PRACTICUM

SOCIAL  ISSUES - WASTE  DISPOSAL

INTRODUCTION

 Wastes  are  unwanted  or  unusuable  materials . Waste  is  any  substance  which  is  discarded  after  primary  use ,  or  it  is  worthless  , defective  &  of  no  use .

 Example : - municipal  solid  waste , hazardous  waste ,  wastewater , radioactive  wastes.

 Solid  waste  is  essentially  garbage  ,  waste  produced  in  our  homes , business  &  some  industrial  sources .  Solid  waste  production  in  this  country  is  growing  in  volume  &  in  toxicity . More  &  more  of  our  everyday  activities  contain  toxic  chemicals , such  as  mercury  or  PBDEs ( flame  retardant  chemicals ) &  these  toxic  products  are  combined  with  a  plethora  of  other  chemicals ,  with  eventually  impact  public  health  &  the  environment . There  are  numerous  solid  waste .  Many  of  older  facilities  run  by  municipalities  have  been  closed  down  because  of  environmental  concerns , paving  the  way  for  the  waste  industry  to  market  their  " state  of  the  art  " management  &  facilities .

NEED  &  SIGNIFICANCE 

Waste  management  is  all those  activities  &  action  required  to  manage  waste  from  its  interception  to  its  disposal . This  includes  amonst  other  things , collection , transport , treatment  &  disposal  of  waste  together  with  monitoring  &  regulation . It  also  encompasses  the  legal  &  regulatory  framework  that  relates  to  waste  management  encompassing  guidance  on  recycling  etc . 

                      The  term  usually  refers  to  all  kinds  of  waste ,  whether  generated  during  the  extraction  of  raw  materials , the  processing  of  raw  materials  into  intermediate  &  final  products ,the  consumption  of  final  products  , or  other  human  activities , including  municipal  , agriculture .

                                Waste  management  is  needed :-

1.  To  control  different  types  of  pollution .
2.  To  stop  the  spread  of  infectious  diseases .
3.  To  conserve  all  environmental  resources .
4.  To  recycle  hazardous  waste  for  further  production .

STATEMENT  OF  THE  STUDY 

To  find  out  the  importance  of  the  waste  management  in  our  local  community  &  to  reduce  the  amount  of  waste  disposal  to  protect  environment  &  health  of  living  beings .

OBJECTIVES  OF  THE  STUDY 

1.  To  find  out  the  importance  of  waste  management .
2.  To  promote  waste  reduction  ,  recycling ,  reuse  &  recovery   and  create   public  awareness  on  waste  management  .
3.  To  advance  practical  aspects  of  waste  management  &  recycling .

METHODOLOGY  ADOPTED

Since  the  present  study  aims  about  " The  problems  of  waste  disposal  in  local  community "  it  was  decided  to  adopt  field  study  ,  group  discussion  &  observation  schedulde .

COLLECTION  OF  DATA

The  more  waste  we  generate  ,  the  more  we  have  to  dispose  of. Some  methods  of  waste  disposal  release  air  pollutants &  green  house  gases  into  the  atmosphere . Waste  recycling  offers  one  means  of  reducing  the  impacts  of  waste  disposal  in  the  atmosphere , but  there  are  other  methods  of  waste  disposal  which  are  more  environment  friendly . The  most  common  disposal  methods  are  landfill  &  to  a  lesser  extent  incineration.

                                 Currently  it  is  estimated  that  over 1.5million  tones  of  methane  are  released  by  landfill  sites  each  year . Methane  is  a  strong  greenhouse  gas  &  contributes  to  global  warming . Furthermore  the  leachate  fluids  formed  from  decomposing  waste  can  permeate  thrugh  the  underlying  &  sorrounding  geological  strata  , polluting  groundwater  which  may  be  used  for  drinking  water  supplies .

