Waste Management

Virtually every human activity generates waste. Even the simple act of eating results in one of the most challenging waste problems of modern society: sewage. And this doesn't even take into account the wastes generated in the production and transportation of the food that was eaten. Waste disposal is a problem that increasingly demands the attention of scientists, engineers, policy makers, and the general public. This is partly because the volume of waste is increasing at an alarniing rate and partly because our understanding and appreciation of the hazards associated with improperly handled wastes are growing. The range of wastes produced by human activity is so vast in terins of sources, chemical characteristics, and physical properties that it is virtually impossible to come up with a simple, all-encompassing categorization scheme. Wastes are any unwanted or discarded material from residential, commercial, industrial, or agricultural activities that may cause environmental problems. Waste management is a problem in both urban and rural areas in our country as elsewhere in the world. Solid waste can be defined very broadly as waste material that cannot be easily passed through a pipe, comprises a very wide range f materials that come from a variety of sources. Although the difference between a solid and a liquid seems clear enough, the distinction between solid and liquid waste is not always uite so obvious. When solid wastes accumulate, water may pass through and pick up soluble components; as a result, the distinction between solid and liquid waste may become blurred. In contrast, a liquid waste is one that can be passed through a pipe, such as sewage or watery mud, may become separated or concentrated into a more solid form as a result of treatment procedures or natural settling processes. The principal sources of solid waste are agriculture and mining. More than half of all solid waste is generated by the agricultural sector, which includes farms, orchards, ranches, and animal feedlots. Sediment eroded from fields is an important type of agricultural waste. The eroded sediment can settle and clog adjacent waterways, and soils lost from agricultural lands often carry with them a wide range of chemicals such as pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, heavy metals, and chemical fertilizers. Aside from sediment and the associated chemicals, however, agricultural solid wastes are almost entirely organic, consisting of such materials as animal excrement, dead animals; stubble from fields; and other types of plant and animal debris. Because of its organic nature, most agricultural waste can biodegrade if it is collected in the right type of environment. However, it can also cause an excess of nutrients, oxygen depletion, and eutrophication in water bodies if it accumulates too quickly. Animal wastes can carry infectious agents, such as E. coli bacteria and parasites, which can present significant humnan health hazards. The second largest generator of solid waste is mining. The largest volume of mii1e waste occurs as discarded piles of waste rock; most of this material is disposed of at the mine site. Another major component of solid mine waste is tailings, the slags and sludges that are left over after processing or smelting of ores. Piles of waste rock and tailings are an eyesore, and the minerals and chemicals in them may combine with rainwater to produce acid mine drainage or toxic effluents. 1

Industries other than mining and agriculture also generate solid waste. Most of this (aside from hazardous wastes, is in the form of paper, cardboard, scrap metal, wood, plastics, glass, tires, and rags. Many industrial waste materials are potentially reusable or recyclable. Some waste from stores, offices, and small industries is set by the side of the road and collected along with residential (household) waste. Together, they comprise municipal solid waste, the smallest but fastest-growing source of solid waste. Essentially anything that is routinely collected by city trucks on garbage day is municipal waste. The main components of residential waste are paper and cardboards, organic household and yard wastes, nonbiodegradable materials, including glass, materials, and plastics, and many hazardous substances Early Concepts of Waste Disposal Early concept of waste disposal was dilute and disperse as the volume of waste produced was relatively small. Factories were located near rivers because the water provided a number of benefits, including easy transport of materials by boat, sufficient water for processing and cooling, and easy disposal of waste into the river. With a few factories and sparse population, dilute and disperse seemed to remove the waste from the environment. As industrial and urban areas expanded, the concept of dilute and disperse became inadequate and a new concept concentrate and contain is giving way to concepts of waste management focusing on managing materials and eliminating waste. It has become apparent, however, that containment was and is not always achieved. Containers, whether landfills or drums, natural or artificial, may leak or break and allow waste to escape. Modern Trends The environmentally preferable concept with respect to waste management is to consider wastes as resources out of place. It seems apparent that the cost of raw materials, energy, transportation, and land will make it economically feasible to reuse and recycle more resources. Moving toward this objective is moving toward an environmental view that there really is no such thing as waste. Under this concept, waste would not exist, because it would not be produced or, if produced, would be a resource to be used again. This concept is referred to as the Zero waste movement. Zero waste is the essence of what is known as industrial ecology the study of relationships among industrial systems and their links to natural systems. Under the principle of industrial ecology, waste from one part of the system would be a resource for another part. Of particular importance is that many of our waste management programs involve simply moving waste from one site to another and not really managing it. For example, waste from urban areas is usually placed in landfills and eventually these landfills may cause new problems by producing methane gas or noxious liquids that leak from the site and contaminate the surrounding areas.

