Basic idea about waste and its management

1. SWAPNAMOY GANGULY
INTEGRATED BS-MS (UG 2)
2019/UG/033
IACS

2. Waste is the substance which is generated by use of primary materials and it has generally no further worth
in production or consumption, so it is disposed of.
e.g. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW).
2

3. Hazardous waste has substantial or potential
threats. It has any of following feature –
 Toxicity – Pesticides, Batteries.
 Reactivity – Cyanide waste, explosives.
 Corrosivity – Alkaline degreasers.
 Ignitability – Flammable compressed gas.
 Infectious – Medical sectors’ waste.
 Radioactive – Nuclear plants’ waste.
INFO CONRNER
According to UNEP, globally more than 400
million tons / year of hazardous waste is
produced, 1% of that is shipped to 3rd world
nations from industrialized countries.
12 African nations signed Bomako Treaty in
1991 to stop such kind of import of waste.
The Hazardous waste affects human health and
nature -
Excessive Pesticides/ Biocides used in Agriculture,
damage the soil and water (surface & ground).
Toxic Heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Cd) and Arsenic cause
severe health problems in human that can be fatal.
Toxic chemicals (PCB, Vinyl chloride) are very
harmful to living beings. These are bio-magnified
upwards the tropic level, so human is the worst
sufferer.
Surprisingly, good amount of domestic waste is
hazardous, called Household Hazardous Waste
(HHW) – e-Waste, batteries, paints etc.
3

4.  Hazardous waste is generally disposed
through fly-tipping, burning, discharge in
water-bodies which are detrimental methods.
 Modern effective ways are –
Incineration – Controlled burning with O2,
waste to energy in cement kilns.
Pyrolysis – Controlled anaerobic burning.
Sanitary Dumping – Pulverized waste
covered by layer of earth.
Solidification and stabilization as Portland
Cement which reduces toxicity of waste.
When the World Screamed
Due to release of waste containing
Methyl-mercury from Chisso Company in
Minamata Bay in Japan, total 2265 victims
(1784 died) suffered from Chisso-
Minamata disease for 36 years from 1956
onwards.
In 2006, Trafiguara company dumped
500 tons of toxic waste in Abidjan, Ivory
Coast that lead to 26000 people poisoning.
Love Canal, NY, became the site of
massive environmental disaster in 1970s
for dumping municipal refuse and toxic
waste for 50 years that hampered health
of 100 of residents in that 70 acre land.
4

5. Non hazardous waste are any kind of waste
material which causes less or no harm to human
and environment. But lack of proper management
can make it potentially deleterious.
The regulation for disposal of non hazardous
waste isn’t so strict as that of hazardous; still, it is
not normal dumpster material either.
This type of waste is generated by several
sources–
MSW – Packing items, rubbish, plastic items.
Domestic – Fish scales, egg shells.
Agriculture – Crops residue, cattle faeces.
Industries – Sludge, anti-freeze substances.
Construction and Demolition Debris.
Generally, medical waste is regarded as highly
infectious and hazardous, but 85% of these is
non hazardous.
Non hazardous waste management is chiefly
dependent on individual and citizen’s efforts
rather than government initiatives. 5

6. Sewage Water Treatment: The waste
water released from municipal sewers can be
purified by sequential physical, chemical and
biological means to separate the sludge
(Primary & secondary/ active) from liquid part.
This water then can be discharged in water-
bodies or even used for different domestic
purpose except drinking. The sludge generated is
used as biomass.
Composting: Agro-farmyard residue, left over
foods and other brown & green waste can be
undergone Composting or Vermi-Compost to
produce manure, bio-fertilizer and bio-gas.
Reuse & Recycle: Majority of non hazardous
waste can be handled by reuse and recycle, e.g.
Paper, packing materials, plastic carry-bags,
Aluminum foils, metallic and wooden goods etc.
In 2014-15, estimated 20757 lakh cubic
meter of Biogas was generated in our country
that was equivalent to 6.6 crore domestic LPG
cylinders. Annually, 14 million tonnes of waste
paper is recycled in India – Thanks to Non
Hazardous Waste.
6

7. “There is no such thing as
“Away”, when we
throw anything away it
must go somewhere”
- Annie Leonard
7

8. Photo Courtesy: Internet
Information Sources –
1.https://www.wikipedia.org/
2. Textbook of
Environmental Studies for
Undergraduate Courses –
Erach Bharucha – UGC
3. NCERT Biology Class 12
4. Internet
8