 Contaminant  landfills  however can  limit  the  spread  of  this  waste  leachate . Incineration  is  the  second  largest  waste  disposable  method  in  most  countries . Today , hospitals  tend  to  share  one  large  incinerator  to  dispose  of  the  wastes  for  a  number  of  hospitals . A  less  common  but  more  sustainable  method  of   waste  disposal  is  anaerobic  digestion .In  this  process  waste  decomposes  in  an  enclosed  chamber  , unlike  in  a  landfill  site . Digestion  takes  place  in  an  oxygen  free  environment .  Bacteria  thrives  in  this  environment  by  using  the  oxygen  that  is  chemically  compound  within  the  waste .  They  decompose  waste  by  using  the  oxygen  by  breaking  down  the  molecules  to  form  gaseous  by  products ( methane ) & small  quantities  of  solid  residue . Anaerobic  sewage  plant  producesignificant  quantities  of  methane  , which  can  be  burnt  to  generate  electricity .

                For  several  years , sewage  sludge  & agriculture  waste  has  been  treated  by  anaerobic  digestion  &  the  process  is  now  being  used  for  municipal  solid  waste . It  requires  the  biodegradable  section  of  the  waste  to  be  generated  from  other  material  &  put  into  digerstion  chambers .

HEALTH  EFFECTS  IN  COMMUNITIES

  

Most  of  the  studies  of  communities  living  near  incinerators  have  assessed  exposure  using  some  measure  of  distance  from  the  site  or  an  estimate  of  areas  at  most  risk  from  emissions  . Little  evidence  has  been  found  for  an  assosciation  between  modern  waste  incinerators  &  reproductive  or  developmental  effects . In  addition , there  is  little  evidence  of  increased  prevalence  of  respiratory  illness  near  incinerators ,  using  either  self  reported  symptoms  or  physiological  measure .

                           Studies  focussing  on  a  single  waste  incinerator  suggested  some  rlationship  between  distance  from  the  site  &  morality  or  incidence  from  some  cancers ,  childhood  cancers  &  leukemias  &  soft  tissue  sarcoma  & non  Hodgkins  lymphoma .

INDIVIDUAL  POLLUTANTS

From  the  health  aspect , the  most  important  pollutants  assosciated  with  incinertion  are  particles , acidic  ,  gases  &  aerosols , metals  &  organic  compounds . There  is  an  extensive  research  literature  on  both  acute  &  chronic  effects  of  particles . Despite  methadological  limitations , epidemological  studies  worldwide  have   demonstrated  considerable  consistenancy  of  findings with  regards  to  the  assosciation  of  particles  exposure  &  acute  health  effects  such  as  increased  overall  morality  &  morbidity  ,  emergency  hospital  admissions ,  particularly ,  cardiovascular  &  respiratory  morbidity  &  mortality . Effects  appear  to  be  severe  in  more  susceptible  groups  such  as  children , elderly , those  with  chronic  conditions  such  as  asthma  etc . .

CANCER

Several  geographic  comparison  studies  have  investigated  cancer  mortality  &  incidence  around  waste  sites . Increased  frequency  of  cancers  in  countries  containing  hazardous  waste  sites  was  found  in  two  US  studies  particularly  for  gastrointestinal , oesophagal , stomach , colon  &  retal  cancer .

ENVIRONMENTAL  PROBLEMS

The  long  hazardous  waste , in  the  form  of  petroleum  products  such  as  MTBE , PCBs , volatile  organic  compounds  remain  in  the  ground , the  farther  it  is  going  to  spread . These  chemicals  can  persist  in  the  environment  for  decades  if  not  longer . Both  environmental  degaradation  &  clean  up  costs  rise  dramatically  the  longer  clean ups  are  delayed . Hazardous  waste  sites  can  pollute  rivers  &  drinking  water  suppliers  as  well  as  harm  wildlife .

SOLUTIONS  FOR  WASTE  MANAGEMENT

1. RECOVERY  &  RECYCLING  

               Recovery  is   the  process  of  taking  useful  discarded  items  for  a  specific  items  for  a  specific  next  time . These  discarded  items  are  then  processed  to  extract  or  recover  materials  &  resources  or  convert  them  into  energy  in  the  form   of  useable  heat , electricity  or  fuel .

               Recycling  is  the  process  of  converting  waste  products  into  new  products  to  prevent  energy  usage  &  consumption  of  heat . Recycling  is  the  component  of  reduce , reuse ,r ecycle  waste  hierarchy .  The  idea  behind  recycling  is  to  reduce  energy  usage , reduce  volume  of  landfills , reduce  air &  water  pollution ,   reduce  greenhouse  gas  emission  &  preserve  natural  resources  for  future  use .

