he challenge of waste disposal has becoming increasingly difficult since the industrial revolution. With increasing population, urbanization, and prosperity, modern society engages in mass production and mass consumption. As a result there is considerable waste generated which has far reaching affects. Many nations are examining options to lessen the amount of waste generated, and how to manage that waste.
Per capita the world’s largest consumer, the United States produces a quarter of the world’s waste. The waste that people dispose of in their garbage is referred to as Municipal Solid Waste. This is primarily household waste that is sometimes called urban solid waste. There are other types of waste including medical, air-borne, liquid,
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It releases poisonous gases and toxins (e.g. dioxin) directly into the environment which are harmful to humans and animals.
Composting
Composting is used as a means of managing organic household waste, E.g. branches and leaves. This benefits the environment as it reduces the formation of gases in landfills and helps replenish the soil. Over the past few years, many U.S. cities like Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco have added composting to their waste management solutions, and have started offering curbside pickup.
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The remains are then buried inside the earth in landfills. Research has shown the gases produced during the process of incineration are extremely toxic and much more dangerous than the original waste material. Due to public opposition to this method of waste management, no new incinerators have been built after 1997. Pyrolysis is similar to incineration, but the solid waste is burned without oxygen.
Gasification
This technology involves using oxygen to convert waste containing carbon into gases (syngas), both combustible and non-combustible. The resulting gas is used to produce heat energy and leftover waste ends up in landfills. Landfill space is reduced and usable energy is produced from the waste. Out of 140 plants worldwide, 19 gasification plants are located in the United States.
Landfills
Landfills are areas where large amounts of waste is accumulated and eventually buried. There are even parks built on top of landfills. However, without proper management landfills can have a harmful effect on the environment. When the solid waste inside the landfill degrades, it releases gases including methane and carbon dioxide. These gases penetrate through the soil and pollute the surrounding air. Landfills that are not properly sealed and capped are also a risk. Rain water can seep into the solid waste, leading to the formation of leachate, a toxic liquid. Water contamination occurs
‘Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle’ are what a person chants if someone mentions the word recycling. Nicks J defines recycling as ‘[T]he processing of waste materials in order to make them reusable” (11). Individuals who recycle are not just throwing papers in green bins, or cans in blue; in fact, they are helping the environment more than they can imagine. People who want to preserve and protect their planet take the initiative to recycle waste materials. Rather than throwing away old plastic or glass bottles, aluminum cans, and certain types of paper, one can simply recycle them, and they will go through a cleaning and the remanufacturing process to be remade into a new usable item. There are many benefits of recycling, but a lot of people will argue against it. As Bauer, Mary states, “[Recycling] is a messy process That uses caustic chemicals and produces harmful byproducts and emissions” (12). Regardless, recycling programs have been implemented in many places such as California and Georgia and have been successful. Hence, individual’s states in the United States should make recycling mandatory because recycling will reduce E-Waste pollution, reduce waste, and benefit the economy.
Landfill is the most frequent waste disposal method all around the world. The present of landfill is recognised as being an important in this days as well as future, especially in low and middle income countries since it is the easiest way to build. Generally, there is two types of landfill can be classified, dry-tomb and bioreactor.
That is an appalling amount of landfills that are in the United States. They retire landfills because a leakage breaks out into the ground or into a body of water. The majority of landfills are close by or right next to some type of body of water. When the landfill begins to leak the disgusting leakage goes into the water and starts to kill the living organisms in the water as well as affecting us humans. Many people do not know but they just might be swimming, tubing, or etc… in the extremely contaminated water. There are many toxins that could be in the water or the in the ground, a few of them are “mercury, arsenic, cadmium, PVC, solvents, acid, lead, and… leachate which is a liquid formed when waste breaks down in the landfill and water filters through that waste. It is highly toxic” (EnviromentVictoria). The most lethal toxins in the group that I just listed are mercury, lead, and leachate. A small dose of that could possibly kill you imagine that being leaked into the ground and our waterways and coming to areas that us humans use day in and day out. Another problem is greenhouse gases being released into the
...ls should be incinerated unless an air scrubber is used (Cornell University) (Wisegeek). Alternatives to incineration include steam sterilization, dry heat thermal disinfection, irradiation, and biological processes (Pollution Issues).
