Geography
Solid Waste
Solid waste refers to any discarded materials that are not liquid or gas. This includes items like paper, plastic, food scraps, and other household or industrial waste. Proper management of solid waste is crucial for environmental sustainability and public health, as it helps to minimize pollution and reduce the strain on natural resources.
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10 Key excerpts on "Solid Waste"
eBook - PDF- M. H. Fulekar(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
The term ‘Solid Waste’ usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and is generally undertaken to reduce their effects on health, environment or aesthetics, waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal of waste materials. 9.1 Solid WasteS Population growth intensifies the pressure on urban infrastructure in many cities. Most of the cities lack the resources to meet the demand for services such as water, sanitation and Solid Waste management. The insufficiency of services results in a deterioration of the urban environment in the form of air, water and land pollution that poses risks to human health and the environment. Solid Waste management in developing countries has received less attention from policy makers and academics than that paid to other urban environment problems such as air pollution and wastewater treatment. Solid Waste includes waste generated in the residual, commercial, institutional and industrial sectors but exclude industrial process waste, sludge, construction and demolition waste, pathological waste, agricultural waste, mining waste and hazardous waste (Levy 1994). Waste management practices differ for developed and developing nations, for urban and rural areas and for residual and industrial producers (Medina 2002). Management for non-hazardous CHAPTER CHAPTER Solid Waste MANAGEMENT 9 residual and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibility of local government authorities, whole management for non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator. Waste management methods vary widely between areas for many reasons, including type of waste material, nearby land uses, and the area available.
eBook - PDF- Frank R. Spellman(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
Table 10.1 provides a useful waste classification system. Solid Waste is probably more cor-rectly defined as any material thing that is no longer wanted. Defining Solid Waste is tricky, because Solid Waste is a series of paradoxes (O’Reilly, 1994): 564 Handbook of Environmental Engineering • It is personal in the kitchen trash can but impersonal in a landfill. • What one individual may deem worthless (an outgrown or out-of-style coat, for example) and fit only for the trash can another individual may find valuable. • It is of little cost concern to many Americans yet is very costly to our society in the long term. • It is an issue of serious federal concern yet a very localized problem from municipality to municipality. The popular adage is accurate—everyone wants waste to be picked up, but no one wants it to be put down. It goes almost without saying that the other adage, “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) is also accurate. The important point, though, is that whenever a material object is thrown away, regardless of its actual or potential value, it becomes a Solid Waste. Garbage (with its tendency to decompose rapidly and create offensive odors) is often used as a synonym for Solid Waste, but garbage actually refers strictly to animal or vegetable wastes resulting from the handling, storage, preparation, or consumption of food. The collective and continual production of all refuse (the sum of all Solid Wastes from all sources) is referred to as the Solid Waste stream . An estimated 6 billion metric tons of Solid Waste are pro-duced in the United States each year. The two largest sources of Solid Wastes are agriculture (animal manure, crop residues, and other agricultural byproducts) and mining (dirt, waste rock, sand, and slag, the material separated from metals during the smelting process). About 10% of the total waste stream is generated by industrial activities (plastics, paper, fly ash, slag, scrap metal, and sludge or biosolids from treatment plants).
eBook - PDFIntroduction to Waste Management
A Textbook
- Syed E. Hasan(Author)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
While the word “waste” is used to convey different meanings in different countries and cultures, the US professionals have used words like garbage, refuse, rubbish, and trash for various types of MSW: Garbage for wet MSW; trash for dry; refuse for a combination of both dry and wet waste; and rubbish – a “catch- all” term that includes refuse along with construction and demolition debris (C & D). A general definition of waste would be anything that has been discarded, thrown away, abandoned, or is no longer of any use. The technical term, MSW, is used for everyday items that we use and then throw away, such as packaging materials, paper, plastics, furniture, yard waste, clothing, bottles and cans, food scraps, newspapers, magazines, appliances, paint, and batteries. This comes from our homes, educational and research institutions, offices, hospitals, commercial estab- lishments, and public facilities, such as parks, stadiums, etc. As stated before, Solid Waste also includes the nonhazardous fraction of the waste generated during the production and process- ing of agricultural products; mineral extraction, dredging, and disaster relief and rehabilitation operations. 4.4.1 MSW Composition Common discards, such as paper, plastics, food, organics, metals, and yard wastes, are everyday materials that are generated on a routine basis from residential and commercial sources that are collected on a regular basis from residences and businesses. In addition, there are other materials, like furniture, mattresses and other bulky items; electronic- or e-waste, and white goods that are generated from the same sources, but are collected separately on specified dates, or dropped off at a designated collection facility. 4 Municipal Solid Waste 104 Bulky-waste comprises used or unwanted items such as furniture, mattresses, bookcases, filing cabinets and other large or bulky items.
