Solid Waste Management PDF

A. Define SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Solid waste management is a concept drawn directly from its name, managing and handling solid trash. But have you ever realized that this implies much more than simply throwing rubbish into a bin? Solid waste management is a systematic process that...

A. Define SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Solid waste management is a concept drawn directly from its name, managing and handling solid trash. But have you ever realized that this implies much more than simply throwing rubbish into a bin? Solid waste management is a systematic process that begins with the creation of garbage and ends with its disposal, with the goal of reducing the negative effects on the environment and our health. Let's dive further into the world of solid waste management. Solid waste management is a broad term that refers to a variety of procedures and practices aimed at the correct processing, treatment, and disposal of solid waste. These activities include waste collection, transportation, and sorting, as well as recycling, treatment, and disposal through landfills, incineration, and other waste-to-energy conversion techniques. The purpose of solid waste management is to reduce waste's negative effects on human health and the environment while also increasing resource recovery and reducing natural resource consumption. Effective solid waste management requires coordination and cooperation among various stakeholders, such as governments, businesses, communities, and individuals, in order to develop and implement long-term waste management strategies that consider the local area's specific needs and constraints. This can include a mix of technological, financial, and policy-based solutions, as well as education and awareness-raising efforts to encourage responsible waste management behavior among the general public. B. Types of Solid Wastes (examples) Solid waste management involves the treatment of three types of garbage: municipal, industrial, and toxic. 1. Municipal Waste - Household waste includes food leftovers, paper and plastic packaging, and ordinary garbage. -Garbage from business and industry, including office garbage, production waste, and packaging materials -Debris from building and demolition projects, including bricks, concrete, and scrap metal. -Trash from public areas like parks and streets, such as cigarette butts, garbage, and other rubbish. -Waste from medical facilities, including soiled linens, sharps, and medical waste. 2. Industrial Waste -Waste from manufacturing processes, including metals, solvents, and chemical waste. -Waste from processing sectors, including the production of paper, metal, and food.  -Waste from the creation of energy, including radioactive materials, sludge, and ash. -Debris from mining and building projects, including rock, concrete, and dirt. -Waste products from the transportation sector, including tires, antifreeze, and spent oil. 3. Toxic Waste -Agricultural waste, including fungicides, pesticides, and herbicides. -waste from the production and processing of chemicals, including heavy metals and hazardous solvents. -Waste from medical and pharmaceutical businesses, such as radioactive waste, chemotherapeutic drugs, and expired prescriptions. -Waste from mining, oil, asbestos, and other industrial processes. -waste containing lead, cadmium, and mercury from appliances and electronic devices. C. Difference between TRASH and GARBAGES In general terms “garbage” or “trash” is the waste you remove from your house, but there is a difference between them. They are two different terms for two different types of wastes. 1. Trash All the trash that comes from your home or garage other than the one coming from the bathroom and kitchen is the trash. It can be twigs, leaves, grass clippings, old furniture, carpets, and other things lying under the category of hazardous household waste. Trash generally refers to items that are discarded but may include things like broken objects, old furniture, or other non-biodegradable waste. It can also refer to unwanted or useless items in a broader sense. 2. Garbage Often used to refer specifically to wastes that's typically associated with food, such as food scraps, rotten items, or anything that decomposes. Garbage is the litter coming out from the kitchen and bathroom. Both words refer to the things we throw away because we no longer need them. However, 'garbage' is all the waste coming from the kitchen and the bathroom or is commonly used for food-related waste. 'Trash', however, is all the waste from different activities or non-organic materials. D. Hierarchy of Solid Waste Management Hierarchy of solid waste management refers to a set of action that have been classified based on their relative importance of implementing sustainable measures to minimizable and manage the generated waste. This commonly is represented in the form of a pyramid or a ladder in which the end client’s preferred waste management strategies are at the apex and the least preferred strategies at the base. Definition: Hierarchy of management of solid waste means a strategy that organizes the method used in sorting and handling of waste in order to reduce the problem caused by wastes on the environment as well as trying to sustain the available resources. The hierarchy typically includes (in order of preference): which includes; reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal. 1. Reduce: Severely reduce the generation of waste materials. Example: Not using paper and instead using digital documents. 