Urban Waste Disposal and Segregation Quiz

Dairy Products

• Large-scale production of butter and cheese involves two types: sweet cream and cultured, with microbes used for the cultured variety.
• Cheese production involves:
  • Milk testing and mixing with colours, microbes (Lactobacillus lactis, Lactobacillus cremoris, and Streptococcus thermophilus), and enzymes (protease from fungi for vegetarian cheese).
  • Whey removal, separation from yoghurt, and production of cheese through steps like cutting, washing, rubbing, salting, and mixing with essential microbes, pigments, and flavours.
  • Pressing, cutting, and storing for ripening.

Types of Cheese

• Freshly prepared cheese is soft (e.g., cottage cheese, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese).
• Semi-hard cheddar cheese forms after 3-12 months of ripening.
• Very hard cheese (parmesan cheese) forms after 12-18 months of ripening.

Probiotics

• Probiotics are milk products containing active bacteria (e.g., Lactobacillus, Acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium bifidum) that maintain the balance of intestinal microorganisms.
• Probiotics increase the population of helpful microbes, decreasing the population of harmful microbes (e.g., Clostridium).
• Probiotic products are available in various forms like yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, dark chocolate, miso soup, pickles, oils, corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and microalgae.

Importance of Probiotics

• Probiotics form colonies of useful microbes in the alimentary canal, controlling other microbes and their metabolic activities.
• Probiotics improve resistance and lower the ill-effects of harmful substances formed during metabolic activities.
• Probiotics make useful microbes active again, which are inactivated by antibiotics.

Waste Management

• Methane soil processing is used to dispose of degradable waste in urban areas.
• Large pits are dug, lined with plastic sheets, and filled with compressed waste, which is covered with layers of soil, saw dust, leafy waste, and specific biochemicals.
• Microbes present in soil and other top layers decompose the waste, forming compost after a few days.
• The land filling sites can be reused after removal of compost.

Sewage Management

• In villages, domestic sewage is disposed of in nearby soil or biogas plants.
• In cities, sewage is carried to processing units, where microbes decompose the carbon compounds, releasing methane and CO2.
• Microbes also destroy pathogens of cholera, typhoid, etc.
• The sludge that settles down can be used as fertilizer, and the water released is environmentally safe.

Clean Technology

• Microbes have natural abilities to decompose man-made chemicals, including hydrocarbons and xenobiotic chemicals.
• Microbes can remove sulphur from fuels, and convert metals like copper, iron, uranium, and zinc into compounds before leaching into the environment.
• Microbes are used for bioremediation of environments polluted by sewage.
• Hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (HCB) are used to clear oil spills by decomposing hydrocarbons.
• Microbes like Vibrio, Ideonella sakaiensis can decompose PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate Polyester), and species like Actinomycetes, Streptomyces, Nocardia, and Actinoplanes can decompose rubber from garbage.

Test your knowledge on how urban waste is disposed of in terms of tonnes, the importance of segregating wet and dry waste in each household, and the appropriate methods of disposal for dry waste. Learn about methane soil processing, gas garbage cover on sewage, and land-filling sites.