eBook - PDFElements of Industrial Hazards
Health, Safety, Environment and Loss Prevention
- Ratan Raj Tatiya(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
Chapter 5 Solid industrial waste & land degradation ‘The success of any setup whether industrial or non-industrial lies in minimizing wastage of resources, which could be: natural (minerals, land, air, water, flora, fauna) or man-made (man-himself, machines, equipment, materials and energy)’ Keywords: Hazardous Wastes, Waste Disposal, Waste Generation, Waste Accumu-lation, Waste Management in Petroleum & Mining Industries, Solid Waste, Source Reduction, Recycling/Recovery, Reuse, Treatment, Responsible Disposal, Modern Landfill, Particulate Matter, Composting, Incineration, Land Degradation, Soil Deg-radation Dumping Site, Gaseous Emissions, Waste Consignment Note, Material Sub-stitution, Equipment Modifications, Proactive Outlook. 5.1 INTRODUCTION Waste is a material which has no direct value to the producer, and so it must be dis-posed off. It is usually generated by the non-value-adding activities of any operation/ process. It can be a solid, liquid or gaseous material. Every industry produces waste but the quantity and nature varies, and thus it is difficult to quantify and measure. It can easily be noticed with a little care and awareness. Its handling, storage and disposal costs are huge, and accumulation beyond certain limits results in adverse impacts to the health, environment and overall economy of the operation, as: • It is an indication of consuming excessive materials • It builds up due to excessive losses (in most of the cases) • It causes accidents and jeopardizes safety • It necessitates re-work, and ultimately: • It causes delays. Waste generation cannot be eliminated, but applying effective management tech-niques certainly could minimize it. 150 Elements of industrial hazards 5.2 CLASSIFICATION 4, 5, 8, 11 5.2.1 Non-hazardous wastes In general, it could be defined as: any solid material or semi solid, which does not have any danger to the environment or to the human health, if it is dealt in a safe and scientific way.
eBook - PDF- Philip E. LaMoreaux, James W. LaMoreaux, Mostafa M. Soliman, Bashir A. Memon, Fakhry A. Assaad(Authors)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
The Solid Wastes produced by sewerage systems are not included in this section but are incor-porated with liquid waste in the following section. Table 5.3 shows that the daily waste production from nonindustrial and municipal sites is over 50% of the total waste generated. Urban dwellers produce more waste than their rural counterparts. Table 5.4 shows the material components of this waste stream. Most of this refuse has been disposed of in landfill sites within or near the community generat-ing the waste or by incineration. In the past, most landfill sites were little more than open dumps, 80 Environmental Hydrogeology, Second Edition and the incinerators produced ash and hazardous and noxious gases, which were introduced into the atmosphere. Future Solid Waste generation in industrial and institutional sectors is dependent upon the types of industry located in the urban areas and the number of employees they bring into these areas. Large-scale industrial development could greatly increase quantities of waste, and the population associated with these industries will also increase quantities of waste from hospitals, schools, and other institutions. The main sources of Solid Wastes in industry are wood factories; paper mills; steel and alumi-num factories; all kinds of packing companies; glass factories; and industries that deal with metal-lurgy, food, and chemicals. Urban areas generate a variety of Solid Waste materials from households, hospitals, and clinics, which may include bottles, syringes, toxic materials, radioactive substances, and dressings. Agricultural Solid Wastes may be produced in rural areas as crop wastes, agricultural-processing wastes, animal manure, and hazardous pesticide containers. Some crop wastes are disposed of by being plowed back into the soil, burned on site, or used as feed. However, in all instances, the waste moves in a continuous cycle and eventually into the air, soil, or water.
