STD : SJYC

DIV : H
Roll NO : 97

Solid Waste Management

Introduction

Solid waste management is an essential service in any society. Before introducing

the process, however, let's start with a discussion of the material being managed
—solid waste.
Solid waste refers to the range of garbage materials—arising from animal and
human activities—that are discarded as unwanted and useless. Solid waste is
generated from industrial, residential, and commercial activities in a given area,
and may be handled in a variety of ways. As such, landfills are typically classified
as sanitary, municipal, construction and demolition, or industrial waste sites.
Waste can be categorized based on material, such as plastic, paper, glass, metal,
and organic waste. Categorization may also be based on hazard potential,
including radioactive, flammable, infectious, toxic, or non-toxic wastes. Categories
may also pertain to the origin of the waste, whether industrial, domestic,
commercial, institutional, or construction and demolition.
Regardless of the origin, content, or hazard potential, solid waste must be
managed systematically to ensure environmental best practices. As solid waste
management is a critical aspect of environmental hygiene, it must be
incorporated into environmental planning.

Importance

Recycling
Separating, recovering, and reusing components of solid waste that may still have
economic value is called recycling. One type of recycling is the recovery and reuse
of heat energy, a practice discussed separately in incineration. Composting can
also be considered a recycling process, since it reclaims the organic parts of solid
waste for reuse as mulch or soil conditioner. Still other waste materials have
potential for reuse. These include paper, metal, glass, plastic, and rubber, and
their recovery is discussed here.

Separation
Before any material can be recycled, it must be separated from the raw waste and
sorted. Separation can be accomplished at the source of the waste or at a central
processing facility. Source separation, also called curbside separation, is done by
individual citizens who collect newspapers, bottles, cans, and garbage separately
and place them at the curb for collection. Many communities allow
“commingling” of nonpaper recyclables (glass, metal, and plastic). In either case,
municipal collection of source-separated refuse is more expensive than ordinary
refuse collection.

Reuse
Recovered broken glass can be crushed and used in asphalt pavement. Colour-
sorted glass is crushed and sold to glass manufacturers as cullet, an essential
ingredient in glassmaking. Steel cans are baled and shipped to steel mills as scrap,
and aluminum is baled or compacted for reuse by smelters. Aluminum is one of
the smallest components of municipal solid waste, but it has the highest value as
a recyclable material. Recycling of plastic is a challenge, mostly because of
themany different polymeric materials used in its production. Mixed
thermoplastics can be used only to make lower-quality products, such as “plastic
lumber.”
Methodology
There are different methods of solid waste
management. The following are some of the recognized
methods:

1. Sanitary Landfill
This is the most popular solid waste disposal method used today. Garbage is
basically spread out in thin layers, compressed and covered with soil or plastic
foam.
Modern landfills are designed in such a way that the bottom of the landfill is
covered with an impervious liner, which is usually made of several layers of thick
plastic and sand. This liner protects the groundwater from being contaminated
because of leaching or percolation.
When the landfill is full, it is covered with layers of sand, clay, topsoil and gravel
to prevent seepage of water.
Advantage: If landfills are managed efficiently, it is an ensured sanitary waste
disposal method.
Constraint: It requires a reasonably large area.

2. Incineration
This method involves the burning of solid wastes at high temperatures until
the wastes are turned into ashes. Incinerators are made in such a way that
they do not give off extreme amounts of heat when burning solid
wastes. Incinerators that recycle heat energy through furnace and boiler are
called waste-to-energy plants. These waste-to-energy systems are more
expensive to set up and operate compared to plain incinerators because they
require special equipment and controls, highly skilled technical personnel, and
auxiliary fuel systems.
This method of solid waste management can be done by individuals,
municipalities and even institutions. The good thing about this method is the fact
that it reduces the volume of waste up to 20 or 30% of the original volume.
Advantage: The volume of combustible waste is reduced considerably by burning
waste. In the case of off-site pits, it is an appropriate method to minimize
scavenging.
Constraint: It can cause smoke or fire hazard and also emits gaseous pollutants.

3. Recovery and Recycling

Recycling or recovery of resources is the process of taking useful but discarded
items for the next use. Plastic bags, tins, glass and containers are often
recycled automatically since, in many situations, they are likely to be scarce
commodities
Traditionally, these items are processed and cleaned before they are recycled.
The process aims at reducing energy loss, consumption of new material and
reduction of landfills. The most developed countries follow a strong tradition
of recycling to lower volumes of waste.
Advantage: Recycling is environmentally friendly.
Constraint: It is expensive to set up, and in most emergencies, there is limited
potential.

4. Composting
Due to a lack of adequate space for landfills, biodegradable yard waste is allowed
to decompose in a medium designed for the purpose. Only biodegradable waste
materials are used in composting.
It is a biological process in which micro-organisms, specifically fungi and bacteria,
convert degradable organic waste into substances like humus. This finished
product, which looks like soil, is high in carbon and nitrogen. Good quality
environmentally friendly manure is formed from the compost that is an excellent
medium for growing plants and can be used for agricultural purposes.
Advantage: Composting is environmentally friendly as well as beneficial for crops.
Constraint: It requires intensive management and experienced personnel for large
scale operation.

