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Waste management case studies
Affects on human waste management
Importance of municipal waste management
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INTRODUCTION
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Solid Waste Management is a process of treating the solid wastes. It includes a variety of solutions for recycling substances that are not trash. It is roughly how garbage is used as a valued resource. Waste management is imperative for every household and businesses all over the world. It safely and efficiently disposes off the foodstuffs and substances that have been used. It also includes solids or semisolids, non-soluble materials (including gases and liquids in containers) such as agricultural refuse, demolition waste, industrial waste, mining residues, municipal garbage, and sewage sludge. (EPA)
According to Wikipedia,
“Waste management is the “generation, prevention, characterization, monitoring,
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This also includes active collection, quick transport, proper treatment and effective disposal of waste along with regular monitoring.
It also covers the legal and regulatory framework that relates to waste management and recycling. It relates to all kinds of waste that is produced during the processes of turning raw materials into intermediate and final products.
Such processes generate municipal and hazardous wastes that has adverse effects on human health, environment and aesthetics. The waste managements all over the world lack uniformity as developing countries are less equipped with techniques and technologies needed for effective management of solid waste. Also urban and rural areas lack such uniformities as do the residential and industrial sectors.
Solid waste also means any garbage and refuses from water treatment plants, Water Supply Treatment Plants, or pollution control facilities. Furthermore it encompasses other discarded materials including solid, liquid, gaseous, semi-liquid material that is resulted from industrial, commercial, agricultural and mining operation and community activities. Solid wastes are actually superfluous or abandoned materials. They can be solid, semi-solid, liquid or gaseous
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Throughout most of history, the volume of waste generated by the humans was significantly low owing to lower population density and low exploitation of natural resources. Common waste generated during pre-modern times was largely ashes and Human Biodegradable waste which were released back into the ground. Used wooden or metal tools were usually passed on to the next generations.
However, some societies have been more profligate in their waste production than others. The Maya of Central America were a people of the village who would gather together monthly and burn their rubbish in large dumps.
Throughout history, human advancement has been inherently tied to the management of waste because of its effects on the public and Environmental health. Waste management has severely altered human history in various ways just the way it will in the near and far future. The waste management industry has come a long way and with techniques as recycling and other advances, the future seems quite promising.
2. CURRENT SCENARIO
Solid waste management in LAHORE
The food that they throw away first goes to the dumpsters and then they end up in landfills. This is also where the dumpster divers, or “scavengers” as Eighner prefers to be called, begin their search for food (353). Where he mostly found a great deal of dumpsters was in the city. As he puts it, “the land is now covered with cities,” which means that there will be an abundance of trash that needs to be disposed of (361). This leads to more landfills needed to be made and that takes a toll on the earth. Dockterman has stated that “the buildup of decomposing organic material accounts for 16% of environmentally harmful methane emissions in the U.S.;” these emissions go into the atmosphere that we breath our oxygen from (Dockterman). Not only does this practice affect people survival-wise, but also the earth that billions of people live
An integral part of the solid waste management strategy for USAG-KA (UES Section 3-6.5.7(c)(6)(i)(A)) is the reduction and minimization in amount of solid waste generated to reduce the requirement for on-island treatment and disposal.
Humankind produces and consumes with little regard for waste. Susan Strasser’s Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash focuses on consumption’s byproduct; trash and what humankind has done to dispose of their waste over the past decades. Strasser catalogues an often deemed unsophisticated part of our modern society as being “central to our lives yet generally silenced or ignore” (p.36), throughout her book elucidating on the premise that one’s own view and opinion of what is deemed as trash varies greatly from person to person. Strasser explicates to the reader the rise of mass markets across the world and the impacts that production and consumption have on the creation of trash. Strasser begins to follow the story of trash in the pre-colonial
Florida International University recognizes its contribution to the accumulation of waste considering that it produces about seven million pounds of waste each year (Figueroa, 2010). Unlike other universities that still remain adamant in investing on green practices, FIU has, “governed by the State of Florida under Florida Statute 403.714 and The Florida Solid Waste Management Act of 1988” (FIU, 2011), established its own internal ‘green machine’ or solid waste and environmental protection system via the FIU Custodial Services Office. The university’s efforts in ensuring efficient solid waste management even “far exceeds the minimum standards” (FIU, 2011) required by law. What makes the solid waste management efforts of the university one-of-a kind is the establishment of a “single stream recycling program which means that all recyclable items can be placed into one bin and do not have to be sorted” (FIU, 2011). Nevertheless, despite the use of single recycle bins, proper labeling has to accompany each bin to ensure that only materials that are recyclable are placed in the bins. There are also different sized of bins which are placed stra...
Not only we have done this kind of things, but also some scavengers are doing. One of which is Lars Eighner. In the article On Dumpster Diving, Eighner describes the period when he was homeless and was being a scavenger. At first, he did not know the “Dumpster” at all. When he has experienced a lot, he found so wasteful people are. Eghtner assumed a plenty of methods that make the best use of the resources
In conclusion to this investigation one thing is clear and that is that recycling reeks benefits to the environment, Recycling material when compared to making material from raw material is a more efficient energy saving and more environmentally friendly way to reuse material that is usually consider as trash such as empty glass, and plastic bottles, or old newspapers. Recycling helps reduce the possible carbon emissions greatly and does reduce the human carbon footprint. But Recycling doesn’t resolve the pollution that is around the world today. Leading to new questions, questions like what about the landfills are they sustainable, and if so for how long. How long until the air becomes unbreathable? How long until Earth becomes its own furnace?