eBook - PDFHandbook of Environmental Health, Volume II
Pollutant Interactions in Air, Water, and Soil
- Herman Koren, Michael S. Bisesi(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
An evaluation of the potential hazards associated with recycling vs. the benefits of recycling will have to be made and then appropriate decisions made concerning the techniques to be utilized. A large number of existing Solid Waste landfills do not meet the current federal and state standards for safe design and operation. This includes monitoring ground-water for possible pollution; having natural or artificial liners; collecting the polluted leachate or liquid waste that is produced when liquids percolate through the refuse; treating the leachate; providing controls for water pollution that results from the runoff of rainwater from their sites; and imposing restrictions on the receipt of bulk liquid waste. Most of the landfills were developed many years ago and have received wastes that are now considered to be hazardous. Thousands of closed landfills are being investigated for potentially hazardous waste problems. In 1978, 20,000 land-fills existed; by 1991, 6000; and by 1997, 2200. However, landfill capacity has increased in most states. When communities have tried to develop new waste facilities and waste-pro-cessing technology, people within the community have started enormous controver-sies over the location of the landfill and the potential environmental problem resulting from the landfill. Individuals are saying that they do not want this in their backyard. SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT 87 SCIENTIFIC, TECHNOLOGICAL, AND GENERAL INFORMATION Definition of Solid Waste The term Solid Waste is very broad. It includes not only traditional nonhazardous Solid Waste, such as municipal garbage, but also hazardous Solid Waste. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) defines Solid Waste as garbage, refuse, sludges, and other discarded materials. The garbage comes from human activity. The refuse includes a list of items discussed under residential waste.
eBook - PDFIntegrated Waste Management
Volume II
- Sunil Kumar(Author)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- IntechOpen(Publisher)
3. Municipal Solid Waste Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is defined Cointreau (1982) as non-air and sewage emissions created within and disposed of by a municipality, including household garbage, commercial refuse, construction and demolition debris, dead animals, and abandoned vehicles. Municipal Solid Waste is generally made up of paper, vegetable matter, plastics, metals, textiles, rubber, and glass (USEPA 2002). Municipal Solid Waste disposal is a major concern in developing countries across the world, as high poverty, population growth, and high urbanization rates combine with ineffectual and under-funded governments hampers efficient management of wastes (Doan 1998, Cointreau 1982). In most cities and large towns of developing countries, Solid Waste is not only heaped in huge quantities on refuse dumps but also thrown and made to lie around in piles in the street and in small illegal dump on any piece of unused land. Most third world countries have worst cases than industrialised countries which have the money and technical know now and public attitudes to control and manage their waste to some degree. 3.1 Characterisation of municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Municipal Solid Waste characterization is a waste stream analysis which involves a logical and systematic approach to obtaining and analyzing data on one or more waste streams or Integrated Waste Management – Volume II 14 sub-streams. The analysis usually provides - the composition of the waste stream and an estimate of the quantity of the waste stream (EPA Ireland, 1996). There is currently no agreed international standard for waste stream analysis or waste characterization although many countries have national procedures (EPA, Ireland, 1996). However there are two basic approaches to estimating quantities of municipal Solid Waste - Site-Specific Study and material flow approach (USEPA, 2006).
