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UNIT- 2 Solid Waste Management and treatment Technology

Solid Waste Management and treatment Technology: Introduction to

Unit-
E-Waste, Biomedical waste and Solid waste. Treatment: Collection,
II
segregation, transportation and its disposal techniques

1.1 INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES

Municipal solid waste is the waste which consist of everyday items that we use and throw away. It
consist of food, vegetables, paper, plastic, glass waste etc. It includes residential and commercial
waste. Due to industrialization and urbanization, the amount of solid waste generation is increasing
day by day. If solid waste is not properly managed, it causes problems with air, water and soil. As a
part of disposal solid waste is dumped into landfill. Apart from the fact that human health is at great
risk, life becomes unbearable to dwellers in such environments. Some of the solid waste is
incinerated to reduce the volume of waste, which results in air pollution due to increase in
greenhouse gases. The outcome of uncontrolled disposal of solid wastes not only cause
environmental degradation such as in flooding, drainage obstruction but also when exposed to
human causes widespread of infectious diseases, cholera, diarrhea, typhoid fever and due to
breeding of mosquitoes, malaria and plagues.
Hence, it is important to study solid waste management.

1.2 Types of waste

1. Solid waste
2. Liquid waste
3. Organic waste
4. Recyclable waste
5. Hazardous waste
6. Radioactive Waste

1.3 Solid waste

Solid waste is defined as Non-liquid, non-soluble materials ranging from municipal garbage to
industrial wastes that contain complex and sometimes hazardous substances. Solid waste
includes trash or garbage consisting everyday items. If it is not managed properly, can create
remarkable health issues and miserable living conditions by giving a hospitable environment for
insects, bacteria and viruses’ growth and an unattractive visual appearance of many collection sites
and odors associated with solid waste. Its poor management causes air pollution, water and soil
contamination.
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Uncontrolled hazardous wastes from industries mixing up with municipal wastes create potential
risks to human health like-

 Cancer
 Congenital malformations, mainly urinary tract defects
 Pre-term birth or low birth weight
 Neurological diseases

1.4 Solid waste Management

Solid Waste Management is todays emerging issue for the safe environment and healthy life. The
primary goal of solid waste management is reducing and eliminating adverse impact of waste on
human health and environment to support economic development and superior quality of life. Waste
generation has increased day by day due to increasing population, industrialization and
urbanization. With rapid population growth and urbanization municipal waste generation is
expected to rise to 2.2 billion tons by 2025. Increasing use of technologies and recent gadgets will
generate large amount of electronic waste which contributes to about 27% of total waste generated.
Hence, it is necessary to minimize waste generation and recycling of recyclable waste

Solid waste management is the comprehensive program of waste prevention, recycling,

composting and disposal.

Components of solid waste management:

1. Waste Generation

Waste is generated when materials become useless to the owner and they wish to discard them.

2. Storage

It is a mid-step between generation and collection of waste. It may not be needed if the people are
dumping waste directly into pits. In cases, where there are heaps of waste, the storage facilities must
be provided like big containers, bins, drums, shallow pits or walled areas.

The quantity of these facilities depends upon the number of users, type of waste and frequency of
emptying.

Household waste storage can be done in boxes, containers, bins, plastic bags etc. These storage
systems must be isolated, should not absorb moisture when in contact with water unlike cardboard
boxes, and have good strength and easy to empty.

3. Collection

In this stage, waste is collected form households, shops or other premises, sweeping places etc. and
then taken for disposal. This is the most important aspect of solid waste management as it needs a
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good amount of labor force and budget. It includes loading, unloading and transfer till reaching the
destined dumping site.

Waste collection can be done from different locations using methods like community containers,
block collection system, yard collection, from apartment buildings etc.

4. Segregation

Separation of waste at household level has been given some thought but such system is exhausting
at economic and social level, especially in developing countries. To overcome this burden, private
and informal sectors are taken into account. For instance, wastes from markets, restaurants and
hotels may get collected separately from animal feed, street sweepings, composting material. In the
same manner, the household garbage can be collected separately from hospital or medical or
healthcare waste. Industrial waste, construction waste and demolition waste contain a large amount
of sand so these may also be collected in separately.

Another way of waste segregation is distinct collection of paper, plastic, metal and glass which is
becoming more and more popular. [4]

5. Transportation

To empty the collection containers and bins, transportation is needed for disposal at the site. The
methods of transportation are mentioned below:

Human-aided- This transport method includes tri-cycles, handcarts or barrows. But these methods
are appropriate for short distances, less load and where larger vehicles cannot enter.

