Environmental Impacts of Waste Disposal

Health Risks of Solid Waste

• Infecting wounds resulting from contact with sharp objects contaminated with waste.
• Poisoning and chemical burns from contact with hazardous chemical waste mixed with general waste.
• Burns and injuries from occupational accidents at waste disposal sites or methane gas explosions at landfill sites.

Effects on Vegetation

• Uncollected waste obstructing water runoff, contaminating water bodies or groundwater sources.
• Direct dumping of untreated waste in rivers, seas, and lakes, accumulating toxic substances in the food chain.
• Hazardous chemicals in soil harming plants that absorb them through their roots.

Effects on the Environment

Surface Water Contamination

• Waste in water bodies changing the chemical composition of the water, affecting ecosystems and harming animals that drink from polluted water.

Soil Contamination

• Hazardous chemicals in soil harming plants and humans who eat plants and animals that have been in contact with polluted soil.

Solid Waste Management Hierarchy

• The four-tier hierarchy ranks the most preferable ways to address solid waste: source reduction or waste prevention, reuse, recycling, energy recovery from combustion.

Education and Public Awareness

• Continuing education and public awareness building is necessary to inculcate the right attitude among people to participate in solid waste management activities and practices.
• Integrating Ecological Solid Waste Management (ESWM) in school curricula is highly recommended.

Effects on Human Health

• Organic domestic waste fermenting, creating conditions favorable to microbial pathogens.
• Microbial pathogens causing diseases.
• Hospital and medical waste requiring special attention due to health hazards.
• Waste treatment and disposal sites creating health hazards for nearby communities.

Diseases and Death

• Certain chemicals, if released untreated, can be highly toxic and lead to disease or death.
• Infections from direct contact with waste, and from infected wounds and insects.
• Accidents causing bone and muscle disorders from handling heavy containers.

Hazardous Waste

• Wastes containing toxic substances that can be corrosive, highly inflammable, or explosive, with varying effects depending on chemical levels.

Hospital Waste

• Waste generated during diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of humans or animals, requiring scientific and discriminative management to prevent health risks.

Sources of Solid Waste

• Residential, industrial, commercial, institutional, construction and demolition areas, municipal services, treatment plants and sites, agriculture, and biomedical sources.

Waste Generation and Collection Systems

• Waste generation refers to the compilation of waste from smaller to bigger areas, and the amount of waste generated in a certain time frame.
• Factors contributing to waste generation include population increase, improvement of living standards, rapid economic growth, and industrialization.