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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Solid Waste Management’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Solid Waste Management’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on Solid Waste Management
Contents:
- Essay on the Introduction to Solid Waste Management
- Essay on Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM)
- Essay on Urban Solid Waste Management
- Essay on the Safe Disposal of Solid Wastes
- Essay on Resource Recovery
- Essay on Waste Handling, Collection and Transport
- Essay on the Sanitary Landfill for Safe Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste
- Essay on Solution to Solid Waste Management
Essay # 1. Introduction to Solid Waste Management:
The Solid Waste Management is defined as ‘the source separation, collection, storage, transport, processing, treatment, recovery managing and monitoring and disposal of solid waste materials’. The management refers to the solid wastes produced by the human activity, and the process is undertaken to reduce their effects on the health of humans and animals, the environment and the aesthetics.
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Waste management is a distinct practice from the ‘resource recovery’ which focuses on delaying the consumption rate of the natural resources. All waste materials, whether they are solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive materials, fall within the purview of waste management.
The waste management practices can differ from place to place:
i. From affluent nations to not-so-affluent countries,
ii. In industrialized world and in places where industrialization is yet to take place,
iii. For urban and rural areas, and
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iv. For residential and industrial producers.
Management for non-hazardous waste residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually undertaken by the local government authorities, whereas management for non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator.
Improperly managed solid wastes pose a variety of risks to the human health and the environment. Uncontrolled dumping and improper waste handling causes a variety of problems, including contaminating water, attracting insects, pests, infectants and rodents, and increasing the flooding risk due to blocked or altered drainage routes such as rivers, streams, canals or gullies. In addition, it may result in hazards like fires or explosions.
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Improper waste management also increases the production of toxic and greenhouse gases and their emission in the air and atmosphere, which contributes to climate change. Management of solid waste therefore presents an increasingly acute problem to the entire world with each passing day. Planning for and implementing a comprehensive program for waste collection, transport, and disposal, along with activities to prevent or recycle waste, can eliminate these problems.
In India, it would seem that barring the biomedical wastes and industrial wastes within the industrial estates, there is not much provision in the rules for the planned management of other categories of solid wastes. As a result, it is a common sight of construction wastes dumped indiscriminately; and the domestic waste not being collected and transported from residential localities by the civic authorities on a regular basis.
The result as we see are obvious-urban drains getting clogged by construction and domestic wastes in the monsoon season, thereby inundating the roads and houses, choked sewage lines, creation of breeding sites for flies, mosquitoes, and the accompanying diseases to the human population due to the viruses generated in the decaying wastes.
Essay # 2. Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM):
ISWM is a comprehensive waste prevention, recycling, composting, and disposal program. An effective ISWM system considers how to prevent, recycle and manage solid waste in ways that most effectively protect human health and the environment. ISWM involves evaluating local needs and conditions, and then selecting and combining the most appropriate waste management activities for those conditions. The major ISWM activities are waste prevention, recycling and composting, and combustion and disposal in properly designed, constructed, and managed landfills.
There are a number of concepts about waste management. One such widely employed concept is the Waste Hierarchy’. The waste hierarchy refers to the three R’ namely Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, and classifies the waste management strategies according to their desirability in terms of waste minimization. The waste hierarchy remains the cornerstone of effective waste minimization strategies.
Globally, the philosophy of solid waste management hinges on the waste hierarchy, reduce, reuse and recycle. These three processes help to cut down on the amount of waste we throw away. They conserve natural resources, landfill space and energy. A lot of study and research were conducted globally and the study is still on. Let us review these three processes.
Essay # 3. Urban Solid Waste Management:
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Addition of numerous kinds of solid wastes in the soil is called landscape pollution or third pollution. In India, urban waste is growing at a phenomenal rate, hi Delhi alone, the current 4,000 tonnes of urban waste produced daily is expected to increase to 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes by 2020 A.D. During the mid-70s, daily per capita waste generation was 150-350 grams for most Indian cities, which increased to 350-530 grams in late 1980s.
