The Impacts Of Waste On Our Environment

Waste management is an issue that affects every person on this planet. Poorly managed waste poses a threat as contamination to oceans and clogging of drains can increase respiratory diseases, and animals may consume waste by mistake, which, in turn, can affect climate change and the economy.

The amount of waste generated by us is closely connected to the amount we consume and the amount of production. An increase in one person’s household commodities increases the amount of waste generated. Demographic changes play a huge role.

The wide varieties of waste make it challenging to calculate the amount of waste generated at its absolute maximum. There is data of varying types for various kinds of waste.

How Much Waste Do We Generate?

All around the globe, people produce 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste per year, which is 33% more or less if not diligently treated in an environmentally safe manner.

It’s been estimated that by 2050, global waste production is to increase by 3.40 million tonnes. Worldwide, a person on average produces 0.74 kg of waste, which can increase to even 4 kgs. Though it only accounts for 16% of the world’s population, high-income countries produce about 34% of the waste produced worldwide.

In developing countries, it has been observed that 90% of the waste produced is mismanaged; that is, it is openly dumped or, even worse – burned.

Plastic – A Difficult And Complex Problem

In 2016, it was estimated that around 242 million tonnes of plastic were generated as waste, which rounds up to make about 24 plastic bottles.

Even if plastic waste is collected, most countries fail to manage to make it reusable. 

Plastic in water bodies poses a great threat to aquatic life and is an urgent problem. About 90% of the marine waste is found to be plastic.

Air Pollution, Climate Change, And Soil And Water Contamination

Inadequate or mismanaged waste leads to air pollution, climate change, and soil and water contamination on a large scale. 

After the collection of waste, it should be treated as required. Part of this waste is to be recycled and incinerated. Landfills release methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas that has great potential to change the climate. Depending on the way they’re built, they’re likely to contaminate local water bodies. Transportation also generates greenhouse gases, which is another level of threat. 

Effects On Health And Ecosystem

Effects of waste on our daily lives widely vary and depend on the substances present in the waste and how they’re treated. 

Hazardous waste

Hazardous waste, by definition, causes harm to the environment. It negatively affects the human way of life and should be treated under strict regulations. It can contaminate land, water, and air. An example of hazardous waste can be radioactive waste or electronic waste.

Chemical waste

Chemical waste does not have to be hazardous necessarily, but it should be treated appropriately. It depends on the substance to deduce if it has the potential to affect health and the ecosystem. Remember, they’re toxic chemicals. Examples of chemical waste are used solvents, oils, etc.

Municipal solid waste

Municipal solid waste is generally trash or garbage and rubbish that is generated every day by economic households. It specifically refers to food waste, as in garbage disposal. Examples of municipal solid waste are food, wood, paper, clothing, plastic, and rubber.

Management Of Waste

One of the best-known plans for managing waste is the three Rs:

Reduce

Cutting back on the amount of garbage that we generate is called Reduction. Packing lunch in lunch boxes instead of using disposable containers, using reusable bags in the shopping mart, refraining from buying packaged drinking water every time we go out and some examples of reduction. It’s always better to get a water bottle of your own.

Reuse

Reusing means taking out old items which you might throw away otherwise and looking for newer ways to reuse them. Sharing your toys or giving them away for donation, or having a garage sale can prove worthy in situations like these.

Recycle

Recycle is the last of the three Rs, which is most widely used. Recycling is changing discarded materials into something which can be used as a new item. Newspapers are the most commonly recycled product. It gets turned into egg cartons, paper plates, kitty litters, etc.

Now, let us look at the management of waste according to the types of waste:

Solid waste

Paper plates, magazines, newspapers, plastics, etc., can be recycled and thus reused as new products. One of the most known ways is physical reprocessing, which recycles old things into newer reusable items.

Hazardous waste

Incineration and destruction are the two common ways of treating hazardous waste. It reduces the amount of waste and also generates energy through this. Pyrolysis is another way of treating hazardous waste which avoids the dangers of combustion and is preferable when treating PCBs and pesticides.

Liquid waste

Liquid waste is mostly sourced from industries and households. It is usually seen that wastewater is dumped into rivers and oceans, damaging the flora and fauna of those regions. These should always be treated at municipal water treatment facilities before they’re dumped into rivers, as the amount of liquid waste generated has come at the cost of water as a resource. 

Waste management requires joint efforts by everyone. Consumers, producers, local authorities, and waste treatment facilities are needed to reduce waste at the very basic levels. Ultimately, whether waste would pose a problem depends on the actions we take to treat them.

Conclusion

Various kinds of waste exist, and each should be managed effectively. 

At present, waste management needs strict government actions along with our joint efforts. It seems there’s little-to-no knowledge about waste among the common people. The practices of bringing about waste can prove to be harmful not just for our future generations but to the present generation as well.