Waste Management

Waste Management

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Definition Of Waste

In my words, Waste is any material which original purpose has already been utilized and thus has no further use or value to the person in possession or ownership of it, which he or she intends to discard. The slogan of waste management is: Waste to Wealth.

The 4 R's Of Waste Management

These includes:

1. Reduce
2. Reuse
3. Recycle
4. Recover.

1. Reduce: This has to deal wtih those generating the waste either directly or indirectly. Here they are advised to try their upmost best to reduce their waste generation rate by avoiding practices that increases the accumulation of potential materials.

For example, the practice of individuals buying foodstuffs and requesting each food item bought be packaged in nylon bags by the sellers only to have a number of nylons on the go for disposal after retrieving the food items within when they get home. To reduce this, they could actually use a bigger bag, that could probably even be reused, to accommodate the foodstuffs they buy from the market.

Also, the use of office waste paper for rough calculation, or writing short notes, etc, rather than have them just discarded.

2. Reuse: In this case, rather than discard a material, an individual should attempt reusing it for a purpose similar, relative or different from the original use of the material.

For example, the reuse of the container of a bottled water to refill with water for drinking (similar); or for selling cooking oil (relative), or the use of wine bottles for selling of groundnuts.

3. Recycle: This involves the processing of waste materials using capable equipments and facilities, into raw materials for the production of new materials.

For example, The recycling (processsing) of waste paper to raw materials for the preduction of tissue rolls.

4. Recover: This covers the aspect of recovering or regaining the energy within wastes.

For example, the use of organic matter such as poultry and livestock droppings, to generate compost manure for growing vegetation in farmlands, or kitchen wastes for animals feeds.

As well as the oxidation of wastes in incinerators to generate heat energy for drying other materials that requires drying. Or the generation of electricity through sophisticated means.

Waste Treatment 

Wastes is a combination from various sources and of different constituents. And some of these constituents are harzardous.

Hazardous wastes was simply defined as the components of wastes that can cause harm to persons and/or the environment. E.g. toxic chemicals from pharmacy, broken glasses, pesticides, heavy metals like lead, arsenic, etc.
While nonhazardous wastes are the harmless components of the waste.

Hence, it is paramount to treat all kind of waste.

Waste treatment refers to the activities required to ensure that waste has the least practicable impact on the environment.

It encompass the use of biological, chemical, or mechanical means
adopted to:

1. Remove pollutants from industrial or municipal wastes, 
2. Change the character and composition of medical waste, or 
3. Reduce or eliminate its potential for harm to living beings and the environment.

In many countries various forms of waste treatment are required by law.

Safety Components Of Waste Collection

There are 3 basic safety components to look out for in waste collection:

1. Effect on People: In terms of irritation, choking, poisoning, etc.

2. Effect on Asset: E.g. a shredder for plastic. If waste not well segregated, and perhaps, a metal (scrap metal) is also fed to the shredder, it could damage the shredder.

3. Effect on Environment: In terms of air pollution, odour, water pollution, breeding of disease causing organisms, effects on soil and vegetation, etc.

Process of Waste Management

Identification: First the components of the waste has to be identified. If there are plaatics, metals, paper, textile materials, kitchen and farm wastes, sewage, etc. If the waste is in liquid or solid form. If there are harzardous wastes present.

Handling: This involves containment and transportation.

Containment: After identifying the wastes, they are put into containers to be transported to the waste facility. The waste can be treated insitu (e.g. Bioremediation) before containment.

Transportation: After containment, the waste is transported to the waste facility. Tippers (trucks) and dumpers are used for waste transportation on land while jetty is used for waste transportation on water which are then offloaded into the facility.

Segregation: This involves sorting the waste to different main components such as plastics, papers, metal cans, scrap metals, organics, etc. This makes it easier to treat the waste or work on the waste in the facility.

There are 2 types on segregation:

1. Primary
2. Secondary

1. Primary Segregation: This involves segregation of the waste during handling.

2. Secondary Segregation: This involves the screening of the primarily sorted wastes for certainty. An incidence of how an incinerator door was blown off, which could have severely harm anyone who was unfortunate to be in the line of fire, due to the fact that an explosive was fed onto the incinerator without secondary segregation is related to stress the importance of a secondary segregation.

Challenges of Waste Conversion

Some basic challenges of waste conversion (waste to wealth) given includes:

1. No participation and involvement by the Government.
2. There is high cost in setting up and running a waste management facility.
3. There is less persons involved. More manpower and innovations are needed.
4. People need orientation in how to handle and sort waste they generate.

Photo Source: www.beavercountypa.gov/Depts/WasteMgmt/Pages/default.aspx