Integrated Waste Management 2

The dominant concept today in managing waste is known as the integrated waste management (IWM), which is best defined as a set of management alternatives that includes the reuse, source reduction, recycling, composting, landfill and incineration, Reduce, Recycle, Reuse Homeowners have become increasingly aware of the need to manage their solid waste generation by making use of the "4 R's": refuse (that is, simply consume less and buy less); reduce (for example, waste generation can be reduced by avoiding products with excessive packaging); reuse (don't throw away anything that might still be usable); and recycle. Recycling refers to the extraction of usable raw materials, such as metal, glass, and pulp, fi-ou1 waste products such as manufactured objects, paper and cardboard, cans, jars, and bottles. It is worthwhile for industries to consider recycling as a means of avoiding large tipping fees for the disposal of solid wastes at dumpsites. Some studies have shown that industrial recycling rates improve noticeably when tipping fees increase because high tipping fees make it economically beneficial for companies to recycle their wastes. Source reduction is the cutting back on wastes through production efficiencies, increasing the useful lifetimes of products, and reducing packaging is another important aspect of industrial waste management. Sonic companies are able to find industrial uses for their waste through waste exchange programs, in which a central agency endeavors to find a market for waste products; the leftovers from one industrial process can often be used as the raw materials for another. The ultimate objective of the three Rs is to reduce the amount of urban and other waste that must be disposed of in landfills, incinerators, or other waste management facilities. Study of the waste stream in areas that utilize IWM technology suggest that by early in the 21st century the weight of urban refuse disposed of in landfills or incinerated could be reduced by at least 50% and perhaps as much as 70%. A 50% reduction by weight of urban waste could be facilitated by: Better design of packaging to reduce waste, an element of source reduction (10% reduction); Establishment of recycling programs (30% reduction) and Large scale composting programs (10% reduction). This list indicates that recycling is a major player in the reduction of the urban waste stream. Markets for Recycled Products In order for recycling to work, there must be a market for the recycled goods, and the recycled products must be used in preference to virgin products. It is apparent that if recycling is to be successful, markets and processing facilities will also have to be developed to ensure that recycling is a sound financial venture as well as an important part of IWM. The recycling option for IWM has been responsible for generating entire systems of waste management that have produced tens of thousands of jobs and reduced the amount of urban waste that is sent to landfills from 90% to 65%. Many firms have combined waste reduction with recycling to reduce by 50 to 90% the waste they deliver to landfills. However, in spite of this success IWM is being criticized for not effectively advancing policy to prevent waste production and/or 3

overemphasizing recycling. Advanced management planning has the goal of zero production of waste. This visionary goal will require more sustainable use of materials combined with resource conservation in what is being termed, materials management, and that can be established by: Elimination of subsidies for extraction of virgin materials such as minerals, oil; Establish green building incentives that use recycled-content materials and products in new construction; Establish financial penalties for production of products with negative materials management practices; Provide financial incentives for industrial practices and products that benefit the environment by enhancing sustainability (reducing waste production and using recycled materials); and Increase the production of new jobs in the technology and practice of reuse and recycling of resources.

Solid-Waste Management
Solid waste produced in homes, schools, offices, and small commercial establishments accounts for a relatively small proportion of total solid waste generation, but it presents a major disposal problem. In addition to being the fastest-growing category of solid waste, the majority of municipal solid waste is generated in areas of high population density, where land may not be available on which to dispose of the waste. Environmental and human health problems can result if municipal wastes are disposed of improperly, whether in open dumps, inactive landfills, or active landfills that arc improperly engineered. Waste management is a problem in both urban and rural areas. Particularly in developing countries, many areas still have inadequate waste management; poorly controlled open dumps and illegal roadside dumping remain a problem. Such dumping spoils scenic resources, pollute soil and water resources, and is a potential health hazard to plants, animals, and people. Illegal dumping can be reduced through raising awareness, education, and alternative. Environmental problems of unsafe, unsanitary dumping are made known and funds are provided for cleanup and inexpensive collection and recycling of trash at sites of origin. On-site Disposal A common on-site disposal method in urban areas is the mechanical grinding of kitchen food waste. Garbage disposal devices can be installed in the waste-water pipe system at the kitchen sink, and the garbage ground and flushed into the sewer system. This can effectively reduce the amount of handling and quickly remove food waste. Final disposal is transferred to sewage treatment plants, where solids remaining as sewage sludge still must be disposed of.