Power-driven- These include motorcycle trailers, two-wheeled tractors, three-wheeled auto-

rickshaw, micro-trucks etc. All these means are fast and efficient. They can carry load to a greater
distance without much hard work.

6. Disposal

Mainly, there are two types of disposal-

a. Open dumping
b. Sanitary landfilling
c. Incineration
d. Pyrolysis
e. Composting

a. Open dumping-

The waste is unloaded at any convenient open space. The people residing nearby may light
fire to reduce the amount of waste or to get rid of the flies. This adds to the air pollution
which contains toxic gases. Scavenging at these kinds of disposal sites is very dangerous,
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especially when medical waste like needles and blades are mixed with it. Open dumps pose
health, safety and environmental threats.

b. Sanitary landfilling-

Waste is placed in a large pit and at the end of each day, a layer of soil is spread over the
waste and then compacted. Same day filling back is necessary to prevent animals from
eating or digging and flies from breeding. This site should be at a good distance from the
nearby population. The working area is confined to the smallest area, with extensive site
preparation.

c. Incineration-

This method involves burning of waste till it is converted to ash. This method can reduce 20-
30% of waste. In solid-waste management, Burning is a very effective method of reducing
the volume and weight of solid waste, though it is a source of greenhouse gas emissions. In
modern incinerators the waste is burned inside a properly designed furnace under very
carefully controlled conditions.

Incinerators

d. Pyrolysis:

Pyrolysis represents a process of thermal degradation of the waste in the total absence of air
that produces recyclable products, including char, oil/wax and combustible gases or Pyrolysis is
the heating of an organic material, such as biomass, in the absence of oxygen. Because no
oxygen is present the material does not combust but the chemical compounds (i.e. cellulose,
hemicellulose and lignin) that make up that material thermally decompose into combustible
gases and charcoal. This process is carried out between 500 to 1000 0C.
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e. Composting:
Another method of treating municipal solid waste is composting, a biological process in which
the organic portion of refuse is allowed to decompose under carefully controlled conditions.
Microbes metabolize the organic waste material and reduce its volume by as much as 50
percent. Organic waste in landfills generates, methane, a potent greenhouse gas. By
composting wasted food and other organics, methane emissions are significantly reduced.
Compost reduces and in some cases eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers. Compost
promotes higher yields of agricultural crops.

1.5 E-waste (Electronic Waste)

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E-Waste comprises of a broad and growing range of electronic devices, ranging from large
household devices such as refrigerators, air conditioners, cell phones, personal stereos, and
consumer electronics to computers which have been discarded by their users.
Globally only 15 – 20 percent of e-waste is recycled while the rest is dumped into developing
countries.

Categories of e-waste:
1. Large household appliances (refrigerators/freezers, washing machines, dishwashers)
2. Small household appliances (toasters, coffee makers, irons, hairdryers)
3. Information technology (IT) and telecommunications equipment (personal computers,
telephones, mobile phones, laptops, printers, scanners, photocopiers)
4. Consumer equipment (televisions, stereo equipment, electric toothbrushes)

Electronic waste generation worldwide:

Globally, China is the largest producer of electronic waste worldwide, generating more than 10
million metric tons in 2019. This was approximately three million metric tons more than was
produced in the United States. India generates about 3 million tonnes (MT) of e-waste annually and
ranks third among e-waste producing countries, after China and the United States. India is the
third largest electronic waste generator in the world after China and the US and these three
countries together contributed to almost 40% of total e-waste generated worldwide in 2019

Statistica Report 2020

Rank Country Generation (million tons per annum)

1 China 10.1

2 USA 6.9

3 India 3.2

4 Japan 2.5

5 Brazil 2.1

Toxic metals in e-waste:

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Electronic devices form a complex mixture of materials and components often containing several
hundreds of different substances, many of which are toxic and create serious pollution upon
disposal. These include heavy metals such as mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium
(Cr) etc

E-waste sources, constituents and affected body parts

No. Sources Constituents Hazards and health effects

1. Solder in printed circuit Lead Damage to kidney, central nervous

boards, glass panels and system, circulatory systems and adverse
gaskets in computer monitors effect on brain development of children
2. Chip resistors and semi- Cadmium Toxic irreversible effects on human
conductors health, damage to kidney, liver and
nervous system
3. Relays, Switches and printed Mercury Chronic damage to the brain, respiratory
circuit boards and skin disorders
4. Galvanized steel plates and Chromium Causes bronchitis and other respiratory
decorator or hardener for disorders
steel housing
5. Cabling and computer Plastics and PVC Burning produces dioxin that causes
housing reproductive and developmental
problems
6. Electronic scrap and circuit Brominated flame Disorder of Endocrine system
boards retardants
7. Front panels of CRT’s Barium, Causes muscular problems, damage to
phosphorus and heart, liver and spleen
heavy metals
8. Copper wires and PCB Copper Stomach cramps, nausea, liver damage or
Wilsons’s disease
9. Lithium ion batteries Lithium Lithium can pass into breast milk and
may harm a nursing baby, inhalation
causes lung edema
10. Nickel-cadmium Nickel Dermatitis, Asthma
rechargeable batteries
11. Motherboard Beryllium Lung cancer, inhalation causes chronic
beryllium disease or Beryllicosis

