Waste Management and Environmental Impacts - Class X

The human population explosion is the major cause of environmental degradation to which other causes are connected. Uncontrolled growth of the human population resulted in excessive use of resources and depletion of natural resources. Industrialization is being done for fulfilling demands that are contributing to air, land and water pollution. Agricultural lands are decreasing day by day and forests are being cut for residential and industrial purposes leading to deforestation which is causing land degradation and soil erosion. Over-farming and excessive use of resources are deteriorating the environment rapidly in all aspects.

Integrated solid waste management involves the comprehensive process of dealing with waste such as collection, recycling, source reduction, transportation, and landfilling. The waste gets completely treated and safe disposal is made after all the process that renders waste reusable, reduced and recycled.

Biogas is obtained from organic waste. Biogas is a gaseous fuel which is a mixture of different gases that are formed by break down of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste or food waste are used for the production of biogas.

Addition of phosphates and nitrates/fertilizers into water leads to nutrient enrichment which is also called as eutrophication. It is the enrichment of water bodies with excessive nutrients and fertilizers. This is a kind of water pollution, because excessive nutrients result in growth of plants and algae which consume oxygen present.

• Addition of phosphates and nitrates/fertilizers into water leads to nutrient enrichment which is also called as eutrophication. 
  
• This is a kind of water pollution, because excessive nutrients result in growth of plants and algae over water surface which consume oxygen present and obstructs the light from entering the water.
  

Effective waste management requires the preventive step as the first stage that is to produce less waste by taking into use the most essential things so that waste is not generated in excessive quantity. Next, it involves reusing of waste material by utilizing its productivity if it is not made disposal after a single-use. Further, it involves the recycling of waste, which can be made to use in one form or another and separating it from toxic substances. The last step involves the disposal of waste which is useless and can’t be brought into use.

Putrescible refers to that solid waste that can be decomposed in the environment by the action of the microorganisms or can be consumed by vectors such as birds or mammals which come high in the food chain. It does not harm the environment as it degrades with the course of nature.

Leachate collection systems in landfills use gravity to move liquid toward low points, where it is then collected and removed via pumping systems.

Medical wastes are classified as infectious wastes and non-infectious waste. Most of the biomedical waste is toxic in nature.

• Non-infectious waste: It is also called as offensive waste. It is not harmful and do not result in spread of any infection. Examples include: catheters, colostomy bags etc.
  
• Infectious wastes: This is the waste that contain pathogens which spread diseases from one person to the other. This includes used dressings, swabs and other materials or equipment that have been in contact with infected patients or excreta. It also includes liquid waste such as faeces, urine, blood and other body secretions.
  

• The per capita waste generation is the waste generated by a person. It is between 200 - 870 grams/day. The average per capita waste generation per day is 370 grams.
  
• The per capita waste generation is increasing by about 1.3% per year in India.
  

Domestic waste is the waste generated by human dwellings. Human excreta which consists of waste generated as by-products of digestion and excretion like faeces and urine is included in this category. It is included under organic waste as it is composed mostly of organic compounds.

Cholera is a bacterial diseases caused due to drinking of contaminated water. Cholera is caused by Vibrio cholera. Cholera is an infectious disease that leads to extreme dehydration.

Guinea worm disease which is also called as Dracunculiasis is a disease caused by guinea worm. A person gets affected when he or she consumes water contaminated with the larva.

It causes painful burning sensation and blisters in the lower limb. It is diagnosed by the worm coming out of the blister. Other symptoms include fever, nausea and vomiting.

Animals like cows, buffaloes and goats die of eating plastic which is the result of waste accumulation by people. Animals which do not have any idea about the nutritional effects eat plastic out of curiosity and this eaten plastic most of the times is not passed through excretory system. This plastic affects metabolism and kills the animal.

Sometimes carcinogenic compounds present in plastic enter humans through drinking milk and eating meat.

Radioactive waste is usually the by-product of nuclear power generation. These radioactive elements are highly hazardous chemicals. Radioactive elements have half-life which means the time required for half of its atoms to disintegrate and become non-radioactive.

Radioactive elements have longer half-life and hence takes very long time to disintegrate. This is the unique problem posed by radioactive elements apart from adverse impacts on ecosystems, contamination of groundwater and toxicity to humans

Chemical waste materials should be stored  in separate containers for disposal, each labeled with the contents and identifier as waste.

Places all needles/sharps in Sharps disposal containers immediately after they have been used. This will reduce the risk of needle sticks, cuts, and punctures from
loose sharps. Sharps disposal containers should be kept out of reach of
children and pets.