Solid waste management involves collection, transportation and disposal of wastes. It requires mechanical, operational and management skills, all of which are not available in India. A recent study showed that the Ahmedabad city spends about 85% of its budget on solid waste management on collection, 13 to 14% on transportation and only one per cent on its disposal.
Almost 60 per cent of a typical sample of household garbage of a city contains organic and biodegradable matter while it contains 35% recyclable matter and 5% of miscellaneous matter.
Growing heaps of stinking garbage in Indian cities are a sufficient pointer that urban solid waste management in the country is an utter failure. It is mainly due to absence of low-cost waste disposal technology.
Essay # 4. Safe Disposal of Solid Wastes:
1. Segregation:
It involves separation of different types of waste materials e.g. biodegradable (e.g. refuge) from non-biodegradable wastes (e.g. scrap metal, glass, plastic, etc.) for their separating reprocessing for reuse.
Segregation can be done in two ways:
(i) On-Site Segregation:
At the point of generation of wastes with the cooperation of the waste producer (e.g., houses, industries, commercial establishments, biomedical wastes, etc.).
In compliance of the directions of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court, all the wastes generated at source are required to be segregated in two different bins w.e.f. 1st January, 2004. In view of this, it is enjoined upon the general public, owners of premises, offices, houses, bungalows and other residential and commercial establishments that they should keep two grabage bins (one of green-colour and the other of blue colour) in their premises for collection of garbage at source. The Green coloured bin/receptacle will be for biodegradable waste and the other Blue-coloured bin/receptacle will be for non-biodegradable waste.
The wastes at source segregated in this manner are subsequently deposited daily at the nearest garbage cycling station which has the facilities for their further processing.
(ii) Central Processing Facility:
It involves separation of different kinds of wastes by screening, air classifying and magnetic separators.
Biodegradable solid wastes are disposed by composting while non-biodegradable solid wastes are disposed by incineration, land filling, pyrolysis, etc.
2. Dumping:
In this, solid wastes are dumped into low lying areas and is also called land filling. The refuge is dumped in layers of about 1.5 metre and each layer is covered by good earth of about 20 cm thickness. Each layer is compacted by trucks to allow its settlement and then insecticides like DDT are sprayed on the top of each layer to prevent breeding of mosquitoes and flies.
The refuge gets stabilised generally within a period of 2 to 12 months during which organic matter of the refuge undergoes decomposition under anaerobic conditions into stable compounds. Such landfills can be used for developing parks or other recreational sites. So dumping is simple and economical method to manage the urban solid wastes and reclaim the low-lying areas for better use.
3. Composting:
In this, the putrescible organic matter of solid wastes is digested anaerobically or aerobically by microbial action and converted into humus and stable mineral compounds. Although aerobic composting is more attractive but it has drawback that most of the commercial plants have unacceptable odour. But is of much use that if its products are used as manures in soil then crop yield is improved and there is reduced need of fertilizers and pesticides.
Anaerobic composting is more advantageous due to:
i. No need of aeration.
ii. Produces biogas (55% methane + 45% CO2) which can be used for heating or electric power generation.
Wastes also become free from most of the pathogenic organisms.
This method is best suited to Indian conditions since it solves three problems simultaneously:
(i) Disposal of solid wastes.
(ii) Disposal of night soil in the absence of proper sanitation.
(iii) Production of valuable manure for crops.
Composting can be done by one of the following three methods:
(i) Trench composting.
(ii) Open window composting.
(iii) Mechanical composting.
4. Incineration:
It involves the aerobic burning of the combustible constituents of solid wastes like garbage, rubbish and dead animals in the properly-constructed hearth of furnaces at high temperature (> 670°C). It reduces the volume of waste by 20 to 30% of original volume and makes the product stable. The final products are ashes and clinkers out of which clinkers can be used as aggregate for low grade concrete.
It can also be used to generate steam power (when burnt at about 1000°C temperature). Thermal incinerator or after burner is the instrument used for thermal combustion of low amount of combustible gaseous pollutants. This is also the ideal method for medical waste management as eliminates the infectious organisms.