5. Pyrolysis
This is a method of solid waste management whereby solid wastes are chemically
decomposed by heat without the presence of oxygen. It usually occurs under
pressure and at temperatures of up to 430 degrees Celsius. The solid wastes are
changed into gasses, solid residue of carbon and ash and small quantities of
liquid.
Advantage: This will keep the environment clean and reduce health and
settlement problems.
Constraint: The systems that destroy chlorinated organic molecules by heat may
create incomplete combustion products, including dioxins and furans. These
compounds are highly toxic in the parts per trillion ranges. The residue it
generates may be hazardous wastes, requiring proper treatment, storage, and
disposal. To summarize, proper solid waste management is an integral part of
environmental conservation that should be observed by both individuals and
companies globally.

Observation
Besides the fact that sorting of waste is not working today and
that the burners fill up nonburnable material another large
problem is well-meaning donors that donate advanced
incinerators to this very remote region. These advanced
incinerators work well for some time, but then spare parts run out
and there are no resources to get new ones, see figure 2. It would
be much more effective to assist the local people in constructing
incinerators similar to the one in Namche and help to raise the
awareness for the need of sorting and educate local people about
environmental facts. This could lead to a system were burnable
solid waste is burned and biodegradable waste is turned into
biogas or put back into the soil as manure. The
non-burnable and non-biodegradable part of the waste in the
SNP&BZ is very small and would preferably be carried back to a
bigger city for handling but in the near future it is probably more
likely to be buried in the region. This would not be the ideal
handling but it would be a huge advance from the handling that is
done today. For the human waste the handling in small villages is
not a big problem as it is put back as manure in most places. But
with a growing truism industry the handling of human excrement
will be a more and more important issue especially the pollution
of potable water. There are strict rules for the construction of
toilets in the SNP but these are not enforced and many people in
the LAQUA Group study, Nepalese and European discovered the
issue of dirty drinking water and the problems it can lead to. In
Namche the construction of a sewer system will improve the
health situation for tourist and locals even if it as this point does
not address the issue of water pollution as the waste will be let
into the rivers untreated. Much of the human waste at the lower
altitudes could be used for biogas production and some very
encouraging programs are making this possible, for example the
Biogas Support Programme (BSP). But for the higher altitudes and
the small villages that exist in these places the focus should be on
education and enforcement of the rules that exists to protect the
potable water.The challenge of cleaning up and keeping the
SNP&BZ clean will remain a high task. But a more sustainable
approach is desirable, based on the principle of “Polluters Manage
themselves or Polluters must pay” [6].
This is something that is working fairly well for mountaineering
expeditions and something that should be considered for trekking
groups as well. Either thru a deposit the same as for
mountaineering expeditions or thru a raised fee to enter the park
which would enable more founds to be channel led to
conservation and environmental work.

Conclusion

Human ways of life have placed pressure on the environment and

have caused imbalance in the eco systems by the producing,
consuming and wasting of natural resources. Most countries
evidently have major effects on the environment due to SW
generation with economic development since the natural
resources are used, and waste and pollution are produced.
Therefore, the concern towards the management of solid waste as
an integral part for sustainable development has increased .

Reference
Adams, W. M., (2009). Green Development: Environment and Sustainability in a
Developing World, 3rd Ed, Routledge Publication.
Agarwal, S.K., (2005). Water Pollution.APH Publication.
Allen,T., Thomas,A., (2000).Poverty and development, OUP Oxford.
Anand, S., (2010).Solid waste management, Mital publication.
Ayres, R., (2007). On the practical limits to substitution. Ecological Economics, vol.
61, No. 1, pp. 115-128.

Objective
To understand what is solid waste management.
To know harmful effects of waste accumulation.
To find sources of waste.
To know various methods of solid waste management.
To understand the needs of solid waste management.

Journal

Environmental Ethics

In environmental philosophy, environmental ethics is an established field of

practical philosophy "which reconstructs the essential types of argumentation
that can be made for protecting natural entities and the sustainable use of natural
resources."[1] The main competing paradigms are anthropocentrism,
physiocentrism (called ecocentrism as well), and theocentrism. Environmental
ethics exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including environmental law,
environmental sociology, ecotheology, ecological economics, ecology and
environmental geography.

There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the
environment. For example:

Should humans continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human consumption?
Why should humans continue to propagate its species, and life itself? [2]
Should humans continue to make gasoline-powered vehicles?
What environmental obligations do humans need to keep for future generations?
[3]
Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a species for the
convenience of humanity?
How should humans best use and conserve the space environment to secure and
expand life?[5]
What role can Planetary Boundaries play in reshaping the human-earth
relationship?[6]

The academic field of environmental ethics grew up in response to the works of

Rachel Carson and Murray Bookchin and events such as the first Earth Day in
1970, when environmentalists started urging philosophers to consider the
philosophical aspects of environmental problems. Two papers published in
Science had a crucial impact: Lynn White's "The Historical Roots of our Ecologic
Crisis" (March 1967)[7] and Garrett Hardin's "The Tragedy of the Commons"
(December 1968).[8] Also influential was Garett Hardin's later essay called
"Exploring New Ethics for Survival", as well as an essay by Aldo Leopold in his A
Sand County Almanac, called "The Land Ethic," in which Leopold explicitly claimed
that the roots of the ecological crisis were philosophical (1949).
The first international academic journals in this field emerged from North America
in the late 1970s and early 1980s – the US-based journal Environmental Ethics in
1979 and the Canadian-based journal The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy in
1983. The first British based journal of this kind, Environmental Values, was
launched in 1992.