Solid waste is normally collected in a solid waste area equipped with compartments or containers for each type of waste.
Our society is based heavily off of production and consumption of material things. Whatever gets produced however does not last forever and must eventually get thrown out. Thus we have our system of dispensing waste. Our mass build up of trash is so great that we have to export it to other countries like China and it’s one of our leading exports. With such a large consolidation of garbage and other waste, there is no avoiding negative effects to our environment and to human health.
A. Recycling is the recovery of useful materials such as paper, glass, plastic and metals from the municipal solid waste stream to use to make new products, reducing the amount of virgin raw materials needed. (http://www.epa.gov/waste/nonhaz/municipal - I plan to cite on PP)
Solid waste pickup services will exist, preventing litter and garbage accumulations. Large fines will be issued if improper garbage and recycling activities are noticed and reported. Almost everything will be recyclable and taken to nearby cities to their recycling plants. Garbage will also be sent out to a nearby dump.
Traditional methods of waste disposal have proven to be ineffective and have caused harmful effects on the environment. The most popular and inexpensive way to get rid of garbage is burial, but burying your problems does not necessarily mean getting rid of them. Landfill sites pose as severe ecological threats as these mass garbage dump yards overflow with trash and frequently contaminate our air, soil and water with hazardous wastes. About 400 million tons of hazardous wastes are generated each year1. A large-scale release of these materials can cause thousands of deaths and may poison the environment for many years. For example many industrial companies around the world cannot afford to enforce the strict pollution regulations set by many developed countries. This usually forces these types of companies to move to developing countries where pollution regulations are very lenient. These developing countries knowingly accept environmentally hazardous companies usually because they are in desperate need of employment. The harmful effects of these companies were clearly illustrated in the 1960s and 1970s when residents living near Minamata Bay, Japan, developed nervous disorders, tremors, and paralysis in a mysterious epidemic. The root was later found to be a local industry that had released mercury, a highly toxic element, into Minamata Bay. The disaster had claimed the lives of 400 people1. Since 1970 you can bet that a lot more than 400 people have died as a result of waste disposal. If the type of waste disposal were cheaper and effective we wouldn’t have to deal with waste problems, which still plague mankind today.
Policy is needed to regulate which course of action should be taken and how it should be implemented. Because of this, many plans and policies revolving around the management of solid waste have been put in place. Sometimes however, a particular policy can have its shortfalls, potentially resulting in its negative aspects outweighing the positive ones. According to the Conference Board of Canada Report, “Canadians dispose of more municipal solid waste per capita than any other country” (2013). Solid waste management in particular, involves many aspects, ranging from packaging waste, food waste, etc. (White & Franke 1999), hence, the following analysis revolves around household and commercial waste – referred to as Municipal Solid Waste (White & Franke. 1999) – in the Greater Vancouver Regional District. Municipal waste is a major health and environmental concern as it contributes to numerous problems like habitat destruction, surface groundwater pollution, and other forms of air, soil, and water contamination. Waste disposal methods like incineration create toxic substances, and landfills emit methane, which contributes to global warming. According to the Zero Waste Objective Report, “The impact of climate change and the increasing awareness of the role of “waste” and “wasting” in the production of greenhouse gas emissions is a constant environmental pressure… (2009). This leads to an increasing limitation of government to prevent and control the volume and toxicity of products in the waste stream and a growing need to shift responsibility to the product manufacturer.
Efficient waste managing approaches help with reducing and avoiding unpleasant impact on the environment and human health, while allowing financial development and progress in the quality of people’s life. People do not even imagine what is the size and capacity of their activities and the impact they produce on the environment. Garbage is an important ecological problem. It is seems amazing that approximately all of the citizens of the world identify rubbish as a major environmental problem and yet these people still litter. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (2008), an American produces 250 million tons of garbage per year (para.2). There are different circumstances that are based on the society, environmental conditions, occupation and size of each of the different family. As Richmond (2010) stated, if no administration organizations has the responsibility or resources to concentrate their efforts on the waste disposal, then the responsibility to do that is on ...
Solid waste can be classified in different types, depending on their source, household waste is generally classified as municipal waste; industrial waste as hazardous waste or hospital waste as infections waste. It quite obvious that South Africa environment is deteriorated by the illegal dumping area that around here. Solid waste is a major problem this country is facing at the moment. The province that is experience this major problem is Gauteng province, this an urban area am taking about, and since it’s clear that over population is the cause of the problem. Gauteng province is an over populated than rural area .solid waste pollution is refuse or garbage that people use in their everyday life in their house, such as plastic
The solid wastes are produce not only by households; it’s contributed by hospitals and corporations. Hospitals throw away bandages, use needles and latex gloves, these items hospitals throw away daily all the time because they can’t be reuse for the safety of its patients. Corporations throw away a lot of waste as well such as papers that they use whether in writing or in projects. All of these leftovers after consumptions are waste that is produced by our daily actions.