SOLID WASTES

Solid waste management is defined as the science of controlling the generation, storage, collection, transportation or transfer, processing, and waste dumping of waste materials in a way that best addresses public health, conservation, economic, aesthetic, engineering, as well as other environmental concerns.

Planning, administrative, financial, engineering, or legal tasks all fall under the umbrella of solid waste management. Complex interdisciplinary relationships between subjects including public health, city or regional planning, political science, geography, sociology, economics, communication in conservation, demography, engineering, and material sciences could be used to provide solutions.

Industrial and residential producers, urban and rural locales, and developed and developing countries all have different approaches to solid waste management. Local government authorities are responsible for managing non-hazardous trash in urban regions. Hazardous waste management, on the other hand, is usually the duty of those who produce it, and it is regulated by local, national, or even worldwide authorities.

Objectives of Waste Management

The major purpose of solid waste management is to reduce and eliminate the negative effects of waste products on health and the environment to promote economic development and a higher standard of living. This must be done as efficiently as possible to lower costs and waste from accumulating.

The Waste Management System’s Six Functional Elements

The waste management system is divided into six functional components, as shown below:

• Waste generation refers to any operations involving the identification of materials that are no longer usable and are instead gathered for systematic disposal or discarded.
• On-site handling, storage, and processing: These refer to actions that take place at the location where garbage is generated and make collection easier. Rubbish bins, for example, are put at locations where there is a lot of waste.
• Waste collection: This phase of waste management entails tasks including placing waste collection bins, collecting waste from those bins, or accumulating trash inside the area where collection vehicles are emptied. Although transportation is included in the collecting process, it is not usually the primary mode of trash conveyance.
• Waste transfer and transport are the processes involved in transporting waste in big waste transport vehicles from local waste collecting points to regional waste disposal sites.
• Waste processing and recovery include the facilities, equipment, and techniques used to recover reusable and recyclable materials from waste streams and to improve the efficiency of other waste management functions.
• The final step in the waste management process is disposal. It entails operations aimed at the methodical disposal of waste items in places like landfills or waste-to-energy plants.

ISWM (Integrated Solid Waste Management)

 As the subject of solid waste management develops, solutions are being examined more methodically and holistically. In the sphere of waste management, for example, ISWM is becoming increasingly popular. It is the process of selecting and implementing appropriate management programmes, technologies, and procedures to meet specific waste management aims and outcomes. ISWM consists of garbage source reduction, recycling, waste combustion, or landfills, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2 These tasks can be carried out in a hierarchical or participatory manner.

Finally, it’s critical to emphasise that in some countries, effective solid waste management programmes are critical. Only approximately half of the waste produced in cities is collected, while only about a quarter of the waste produced in rural regions is collected. In a business-as-usual scenario, the World Bank predicts a 70 percent increase in global garbage from 2016 to 2050. 3 Continuous attempts to enhance the waste management system are critical to maintaining a healthy human and ecological future.

Wastes Excluded from Solid Waste Regulation

The term “solid waste” does not apply to several materials. These items are omitted for a multitude of reasons, including public policy, economic consequences, other laws’ regulation, a lack of data, or the impracticability of regulating waste. The decision by excluding the following materials from the definition of solid waste is the result of either Congressional action (enshrined in statute) or EPA rulemaking.

If a substance does not fulfil the criteria of solid waste, it is not hazardous waste. As a result, wastes that do not meet the criteria of solid waste are exempt from RCRA’s hazardous waste regulation under subtitle C.

Conclusion

In any community, solid waste management is a necessity. Let’s begin with a description of the item to be managed—solid waste—before we get into the method.

Solid waste is a term used to describe a wide range of trash materials that are dumped as undesired and worthless as a result of animal and human activity. Solid waste is generated in a specific region as a result of industrial, residential, or commercial activity, and it can be treated in several ways. As a result, landfills are usually divided into four types: sanitary, municipal, construction and demolition, and industrial waste sites. Plastic, paper, glass, metal, or organic garbage can all be classed based on their materials. Radioactive, flammable, infectious, poisonous, or non-toxic wastes, for example, maybe classified depending on their hazard potential. Industrial, home, commercial, institutional, and building and demolition waste may all fall into different categories.

Solid waste should be disposed of accordingly to ensure environmentally friendly practices, regardless of its source, substance, or danger potential. Solid waste management is an important part of environmental hygiene, hence it must be factored into environmental planning.