WHAT IS WASTE?

Waste, or rubbish, trash, junk, garbage, depending on the type of material or the regional terminology,
is an unwanted or undesired material or substance. It may consist of the unwanted materials left over
from a manufacturing process (industrial, commercial, mining or agricultural operations,) or from
community and household activities. The material may be discarded or accumulated, stored, or treated
(physically, chemically, or biologically), prior to being discarded or recycled. It is also used to describe
something we use inefficiently or inappropriately. Over 1.8 billion tonnes of waste are generated each
year in Europe. This equals to 3.5 tonnes per person.

Sources of waste

Municipal sources of waste:
This includes trash or garbage from households, schools, offices, market places,
restaurants and other public places.
They include everyday items like food debris, used plastic bags, soda cans and plastic
water bottles, broken furniture, grass clippings, product packaging, broken home appliances and
clothing.


Medical/Clinical sources of waste:
Medical/clinical waste, normally refers to waste produced from health care facilities,
such as hospitals, clinics, surgical theaters, veterinary hospitals and labs. They tend to be classified as
hazard waste rather than general waste.
Items in this group include surgical items, pharmaceuticals, blood, body parts, wound
dressing materials, needles and syringes
Agricultural sources of waste:
Typically, this is waste generated by agricultural activities. These include horticulture,
fruit growing, seed growing, livestock breeding, market gardens and seedling nurseries.
Waste items in this group include empty pesticide containers, old silage wrap, out of
date medicines and wormers, used tires, surplus milk, cocoa pods and corn husks.
End-of-life Automobiles:

When cars are all old and not working again, where do they end up? Many people just
leave them to rust in the fields, but there is a better way to deal with them. In many cities, these
vehicles are sent to the plant, where all the removable parts are taken out for recycling. The rest is
flattened up and shredded into peices for recycling. The last bits that cannot be used again is sent to a
landfill.
Industrial sources of waste:
Since the industrial revolution, the rise in the number of industries manufacturing
glass, leather, textile, food, electronics, plastic and metal products has significantly contributed to waste
production. Take a look at the things in your home, every item there was probably manufactured and
possibly, waste was produced as a result.


Construction/demolition sources of waste:
Construction waste is that resulting from the construction of roads and building.
Sometimes old buildings and structures are pulled down (demolished) to make space for new ones. This
is particularly common in old cities that are modernizing. This is called demolition waste.
Waste items include concrete debris, wood, earth, huge package boxes and plastics
from the building materials and the like.
Electronic sources of waste:
This is waste from electronic and electrical devices. Think of DVD and music players,
TV, Telephones, computers, vacuum cleaners and all the other electrical stuff in your home. These are
also called e-waste, e-scrap, or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
Some e-waste (like TV) contains lead, mercury, cadmium, and brominated flame
retardants. These are harmful to humans and the environment. It is therefore important that the right
authorities ensure the proper disposal of such waste.

Environmental Effects

Surface water contamination:
Waste that end up in water bodies negatively change the chemical composition of the
water. Technically, this is called water pollution. This will affect all ecosystems existing in the water. It
can also cause harm to animals that drink from such polluted water.

Soil contamination:
Hazardous chemicals that get into the soil (contaminants) can harm plants when they
take up the contamination through their roots. If humans eat plants and animals that have been in
contact with such polluted soils, there can be negative impact on their health.

Pollution:
Bad waste management practices can result in land and air pollution and can cause
respiratory problems and other adverse health effects as contaminants are absorbed from the lungs into
other parts of the body. (Pollution is fully covered here)

Leachate
Liquid that forms as water trickles through contaminated areas is called Leachate. It
forms very harmful mixture of chemicals that may result in hazardous substances entering surface
water, groundwater or soil.




How is waste treated and disposed off?

Waste management is the "generation, prevention, characterization,
monitoring, treatment, handling, reuse and residual disposition of solid wastes".[1] There are various
types of solid waste including municipal (residential, institutional, commercial), agricultural, and special
(health care, household hazardous wastes, sewage sludge).[1] The term usually relates to materials
produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health,
the environment or aesthetics.


There are several methods of managing all the various types of waste. Some of these
methods cause additional harm to the environment, but not doing anything is not an
option.
Let us see below some common ways of managing waste:
Incineration method of waste management:
This simply means burning waste. This method is common in countries with limited
landfill space. Incineration chambers can be small for domestic use, but ther are large ones for municipal
use as well. It is great for treating waste with contamination (like those from hospitals) and hazardous
waste from factories, but the method produces too much carbon dioxide (see our air pollution lesson).
Modern incineration processes are more efficient and release less dioxin than home fireplaces and
backyard barbecues. This method is very common in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. This
method is effective, but expensive.
Incineration is common in countries such as Japan where land is more scarce, as these facilities generally
do not require as much area as landfills. Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) are broad
terms for facilities that burn waste in a furnace or boiler to generate heat, steam or electricity.
Combustion in an incinerator is not always perfect and there have been concerns about pollutants in
gaseous emissions from incinerator stacks. Particular concern has focused on some very persistent
organic compounds such as dioxins, furans, and PAHs, which may be created and which may have
serious environmental consequences.

