waste on selected low lying land which is of 2 types
    (i) open dumping (dumping on uncovered low lying are) and
    (ii) Sanitary dumping (which is adopted as the substitute for open burning dumps)
  • In modern land fills, the bottom is covered with an impermeable lines, usually multiple layers of clay, thick plastic and sand to protect the ground water from being contaminated due to percolation of leachate.

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