2. PLASMA  GASIFICATION

              It  is  another  form  of  waste  management  . Plasma  is  primarily  an  electrically  charged  or  a  highly  ionised  gas . Lighting  is  one  type  of  plasma  which  produces  temperatures  that  exceeds  12,600 degree  Fahrenheit . This  form  of  waste  disposal  provides  renewable  energy  &  an  assortment  of  other  fantastic  benefits .

3. COMPOSTING

It  is  easy  &  natural  bio- degradation  process  that  takes  organic  waste  i.e  remaining  of  plants  &  kitchen  waste  &  turns  into  nutrient  rich  food  for  your  plants  . Compost  is a key  ingredient  in  organic farming.  The basic use of compost  is  conditioning  and  fertilizing  soil  by  the  addition of humus, nutrients  and  beneficial  soil  bacteria,  with  a wide range  of  specific  applications. One of indirect uses of compost  is  to  reduce  landfill  use  and  methane  production of disposed  garbage. 

4. WASTE  TO  ENERGY ( RECOVER  ENERGY )

Waste  to  energy ( WtE )  process  involves  converting  of  non  recyclable  waste  items  into  useable  heat , electricity  or  fuel  through  a  variet  of  process . This  type  of  source  energy  is  a  renewable  energy  source  as  non  recyclable  waste  can  be  used  over  &  over  again  to  create  energy . It  can  also  help  to  reduce  carbon  emissions  by  offsetting  the  need  for  energy  from  fossil  sources  . WtE  , also  widely  recognised  by  acronymp  WtE  is  the  generation  of  energy  in  the  form  of  heat  or  electricity  from  waste .

5. AVOIDANCE / WASTE  MINIMIZATION

           The  most  easier  method  of  waste  management  is  to  reduce  creation  of  waste  materials  thereby  reducing  the  amount  of  waste  going  to  landfills . Waste  reduction  can  be  done  through  recycling  old  materials  like  jar , bags , etc ,. instead  of  buying  new  one  ,  avoiding  use  of  plastic  s.

SOLUTION  FOR  ENVIRONMENTAL  PROBLEM

A ) TOXIC  USE  REDUCTION 

By  adopting  safer  technologies  companies  can  reduce  hazardous  waste  to  stop  exposure  at  the  source .

B ) POLLUTER  PAYS

Any  &  all  responsible  parties  to  pollution  should  pay  for  the  cleanup  of  hazardous  waste  sites.

C ) PERMANENT  CLEANUP  OVER  TEMPORARY   CLEANUP

When  possible , toxic  chemicals  should  be  removed  from  our  communities  &  permenantly  cleaned  uprather  than  covered  over.

D ) PRIORTIZE  THE  WORST  SITES

States  should  priortize  sites  that  pose  the  largest  risk  to  public  health  which  ensure  that  there  is  adequate  finding  &  aggressive  deadlines   to  ensure  the   worst  sites  which  are  cleaned  up  without  delay.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Buying  recyclable  &  recycled  products  is  also  encouraged  to  support  the  recycling  industry  &  as  a  whole  to  protect  the  environment .
2. The  symbol  of  three  moving  arrows  on  a  product  signifies  it  is  recyclable. Such  arrows  represent  the  process  of  recycling  from  becoming  a  waste  to  represent  a  reselling . And  this  symbol  coined  the  term " close  the  loop " , an  accurate  representation  of  waste  management  &  recycling .

CONCLUSION

 Although  the  possible  physical  health  effects  arising  from  waste  management  process  have  been  addressed , there  has  been   little  research  into  socio  economic  impacts  of  waste  management  options . Public  perceptions  of  the  relative  health  risk  effect  not  only  differences  in  understanding  but  underlying  social  values . The  development  of  effective  participatory   programmes  is  essential  to  understand  the  public  right  &  responsibility  to  be  involved  in  the  assessment  &  management  of  hazrads  in  their  communities  is  addresses , leading  hopefully  to  improved  assessment  &  management  strategies .

REFERENCE

1.  http://www.eschooltoday.com/waste-recycling/waste-disposal-methods.html
2. http://www.toxicaction.org/problems-and-solutions/hazardous-waste-sites
3. http://www.google.co.in/search=waste disposal

SUBMITTED  BY

ANJANA  GOPAL