What are solid wastes?
Solid wastes refer to everything that goes out in trash. We can define solid wastes as the 'discarded materials other than fluids'.
Types of solid wastes
- Biodegradable waste
- Recyclable material
- Inert waste
- Composite wastes
- Domestic hazardous waste & toxic waste
- Wastes from homes, offices, etc.
- Collected and disposed by the municipality and generally consists of paper, waste food materials, leather, textile, rubber, glass, etc.
- Provide breeding ground for files and other insects when they are dumped in the open.
Fly ash
- Generated by Thermal power plants generate
- Composed of oxides of silica, iron and aluminum and low concentrations of toxic heavy metals.
Defunct ships
- Broken down in developing countries for scrap metal
- Contain toxic substances like asbestos, mercury, etc.
- The workers are not suitably protected and are exposed to toxic chemicals.
- The coastal area becomes polluted.
- Contain pathogenic microbes, disinfectants and other harmful chem icals.
Industrial wastes
- Produce large amounts of corrosive and highly inflammable chemicals.
Electronic wastes (e-wastes)
- Generated in the developed countries and are sent to developing countries where certain metals like copper, iron, etc. are recovered from them.
- Workers are exposed to the toxic substances as recycling is done by hand.
Disposal of Solid Wastes
- Municipal solid wastes are burnt to reduce the volume.
- Sanitary landfills have been adopted as an alternative to open-burning dumps.
- Municipal wastes are incinerated and the heart emitted is used to generate electricity.
- They are also recycled for various components.
- Fly ash is used in construction industry or buried as landfills it is also used for soil amendment as it increases water retention and aeration of soil.
- e-wastes are buried as landfills or incinerated; they are also recycled.
3 R's
- Reduce - Instead of buying new, use the ones that are in the house
- Reuse – Instead of throwing away the bottles, they can be used pencil stands or small vases
- Recycle – Using cloth shopping bags instead of plastics. It can be used again and again.
Solid Waste & Human Health
- Rag pickers get chronic diseases as they are directly handling of solid waste.
- The release of chemical waste from industries into the environment leads to chemical poisoning
- Municipal waste along with industrial waste creates radioactive hazards to the one who are exposed to it.
- Direct dumping of untreated waste in water bodies affect the food chain through the plants and animals that feed on it, because of the accumulation of toxic substances.
- Hospital and other medical waste requires special attention otherwise they may spread infectious microbes
- People exposed to hazardous waste may get cancer too in some cases.
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