Composting

Composting is a biochemical process in which organic materials such as lawn clippings and kitchen scraps decompose to a rich, soil-like material. It is a process of rapid, partial decomposition of moist, solid, organic waste by aerobic organisms. As a waste management option large-scale composting is generally carried out in the controlled environment of mechanical digesters. A major disadvantage of composting is the necessity to separate organic material from other waste. Therefore, it is probably economically advantageous only when organic material is collected separately from other waste. Nevertheless, composting is an important component of IWM and can be used as an organic soil fertilizer, topsoil, or landfill cover. Incineration Incineration (the burning of refuse in a specially designed facility) is another widely used method of solid waste disposal. Incineration methods vary from backyard burning to modern, highly engineered incinerators. Modern incinerators are designed to burn garbage at very high temperatures, and they typically have very effective technologies to remove hazardous emissions before they are allowed into the atmosphere. All incinerators, even modern ones, generate residual ash, which may contain toxic metals and by-products of combustion such as dioxins and furans. The ash must be disposed of in a landfill and sometimes requires special handling. Some incinerators take advantage of the heat they generate to produce electricity through cogeneration. In incineration combustible waste is burned at temperatures high enough (900-1000 0C) to consume all combustible material, leaving only ash and noncombustibles to dispose of in a landfill. Under ideal conditions, incineration may reduce the volume of waste by 75% to 95%. In practice, however, the actual decrease in volume is closer to 50%, because of maintenance problems as well as waste supply problems. Besides reducing a large volume of combustible waste to a much smaller volume of ash, incineration has another advantage is that the process of incineration can be used to supplement other fuels and generate electric power. Incineration of urban waste is not necessarily a clean process. It may produce air pollution and toxic ash. Smokestacks from incinerators may emit oxides of nitrogen and sulfur that lead to acid rain; heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, and mercury; and carbon dioxidea greenhouse gas. In modern incineration facilities, smokestacks are fitted with special devices to trap pollutants, but the process of pollutant abatement is expensive. Furthermore, plants themselves are expensive. Open Dumps In the past, solid waste was usually accumulated in open dumps, where the refuse was piled up without being covered or otherwise protected. Although open dumps have been closed in recent years and new open dumps are discouraged, many are still being used worldwide. Dumps have been located wherever land is available, without regard to safety, health hazards, and aesthetic degradation. Common sites are natural low areas, such as swamps or floodplains; and hillside areas above or below towns. The waste is often piled as high as equipment allows. In some instances, the refuse is ignited and allowed to burn. In others, the refuse is periodically leveled and compacted.

As a general rule, open dumps create a nuisance by being unsightly, providing breeding grounds for pests, creating a health hazard, polluting the air and sometimes polluting groundwater and surface water. Fortunately, open dumps are giving way to the better planned and managed sanitary landfills Sanitary Landfills Today landfills-(waste disposal sites that are engineered and monitored to contain wastes within the site)-are the most common approach to waste management and are used by municipalities around the world. Landfill types range from the old fashioned dump to highly engineered, carefully located disposal facilities. Modern landfills are designed to confine the waste and prevent it from causing environmental and health problems in nearby areas. The typical procedure is to compact the waste as much as possible and periodically (usually daily) cover it with a compacted layer of soil and/or clay. The soil layer isolates the waste from birds and rodents and prevents some infiltration by precipitation. This type of disposal site is called a sanitary landfill. Hazard of landfill: Leachate Noxious, mineralized liquid that is produced when groundwater moving through the refuse and is capable of transporting bacterial pollutants. The nature and strength of leachate produce depends on Composition of the waste. Amount of water that infiltrates. Length of time that infiltrated water is in contact with the refuse. Site selection A number of factors must be taken into account. These are : topography, location of the ground water table, amount of precipitation, type of soil and rock, and location of the disposal zone in the surface-water and groundwater flow system. The best sites are in arid regions, where disposal conditions are relatively safe because of the dry environment. How Pollutants Enter the Environment from Sanitary landfill Hazardous-waste pollutants from a solid-waste disposal site may enter the environment by as many as six paths: Methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen gases may enter the atmosphere Heavy metals, such as lead, chromium, and iron may be retained in the soil Soluble materials, such as chloride, nitrate, and sulfate may reach the groundwater system Overland runoff may transport leachate into streams and rivers Some plants growing in the disposal areas may selectively take up heavy metals and other toxic materials to be passed up the food chain. Plant residues (containing toxic elements) left in the field degrade the soil quality Modern sanitary landfills are engineered to include multiple barriers (double-lined), such as clay and plastic liners to limit movement of leachate; surface and subsurface drainage to collect leachate; system to collect methane gas produced as waste decomposes; and groundwater-monitoring to detect leaks of leachate below and adjacent to the landfill. Hazardous Waste Management: 6