My family already has a composting pile in the yard and I never really noticed its value. I always thought of it as a pile of trash and would be reluctant to recycle leftovers when my parents told me to. It would have been so much easier to just throw everything away in the trashcan. In “Waste Not Want Not” Bill McKibben states that, “we toss 14 percent of the food we buy at the store” (304). That is a lot of food that can be put to better use instead of being wasted. Old food scraps will eventually turn into rich soil that can be used to grow an organic garden. The produce that I buy in the grocery store is not as healthy as I think it is because most of it is filled with chemicals that can be harmful to humans. There is a “displacement of nearly the entire farming population and the replacement of their labor and good farming practices by machines and toxic chemicals” (Berry 401). Using compost to plant my own food I do not have to live in fear about what I am feeding to my family. Composting is not only a good source to keep food out of landfills but it promotes a healthy and natural lifestyle.
To begin with, in the U.S., trash is most commonly sent to a landfill, unfortunately though, once it arrives there little sorting occurs. According to the EPA, “Nationally, food is the single most common material sent to landfills. When excess food, leftover food, and food scraps are disposed of in a landfill, they decompose and become a significant source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas” (“Cupertino Honored”). At a landfill, trash arriving is only screened for liquids in order to avoid the creation of leachate, or water that is contaminated from dissolved chemicals in garbage. Once screened, dumped, and covered, bacteria begin to decompose the trash and, as a result, release methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The fact is that landfills are ideally supposed to be used to bury garbage that is non-decomposable, however, with the garbage collection method that is currently in place across many states, all unsorted garbage is being sent there. In addition, “...traditional trash disposal not only wastes material that can enrich soil but accelerates climate change. Organic matter decom...
Compost is decomposed organic material used to fertilize plants. It’s generally used as a way to easily give plants nutrients or change the structure of soil to make it easier for plants to grow. Compost is important for plants, serving as the quickest way for plants to receive nutrients.
Waste incineration units produce a lot of carbon dioxide gas approximately around one third of the greenhouse gasses. It also impacts people’s health as they get exposed to the toxic emissions by breathing in the air or consuming contaminated food and water. Additionally, when the garbage gets burnt by the incinerators they end up as ashes which are then emitted from the chimneys, including the toxic materials and end up in specialist landfill sites for hazardous waste.
Compost is an easy solution to eliminating the waste that our environment brings, while at the same time, providing many benefits to us, and the environment. By using compost, it improves our plant growth by enriching the soil that it drinks its nutrients from. It helps us avoid buying soil amendments such as peat, bark mulch and bagged manure. Compost also loosens the heavy clay that is in our soil, while improving the capacity to hold water and adding essential nutrients.
Solid waste pollution will always be an issue as long as human population increases everyday .solid waste is not only cause by household only, the industries as well have hand on environment pollution. And due to improper disposal system solid waste end up on the road. Solid waste have a huge effect on human life and can also cause death in animals as well, as people clean their houses everyday litter their trash everywhere this problem will not stop. But the most dangerous waste are those coming from the industries, because those waste end up in stream, rivers where it poisonous and have bad impact on the marine life. Industrial waste are the source of toxic metal and hazardous waste that effect soil characteristic and productivity of soil when dumped in ground. And the problem lies where some of the waste do not decompose. These solid waste are hazardous, Pesticides poisonous which is not health and life threatening to both humans and animals. People are very much aware of recycling to reduce pollution yet they still fail in doing so. Silt build in freshwater water ecosystems, caused by the unnecessarily agricultural activities smothers aquatic organisms. To reduce solid waste they should be recycled in such a way that do not harm the both the environment, water, air and human health. There are animals such as
America and Europe are at the top of the list for most waste generated according to Waste (4). This is very visible because there’s litter on every street in the towns and cities, as well in lakes, beaches, and rivers. The book Waste by Rob Bowden states that the amount of waste produced is increasing at a rate faster than population growth. About 1.5 million computers, in the U.K, are thrown away each year and most end up in landfills. There are 3 types of waste which are Municipal Solid Waste, Industrial Waste, and Hazardous waste. MSW includes waste from public garbage cans and local dumpsters. Industrial Waste includes massive amounts of waste water that is contaminated with chemicals. Hazardous waste is the most dangerous as it presents a danger to human health and the environment. Solutions for waste disposal take time because people need to consider their lifestyle and limit the amount of waste they generate. A good start is to recycle items such as paper, cans, plastic, and clothes. This way they don’t end up in landfills, beaches, or streets. Another solution is to join organizations that go around places to recycle, or organizations that demand the reduction in the amount of products that are being
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.
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.
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 ...
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.