2. Reuse: Recycling means using an item several times before getting rid of it. Example: Using used glass jars for storage hence not having to discard them. 3. Recycle: Recycle waste products to end up using other newly produced materials to avoid wastage. Example: Turning the packets of plastic bottles to form new plastic products. 4. Recovery: Remove energy or a valuable material from an unwanted product, often by burning or decomposition. Example: The utilization of non-recyclable waste in burning so as to produce electricity. 5. Disposal: Use waste disposal in landfills or incineration where all other means are not viable to take care of the waste. Example: Lack of proper disposal of non-hazardous waste that cannot be recycled in a landfill. It helps governments, organizations, and people make environmentally friendly decisions on waste management. E. Segregation of Solid Waste (Compostable/Biodegradable Waste, Recyclable/Non-biodegradable waste, non-recyclable/residual waste, Special/Hazardous household waste) Segregation of solid waste is the process of separating waste into different categories based on its type or composition to ensure proper disposal, recycling, or treatment. Compostable waste, also referred to as biodegradable waste, includes organic materials that decompose naturally through biological processes. These wastes can be converted into compost or soil conditioners, which contribute to sustainable waste management and soil enrichment. Examples of Compostable Waste: 1. Food Waste: Fruit and vegetable peelings Leftover food Vegetable trims 2. Garden Waste: Leaves Seeds Soft shells 3. Animal Waste: Fish entrails Fowl/meat entrails Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties it had in its original state. Here are some examples of items that are commonly recyclable: 1. Paper – Newspapers, office paper, magazines, and cardboard (clean and dry). 2. Aseptic packaging – Like juice or milk cartons (if your local program accepts them). 3. Aluminum cans – Beverage cans, aluminum foil (clean), and aluminum trays. 4. Cardboard – Clean, non-waxed cardboard such as cereal boxes and shipping boxes. Non-recyclable items are those that cannot be processed through standard recycling programs due to contamination, material type, or the difficulty of separating components. Here are some common examples 1. Plastic bags – These can get tangled in recycling machines and are usually not accepted in curbside recycling programs. 2. Styrofoam (Polystyrene) – Common in packaging and disposable cups, it's difficult to recycle and often ends up in landfills. 3. Used paper towels and napkins – These often have food residue or grease, making them unsuitable for recycling. 4. Pizza boxes – While the cardboard itself is recyclable, the grease stains or food residue can contaminate the recycling process. composition compared to glass. Household Hazardous Wastes (HHW) are unwanted or leftover products from homes that pose risks to human health and the environment. These products include cleaners, paints, batteries, pesticides, solvents, and more. They are classified based on hazardous properties such as: Flammable: Easily ignited Corrosive: Destroys living tissue Explosive/Reactive: Can detonate under certain conditions. Toxic: Harmful through ingestion, inhalation, or skin contact. F. Effects of UNMANAGED GARBAGE Managing garbage is important in order to maintain a healthy environment whether it is for the greenery, the waters , the soil and for the well-being of those that resides within, in other terms those who lives within the environment, humans and animals, unmanaged garbage on the other hand proposes a great threat against a pristine environment leading to pollution, staining the very environment we reside in, risking the lives of many as pollution sets in diseases begins to emerge, the very environment we reside in becomes a breeding ground for bacterias and diseases, which causes great loss, the lives of the people put at stake, waters become unsafe due to the lack of management to waste, polluting our rivers,chemical wastes staining the fertility of the very soil we grow our food from.Such disregard for our own waste would cause immense loss for the area affected, leading to increased finance cost and needed budget to repair such damages caused, and the increased diseases leads to dozens of people getting ill, treatment alone would cost alot how much more to restore an environment to its former glory. G. Philippine efforts in controlling Solid waste The solid waste management was joined by the government agencies, private sectors, LGU's, civic, societies and communities. Government agencies such as Department Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health worked together to create programs as mandated under The Republic Act (RA) 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act 2000, such as recycling programs, eco-labelling, technology development, and studies of health effects of solid wastes to people. 1. Accelerated Composting Technology (Bioreactor) This involves the aerobic degradation of solid wastes inside fabricated reactor to a level suitable for organic fertilizers. 2. Anaerobic Composting (Biogas Reactor) This is the anaerobic conversion of organic wastes from agriculture, livestock, and domestic into energy and bio fertilizers that do not utilize oxygen. In this system, the majority of chemical energy contained within the starting material is released as methane. 3. Vermicomposting A low cost and scientifically based technology that produces compost with the use of worms. Compost worms known as African night crawlers that eat solid waste and thus produce vermicast, a pure worm excreta and worm biomass.