But incineration technique also has certain drawbacks:
i. Incinerator ash is toxic and contains toxic chemicals like Dioxin (a chlorinated compound and adversely affecting humans and animals even in low doses) and mercury (damages the kidneys and brain).
ii. Its leachate can pollute ground water.
5. Pyrolysis:
It involves anaerobic destructive distillation of the combustible constituents of the solid wastes at high temperature (650° to 1000°C) in a pyrolysis chamber so as to recover the chemical constituents and chemical energy of organic wastes. It is an endothermic process.
Essay # 5. Resource Recovery:
‘Resource Recovery’ practice is a kind of recycling process that refers to the collection and reuse of waste materials such as cartons, containers and a host of other things in such a way that they can be directly sorted out at the source for effective recycling without additional cost for reuse. The materials from which the items are made can be reprocessed into new products.
Material for recycling may be collected separately from general waste using dedicated bins and collection vehicles, or sorted directly from mixed waste streams. Known also as kerb-side recycling, it requires the waste producer to separate and sort out the waste products into different wheeled bins and prior to the waste collection.
Resource recovery uses the life cycle analysis (LCA) attempts to offer alternatives to the waste management. A number of studies have indicated that for the management of municipal solid waste which is a highly mixed waste, source separation and collection, followed by reuse and recycling of the non-organic fraction, and subsequently energy and compost/fertilizer production from the organic material by anaerobic digestion as a preferred solution.
The citizens may take cue from the artistic monuments of Chandigarh which are built using broken ceramics, glasses and metallic pieces, which are normally disposed of as waste.
It needs to be acknowledged that recycling too needs to stop at some point of time. We can close the recycling circle by buying things made from and packaged in the recycled materials. Eventually, the recycled materials need to be disposed of as non- recyclable wastes, and at that stage we need to look for ways for their safe and ultimate disposal, without causing environmental degradation which is the ultimate objective of waste management. At this stage, we need to look for safe methods of waste disposal.
Recoverable materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material, food scraps and paper products, can be recovered through composting and digestion processes to decompose the organic matter. The intention of biological processing in waste management is to control and accelerate the natural process of decomposition of organic matter.
The resulting organic material is then recycled as mulch or compost for agricultural or landscaping purposes. Waste gas from the process (such as methane) can be captured and used for generating electricity and heat (CHP/cogeneration) maximising efficiencies. Proper treatment of kitchen and horticulture wastes not only ensures a better living environment but it also provides us with compost, a useful commodity.
The energy contents of the solid waste materials can be harnessed by using the wastes as direct combustion fuel, or by processing them to generate another fuel. Thermal treatments vary since using the waste as a fuel source for cooking or heating, and the use of the gas as fuel for boilers to generate steam and electricity in a turbine.
Pyrolysis is a thermal treatment where waste materials are heated to high temperatures. In this process, thermal decomposition of wastes takes place in controlled amounts of oxygen to produce valuable petrochemicals. The residue is a small quantity of inert char. Pyrolysis is carried out in a sealed vessel under high pressure.
Pyrolysis of solid waste converts the solid waste material into solid, liquid and gas products. The liquid and gas can be burnt to produce energy or refined into other chemical products. The solid residue namely the char can be further refined into products such as activated carbon.
Gasification and advanced plasma arc gasification (APAG) are employed to transform organic materials directly into a synthetic gas composed of carbon-monoxide and hydrogen. The gas is then burnt to produce steam and electricity.
In India, energy recovery techniques such as anaerobic digestion, thermal treatment, pyrolysis and gasification techniques are yet to be employed in any location in a big way. The gas recovered from solid wastes comes absolutely free, pre-processed and without further possible need of investment in terms of money. Only one-time plants need to be erected in places where energy recovery process is proposed.
In energy- starved country like India, energy recovery from solid waste that is generated in millions of tonnes daily offers an excellent source for generating alternative energy. What is required is conviction on the part of those in the governments at the helm of affairs in decision making, a one-time large investment in installing the energy recovery plants and subsequent maintenance charges.