Hazardous wastes are waste materials that are toxic, caustic, acidic, explosive, infectious, or radioactive. In the household context, such substances commonly come from cleansers and solvents, nail polish, paint, batteries, pesticides, and many other common household substances. Even unused pharmaceuticals can become hazardous wastes if they are allowed to enter the natural environment. Uncontrolled dumping of chemical waste pollutes soil, surface water and groundwater in several ways: Chemical waste stored in barrels, either stacked on ground or buried, eventually corrode and leak, polluting surface water, soil, and groundwater; Liquid chemical waste dumped in an unlined lagoon, from which contaminated water percolates through soil and rock to the groundwater table; and Liquid chemical waste may be illegally dumped in deserted fields or even along roads. Hazardous chemical waste management is one of the most serious environmental problems. Management of hazardous chemical waste involves several options, including recycling, on-site processing to recover by-products with commercial value, microbial breakdown, chemical stabilization, high temperature decomposition, incineration, and disposal by secure landfill or deepwell injection. A number of technological advances have been made in toxic-waste management, and as land disposal becomes more expensive, the recent trend toward on site treatment is likely to continue. However, on-site treatment will not eliminate all hazardous chemical waste; disposal of some waste will remain necessary. However, all available technologies cause some environmental disruption. There is no simple solution for all waste management issues. Table : Products and the Potentially Hazardous Waste they Generate Products we Use Leather Medicines Metals Oil, gasoline & other petroleum products Paints Pesticides Plastics Textiles Potentially Hazardous Waste Heavy metals, organic solvents Organic solvents and residues, heavy metals (e.g., Hg, Zn) Heavy metals, fluorides, cyanides, acid and alkaline cleaners, solvents, pigments Oil, phenols and other organic compounds, heavy metals, ammonia, salts, acids Heavy metals, pigments, solvents, organic residues Organic chlorine compounds, organic phosphate compounds Organic chlorine compounds Heavy metals, dyes, organic chlorine compounds, solvents

Secure Landfill Many hazardous materials find their way into municipal landfills. But some landfills are specifically designed and engineered to contain hazardous materials. They are called secure landfills. A secure landfill for hazardous waste is designed to confine the waste to a particular location, control the leachate that drains from the waste, collect and treat the leachate, and detect possible leaks. 7

The engineering features of secure landfills are similar to those of sanitary landfills, but the leachate drainage and collection systems are more sophisticated, caps and liners are typically more substantial, and the concentration of monitoring wells around the perimeter of the facility may be much greater. In addition, most secure landfills host an on-site facility for the treatment of hazardous wastes. These facilities permit the chemical stabilization, neutralization, or incineration of the wastes so that as little hazardous material as possible will actually be landfilled. Some liquid hazardous wastes are disposed of by a technique called deep-well injection, in which toxic liquids are injected deep underground into an appropriate reservoir rock. This approach makes use of the natural geologic environment to contain and isolate the wastes. Difference between a sanitary landfill and a secure landfill: A sanitary landfill is intended to accept mainly municipal waste. A secure landfill is specifically engineered to accept hazardous wastes. Many of the siting constraints and engineering features are similar, including dry environment, impermeable caps and liners, drainage and leachate collection systems, and monitoring wells; however, secure landfills are engineered and monitored more carefully. Alternatives to Land Disposal of Hazardous Waste Chemical waste management should include such processes as source reduction, recycling, and resource recovery, treatment, and incineration. Advantages to source reduction, recycling, treatment, and incineration include: The actual waste is reduced to a much smaller volume Useful chemicals may be reclaimed and reused Treatment makes them less toxic, therefore less likely to cause problems in landfills Less stress on the dwindling capacity of waste disposal sites because of reduced volume.

Source Reduction The object of source reduction in hazardous waste is to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated by manufacturing or other processes. For example, changes in chemical processes involved, equipment used, raw materials used, or maintenance measures may successfully reduce the amount or toxicity of the hazardous waste produced. Recycling and Resource Recovery Hazardous chemical waste may contain materials that can be recovered for future use. For example, acids, and solvents collect contaminants when they are used in manufacturing processes. These acids and solvents can be processed to remove the contaminants and can then be reused in the same or in different manufacturing processes. Treatment Hazardous chemical waste may be treated by a variety of processes to change the physical or chemical composition of the waste to reduce its toxic or hazardous characteristics. For example, acids can be neutralized, heavy metals can be separated from liquid waste, and hazardous chemical compounds can be broken up through oxidation. 8

Incineration Hazardous chemical waste can be successfully destroyed by high-temperature incineration. Incineration is considered a waste treatment rather than a disposal method because the process produces ash that must be disposed of in landfill. More advanced techniques for the incineration and thermal decomposition of waste are being developed.