Solid Waste
Management
Tailoring
Dumping
What is solid waste
• Solid waste is defined as
• Any garbage, refuse, sludge from waste treatment
plant, air pollution control facility and other materials,
including solid, semisolid, by commercials, mining and
agricultural operations and from community activities.
Solid and Hazardous Waste
• Much of the world continues to inappropriately
dispose of refuse which:
• (1) invites the production of insects;
• (2) becomes a source of contamination to groundwater;
• (3) pollutes ambient air when burnt openly;
• (4) lowers property values about the site; and
• (5) encourages the spread of disease from
microorganisms and toxic chemicals.
5
Characteristics of wastes
• Corrosive: these are wastes that include acids or
bases that are capable of corroding metallic things.
• Ignitability: this is waste that can create fires under
certain condition, e.g. waste oils and solvents
• Reactive: these are unstable in nature, they cause
explosions, toxic fumes when heated.
• Toxicity: waste which are harmful or fatal when
ingested or absorbed.
Types of waste
• Non Hazardous waste: refuse, garbage, sludge, municipal
trash.
• Hazardous waste: solvents acid, heavy metals, pesticides,
and chemical sludges
SWM Pyramid
Reduce waste
• Methods of waste reduction include
• manufacturing products with less packaging,
• encouraging customers to bring their own reusable bags for packaging,
• By practicing “Reduce”,
• the need for raw materials is reduced and therefore,
• the cost for purchasing and transporting of raw materials is reduced.
• Also, this will help in
• reducing the amount of waste being disposed off.
Reuse waste
• Reusing prevents waste disposal via the reuse of waste
products such as plastic water bottles or used clothes.
• After reusing, waste products do not necessary need to have
their original functions.
• There is a reduced need for disposal.
• Energy and raw materials are also saved.
Recycling cling:
• Recycling is processing used materials (waste)
into new products in order to:
• prevent waste of potentially useful materials,
• reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials,
• reduce consumption of fossil fuels and energy usage,
• reduce
• Soil or Land pollution producing less Solid Waste,
• air pollution (from open burning) and
• water pollution by reducing the need for effluent treatment
and waste disposal, and
• lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Recycling
Recyclable materials include many kinds of
glass,
paper,
metal,
plastic,
textiles, and
electronics.
Materials to be recycled are
brought to a collection center, then
sorted,
Cleaned, and
reprocessed into new materials.
Textile Recycling?
is the method of reprocessing used
clothing,
fibrous material and
clothing scraps from the manufacturing process.
Textiles in municipal solid waste are found mainly in discarded
clothing, although other sources include
furniture, carpets, tires, footwear, and nondurable goods such as sheets
and towels.
It avoids many polluting and energy intensive processes that are
used to make textiles from fresh materials.
The requirement of landfill space is reduced.
Synthetic Fibers don't decompose in landfilling, so this problem also
is overcome.
Wool recycling Recycling?
Woolen garments decompose but produce methane, which contributes to
global warming.
By recycling, pressure on fresh resources is reduced.
Leads to balance of payments as we buy fewer materials for our
requirements.
Lesser energy is consumed while processing, as items don't need to be re-
dyed or scoured.
Waste water reduces as it does not have to be thoroughly washed with
large volumes of water as it is done for, say, raw wool.
Demand is reduced for Textile Chemicals like dyes and fixing agents.
•
Recycled products of textiles
• Rugs,
• Toys,
• Scrap Quilts,
• Shoes,
• Pillow covers,
• Table Cloth,
• Kitchen Cloth,
• Jacket Insulation material,
• Hand Bags,
• etc
Composting
Compost is organic matter that has been decomposed and used as
a fertilizer for soil improvement.
The process of composting simply requires making a heap of
wetted organic matter (leaves, food waste) and waiting for the
materials to break down into soil after a period of weeks or months.
Modern composting is a multi-step, closely monitored process with
measured inputs of water, air and carbon- and nitrogen-rich
materials.
The decomposition process is aided by cutting up the plant matter,
adding water and ensuring proper aeration by regularly turning the
mixture.
Composting
• Worms and fungi further break up the material.
• Aerobic bacteria manage the chemical process by converting
the inputs into heat, carbon dioxide and ammonium which is
further converted by bacteria into plant-
nourishing nitrites and nitrates.
• It is used in gardens , and agriculture.
• The compost itself is beneficial for the land in many ways,
including as a Soil Conditioner , a fertilizer, and as a
natural pesticide for soil.
Incineration
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves
the combustion of substances contained in waste
materials.
This converts the waste into ash, smoke , and heat
energy.
The smoke must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate
pollutants before they are dispersed into
the atmosphere.
Incineration with energy recovery is one of several waste
to energy (WtE) technologies.
Incineration:
• Incineration has particularly strong benefits for the treatment
of certain waste types in areas such as:
• clinical or medical wastes and
• certain hazardous wastes where pathogens and toxins can be
destroyed by high temperatures.
• Also for chemical products with diverse toxic or very toxic
streams.
LANDFILLING
• A landfill site is a site for the disposal of waste materials by
burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment.
• Organic substances “biodegrade” when they are broken down
by microbes into their constituent parts, and in turn recycled
by nature as the building blocks for new life.
• The process can occur aerobically (with the aid of oxygen) or
anaerobically (without oxygen).
• Substances break down much faster under aerobic conditions,
as oxygen helps break the molecules apart.
Landfilling
• Modern landfills are used to recover energy.
• The natural anaerobic decomposition of the waste in the landfill
produces landfill gases which include Carbon Dioxide, methane and
traces of other gases.
• Methane can be used as an energy source to produce heat or
electricity. Thus some landfills are fitted with landfill gas collection
(LFG) systems to recover the methane being produced.
• The process of generating gas is very slow, for the energy recovery
system to be successful there needs to be large volumes of wastes.
References
• http://library.thinkquest.org/07aug/01963/3rs.h
tml
• U.S Environmental Protection Agency
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/index.htm
http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/index.ht
m
Moeller, D. W. (2005). Environmental Health (3rd
ed.). Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press