eBook - PDF- A.J. Chandler, T.T. Eighmy, O. Hjelmar, D.S. Kosson, S.E. Sawell, J. Vehlow, H.A. van der Sloot, J. Hartlén(Authors)
- 1997(Publication Date)
- Elsevier Science(Publisher)
Unfortunately, the definition of MSW is open to administrative interpretation which varies widely between countries, agencies and even local jurisdictions. Definitions may range from: Solid Waste includes residential, light industrial, commercial and institutional waste that is collected by a municipality or by contracted collectors on behalf of the municipality. (one definition taken from The State of Canada's Environment, (Government of Canada, 1991 )), to Any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial mining, and agricultural activities, and from community activities... US Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, 1984). 16 Figure 2.1 Per Capita Waste Generation Statistics Source: Environment Canada While these definitions may represent the extremes, they illustrate the potential difficulty in directly comparing MSW related data developed by agencies or groups with different goals, responsibilities or motives. In 1989 for example, the US EPA estimated that between 11 - 13% of the MSW stream was being recycled. However, some groups insisted that automobile scrap should be included in the calculation, thereby effectively doubling the nationally quoted recycling rate (OTA, 1989). On the other hand, Japan does not include the quantity of materials which have been recycled in the definition of MSW because these materials are not considered waste. In view of the lack of a standard definition for MSW, the following definition is suggested: The Solid Waste generated at residences, commercial establishments (e.g., offices, retail shops, restaurants), and institutions (e.g., hospitals and schools), but does not include construction/demolition debris, automobile scrap or medical/pathological waste, United States Office of Technology Assessment (OTA, 1989).
eBook - PDF- David M. Hassenzahl, Mary Catherine Hager, Nancy Y. Gift, Linda R. Berg, Peter H. Raven(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
Sanitary landfills differ from open dumps in that the Solid Waste is placed in a hole, compacted, 1987 towed a garbage barge from New York to North Carolina. When North Carolina refused to accept the Solid Waste, the Break of Dawn set off on a journey of many months. In total, six states and three countries rejected the waste, which was eventually returned to New York to be incinerated. Waste generation is an unavoidable consequence of pros- perous, high-technology, industrial economies. It is a problem not only in the United States but also in Canada and other highly developed countries. Many products that could be re- paired, reused, or recycled are simply thrown away. Others, in- cluding paper napkins and disposable diapers, are intended to be used once and then discarded. Packaging—which not only makes a product more attractive and more likely to sell but also protects it, keeps it sanitary, and deters theft—contributes to waste. Nobody likes to think about Solid Waste, but the fact is that it is a concern of modern society—we keep producing it, and places to dispose of it safely are limited. Types of Solid Waste Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is a heterogeneous mixture composed primarily of paper and paperboard; yard waste; plastics; food waste; metals; materials such as rubber, leather, and textiles; wood; and glass (Figure 23.1 ). The proportions of the major types of Solid Waste in this mixture change over time. Today’s Solid Waste contains more paper and plastics than in the past, whereas the amounts of glass and steel have declined. Incineration with energy recovery 12.8% Discarded in sanitary landfills 52.6% Recycling and composting 34.6% FIGURE 23.2 U.S.
eBook - PDF- James M. Beard(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
Natural materials include paper, cardboard, yard waste, food waste, wood, some textiles, and leather. Solid Waste DISPOSITION This section deals with the various ways of handling the Solid Wastestream. We are not going to discuss every possible way to get rid of trash, only the major ones. Generally, the solutions fall into one of two categories: either make the trash useful 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 Canada Chile Ethiopia France South Africa United States Metric Tons/Person/Year Country Per Capita Production of Domestic Solid Waste Figure 14.1 Production of domestic waste in selected countries on a per-person basis. (Adapted from Nshimirimana, J., Attitudes and Behaviour of Low-Income Households towards the Management of Domestic Solid Waste in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain, PhD thesis, University of the Western Cape, Capetown, South Africa, 2004.) 318 ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY IN SOCIETY, SECOND EDITION again or get rid of it. When we try to make trash useful again, we can either use the items again as they are (that is, reuse them) or use trash items to make new prod-ucts, which is called recycling . If the choice is to dispose of items, the most com-mon methods are either land disposal or incineration . These are very old methods; however, in the modern age they have been improved upon significantly. The choice is largely dictated by the amount of land available for land disposal. As seen from Table 14.1, countries where land is precious, such as Japan, tend toward incineration as the method of choice, whereas countries such as Australia with lots of land are more likely to use land disposal. Land Disposal Land disposal includes any disposal method that dumps the material somewhere on the land. These methods run the gamut from high-tech to no-tech and legal to illegal. The open dump was the earliest practice of waste disposal on land. In early times, the main purpose was to get the garbage away from where the people lived.
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