1.6 Biomedical waste

Biomedical waste is defined as any type of waste created during a diagnostic process, the treatment
of a condition or disease, or immunizations of humans or animals. It also includes any research
activities or processes that involve biological testing. When bio-medical wastes are mishandled,
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radioactive elements can enter landfills and other areas. Exposure to radioactive elements can lead
to serious diseases. Therefore, the soiled cotton swab is considered potentially hazardous, and
special waste management procedures are necessary to dispose the same.

Classification of Bio-medical waste:

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified medical waste into eight categories:

1. General waste
2. Pathological
3. Radioactive
4. Chemical
5. Infectious to potentially infectious waste
6. Sharps
7. Pharmaceuticals
8. Pressurized containers

Biomedical waste consist of:

1. Human anatomical waste like tissues, organs and body parts
2. Animal waste generated from veterinary hospitals
3. Waste sharps like needles, syringes, broken glass etc.
4. Discarded medicines and cytotoxic waste
5. Soiled waste like dressing, bandages, plasters, tubes, catheters etc.
6. Liquid waste from infected areas
7. Incineration ash and other chemical waste

Biomedical waste should be segregated in colored coded paddle operated covered bins.

Colour
Type of Containers
Coding
Plastic bag, Pathological waste, Medical chemical waste, Pharmaceutical waste
Yellow
(discarded/expired medicines and drugs)
Red Disinfected Container or Contaminated waste
White
Plastic bag/puncture proof container, Sharps waste
translucent
Blue Medical glassware waste

Treatment of Biomedical Waste:

1. Chemical Process: In this process chemicals used are called disinfectants. Sodium hypochlorite,
hydrogen peroxide, dissolved chlorine dioxide, ozone are examples of such chemicals.

2. Thermal Process: These process utilize heat to disinfect. Depending on temperature these are
operated in two categories low heat system and high heat system.
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3. Mechanical process: This is divided into two compaction and shredding. Compaction is used to
reduce volume of waste. Shredding is used to destroy plastic and paper waste to prevent their reuse.
Only disinfected waste can be used in a shredder.

4. Irradiation process: Exposes waste to ultraviolet or ionizing radiation in a enclosed chamber.

Processing of Biomedical waste:

1. Incineration: Waste to be incinerated shall not be chemically treated with any chlorinated
disinfectants. Toxic metals in the incineration ash shall be limited within regulatory quantities. Only
low sulphur fuel like Diesel shall be used as fuel in incinerator. The major benefits of incineration
are that it is quick, easy, and simple.

2. Autoclaving: The process of autoclaving involves steam sterilization. When operating a gravity
flow autoclave, medical waste subjected to:
a. A temperature not less than 1210C and pressure of about 15 pounds per square inch (psi) for
an autoclave residence time not less than 60 min.
b. A temperature not less than 1350C and pressure of about 31 pounds per square inch (psi) for
an autoclave residence time not less than 45 min.
c. A temperature not less than 1490C and pressure of about 52 pounds per square inch (psi) for
an autoclave residence time not less than 30 min.
Medical waste shall not be considered properly treated unless the time, temperature and
pressure indicate stipulated limits. If for any reason they were not reached, the entire load of
medical waste must be autoclaved again until the proper temperature, pressure and residence
time were achieved.

3. Microwaving: This treatment shall not be used for cytotoxic, hazardous or radioactive waste,
contaminated animal carcasses, body parts and metal items. The microwave should completely and
consistently kill bacteria and other pathogenic organism.

4. Deep Burial: In this method following points to be considered:

a. A pit should be dug about 2 meters deep
b. It should half filled with waste, then covered with Lime within 50 cm of surface before filling the
rest of the pit with soil.
c. It must ensured that animals do not have access to burial sites.
d. Cover of galvanized or iron wire mesh may be used.
e. In each time when waste are added to the pit, a layer of 10 cm of soil be added to cover the waste.
f. The pits should be distant from habitation, and no contamination occurs of any surface or ground
water.
g. The area should not be prone to flooding or erosion.
h. The location of the site will be authorized by prescribed authority
i. Burial must be performed under close and dedicated supervision.