Clean, unbroken or broken glass waste should be disposed into a cardboard box lined with a black bag and taped. For small quantities of broken glass, put into sharps containers.

River Gomti is a major tributary of the Ganges, which is completely polluted due to industrial units established near and around the banks of the river. These industries are sugar industries, yeast units and remaining are agro-based paper companies. It is a major river in Uttar Pradesh.

Anatomical waste consists of human and animal tissue, organs, and body parts. These wastes are disposed into red containers.

Container lined with black bags is a type of bag, where general waste are put. Such bags are useful to line the insides of waste containers  to prevent the insides of the receptacle from becoming coated in waste material. Most bags these days are made out of plastic, and are typically black in color.

Objects
that may be capable of causing punctures or cuts, that may have been
exposed to blood or body fluids including scalpels, needles, glass
ampoules, test tubes and slides, are considered Biomedical Waste. These objects should be disposed into sharps containers.

Biomedical waste is any kind of waste  containing infectious (or potentially infectious) materials.  Biomedical waste is generated from biological and medical sources and activities, such as the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of diseases.

Much of the general waste at St. Paul's Hospital includes common items found in household garbage describes general waste. General waste also known as residual or mixed waste, is waste that has not been source separated for recycling.

Biohazardous waste specifically refers to biological materials that pose a threat to the health of living organisms, primarily humans, such as cultures, stocks, and human/animal cell lines.

The key component to zero waste is recycling. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to
systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and
materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury
them.

The term zero waste was first used in the name of a company, Zero Waste Systems Inc (ZWS), which was founded by a PhD chemist, Paul Palmer in mid 1970s in Oakland, California.

Radioactive waste is a waste that contains radioactive materials. It is usually a by-product of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine. These waste should be disposed into containers lined with yellow bags and labeled radioactive waste.

Zero waste is a philosophy that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that all products are reuse. Implementing zero waste will eliminate all discharge to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.

Red safety cans are the industry standard for storing flammable liquids because they are designed to prevent leaks, contain vapors, and withstand fire exposure.

Open waste on land and water bodies is the root of infection and habitat for diseases. The waste that remains open and untreated on land and in water bodies pollute the very sources whereby living beings sustain, the pollutants emitting out of such waste is released in the air, pollute soil which grows crops, make the environment filthy and water undrinkable which when consumed leads to the diseases on a large scale.

The term pollute means to degrade. It means to contaminate water, air, land, and soil with harmful substances. The substances that adversely affect our nature and deteriorate the natural balance of the Earth.

Use and throw is the concept of using a thing to its utility one time and discarding it thereafter. These products are generally made for that purpose so that once used cannot be brought into further use again such as blades, surgical masks, etc.

Human impact on the environment or anthropogenic impact on the environment includes changes to biophysical environments and ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans, including global warming, environmental degradation (such as ocean acidification), mass extinction and biodiversity loss, ecological crisis, and ecological collapse.

Solid waste which gets accumulated, untreated and uncared start decomposing in the environment that is breaking down of the solid organic waste in nature by the action of microorganisms.

Waste is a matter which is discarded after primary use and is rejected because either it becomes useless or worthless of bringing into the use for the purpose it was so made. There are several types of waste depending upon their source such as domestic waste which includes household materials, industrial waste including manufacturing waste, radioactive waste, etc.

Bio-accumulation means the accumulation or enrichment of the contaminants or chemical substances into an organism that occurs by the process of absorption which occurs at a faster rate than that of excretion.

Accumulated waste which is left untreated and uncared is harmful to the environment as it starts degrading in the open atmosphere by the action of microorganisms, some of the waste is eaten by stray animals which causes a problem in their functions as it consists of harmful elements such as acids, polythene, etc. The foul smell generating out of accumulated waste cause breathing problem in humans and air pollution. This waste dissolves in water bodies and form part of land making soil unusable and infertile and water harmful for drinking.

The amount of oxygen required by bacteria to break down the organic matter present in a certain volume of a sample of water is called Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD). The amount of BOD in the water is the measure of the amount of organic material in the water.

Lead is a toxicant that has multiple effects on the body. It gets stored in teeth and bones and accumulates there making them hollow and weak. It is released in the blood leading to a high concentration of lead which causes deformity in children during pregnancy. It affects the brain and kidney functioning.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation has launched India’s largest waste-to-energy plant at Narela-Bawana. Venkaiah Naidu, Union minister for urban development, inaugurated the project at the Civic Centre. The project will use 2,000 metric tonnes of waste every day to generate 24 megawatts of energy.

Yucca Mountain in Nevada was designated by the U.S. government as the site for the deep geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.