Sanitary Landfills as waste disposal:
Generally, this term means a large piece of land away from living places where all the
waste from a town is deposited. But there is more to landfills. Proper landfill management involves
sorting out all the waste (waste separation), and sending only the waste that cannot be recycled and
composted to the site.

Proper landfills, are also lined at the bottom to minimize the leakage of soil pollutants
and other toxins from getting into the water table. This method is effective, but expensive and difficult.
In many towns, sorting is not done, and all the waste (paper, food, diapers, glass) is
mixed up and deposited. That is a problem because, glass, and plastics take thousands of years to
decompose. Additionally, the landfills soon become full, smelly and unsafe for the environment.
recycling
Recycling is a process to change (waste) materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially
useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air
pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling) by reducing the need for
"conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to plastic
production.[1][2] Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and is the third component
of the "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" waste hierarchy.
Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, metal, plastic, textiles, and electronics. The
composting or other reuse of biodegradable wastesuch as food or garden wasteis also considered
recycling.[2] Materials to be recycled are either brought to a collection center or picked up from the
curbside, then sorted, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials bound for manufacturing.
In the strictest sense, recycling of a material would produce a fresh supply of the same materialfor
example, used office paper would be converted into new office paper, or used foamed polystyrene into
new polystyrene. However, this is often difficult or too expensive (compared with producing the same
product from raw materials or other sources), so "recycling" of many products or materials involves
their reuse in producing different materials (e.g., paperboard) instead. Another form of recycling is the
salvage of certain materials from complex products, either due to their intrinsic value (e.g., lead from car
batteries, or gold from computer components), or due to their hazardous nature (e.g., removal and
reuse of mercury from various items).
Biological reprocessing
Biological Waste materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material, food scraps, and paper
products, can be recycled using biological composting and digestion processes to decompose the
organic matter. The resulting organic material is then recycled as mulch or compost for agricultural or
landscaping purposes. In addition, waste gas from the process (such as methane) can be captured and
used for generating electricity and heat .The intention of biological processing in waste management is
to control and accelerate the natural process of decomposition of organic matter.
Energy recovery
Energy recovery from waste is the conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into usable heat,
electricity, or fuel through a variety of processes, including combustion, gasification, pyrolyzation,
anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas recovery.[12] This process is often called waste-to-energy. Energy
recovery from waste is part of the non-hazardous waste management hierarchy. Using energy recovery
to convert non-recyclable waste materials into electricity and heat, generates a renewable energy
source and can reduce carbon emissions by offsetting the need for energy from fossil sources as well as
reduce methane generation from landfills.[12] Globally, waste-to-energy accounts for 16% of waste
management.[13]
The energy content of waste products can be harnessed directly by using them as a direct combustion
fuel, or indirectly by processing them into another type of fuel. Thermal treatment ranges from using
waste as a fuel source for cooking or heating and the use of the gas fuel (see above), to fuel for boilers
to generate steam and electricity in a turbine. Pyrolysis and gasification are two related forms of
thermal treatment where waste materials are heated to high temperatures with limited oxygen
availability. The process usually occurs in a sealed vessel under high pressure. Pyrolysis of solid waste
converts the material into solid, liquid and gas products. The liquid and gas can be burnt to produce
energy or refined into other chemical products (chemical refinery). The solid residue (char) can be
further refined into products such as activated carbon. Gasification and advanced Plasma arc gasification
are used to convert organic materials directly into a synthetic gas (syngas) composed of carbon
monoxide and hydrogen. The gas is then burnt to produce electricity and steam. An alternative to
pyrolysis is high temperature and pressure supercritical water decomposition (hydrothermal
monophasic oxidation).
Waste minimization
An important method of waste management is the prevention of waste material being created, also
known as waste reduction. Waste minimization is a process that involves reducing the amount of waste
produced in society and helps eliminate the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, supporting the
efforts to promote a more sustainable society.[1] Waste minimization involves redesigning products
and/or changing societal patterns, concerning consumption and production, of waste generation, to
prevent the creation of waste.[2] The most environmentally resourceful, economically efficient, and cost
effective way to manage waste is to not have to address the problem in the first place. Waste
minimization should be seen as a primary focus for most waste management strategies. Proper waste
management can require a significant amount of time and resources; therefore, it is important to
understand the benefits of waste minimisation and how it can be implemented in all sectors of the
economy, in an effective, safe and sustainable manner.
Methods of avoidance include reuse of second-hand products, repairing broken items instead of buying
new, designing products to be refillable or reusable (such as cotton instead of plastic shopping bags),
encouraging consumers to avoid using disposable products (such as disposable cutlery), removing any
food/liquid remains from cans and packaging,[17] and designing products that use less material to
achieve the same purpose (for example, lightweighting of beverage cans).[18]
anner.[2]