Essay # 6. Waste Handling, Collection and Transport:
Waste collection and transport methods vary widely from place to place. Domestic waste collection services are often provided by local government authorities, or by private companies in the industry. Some areas do not have a formal waste-collection system at all. In many parts of Europe and a few other places, the citizens use a proprietary collection system, which transports the waste through underground conduits using vacuum.
In the Canadian urban centres curb-side or kerb-side collection is the common method of disposal, whereby the city administration collects the waste and/or recyclables and/or organics on a scheduled manner. The rural population in these countries dispose of their waste by transporting it to transfer stations, from where the waste is then transported to regional landfills.
In a few countries, the civic authorities of the government collect charges from the households and industries for the volume of rubbish they produce. In some other countries, the waste is collected by the city administration if waste is disposed in the bags issued by the government. This measure has significantly reduced the amount of waste produced by the population and increased the volume of recycling.
The first step in the waste collection process is to sort the waste by type, and define what will and won’t be disposed of. Once the waste has been sorted, usually by the residents putting it in the proper bin or container, the next step in collection can take place. The first step in the collection process is to sort the waste by type and define what will and won’t be disposed of. Once the waste has been sorted, usually by the residents putting it in the proper bin or container, the next step in collection can take place.
There are a variety of pickup options. Trash can be placed on the curb near a home, and garbage collectors can go house to house and take it. There are also community trash bins in some apartment complexes, as well as county recycling containers for glass, plastic, paper and organic waste. Some sites may collect hazardous waste materials like syringes, which can’t be left in regular trash sites. The waste is taken from all of these sites on a schedule and then transported to a final destination.
Transport and disposal of solid wastes employing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and tracking by Global Positioning System (GPS) is nowadays employed to collect data on waste volume and presentation rate, and transportation of wastes by the pick-ups. Advantages of GPS tracking of the wastes is manifold considering the requisitioning of pick-ups to the places where collection of waste is to be made on a need basis.
In Israel a private company has designed a system which takes the collected trash from trucks and separates organic and inorganic materials by gravitational settling, screening and hydro-mechanical shredding. The system sorts out huge volumes of solid waste, salvaging recyclables and transforming the degradable wastes into biogas and nutrient-rich compost. This system is employed also in Australia, Greece, Mexico, UK and a few parts of USA. This system processes the solid wastes in the range of 150 tons per day.
Whereas the transport of waste within the countries is under national regulation of a particular country, the trans-boundary (across the nations) transport of waste is subject to international treaties. In this respect, the major concern too many countries is the hazardous waste. Under the Basel Convention, which is agreed upon by 172 countries, the movement of hazardous wastes from the ‘developed’ to ‘less developed’ countries is prohibited.
Nuclear waste, although considered hazardous, does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Basel Convention. The material containing the unusable radioactive by-products of the scientific, military, and industrial applications of nuclear energy poses a serious health hazard, disposing of such material is an important issue too.
Worldwide, a major section of environmentalists protest that the solid waste management by both landfilling and incineration is controversial. Incineration, in particular, is considered harmful to the environment, as it adds a lot of emission to the atmosphere accelerating the enhanced greenhouse of global warming effects, and aiding them to escalate even further.
Though there is an element of substance in such protests, controversies and demand for discontinuance of such practices, it should be simultaneously borne in mind that till safer alternative methods are discovered and put in place, the current solid management techniques need to be adopted for a comparatively cleaner life, since it would seem that there are no better alternative techniques to these practices in current times.
Solid wastes will always be generated and perhaps accumulated till they disappear, as long as the human species subsist. And, as long as human civilization is present, solid waste management will continue to be a matter of concern to be dealt with. It is just a matter of our ingenuity to innovate proper waste disposal with care that matters. It is further our own initiatives and resolve to find scientific methods with a human touch to get rid of the wastes that we generate that also matter while finding solution to this undying problem.
We need to conduct ourselves as ethical persons and ensure that the Earth’s resources are conserved in such a way that least or no waste is produced from these resources. With concern and love for our Planet Earth and its environment, and a starting action as awakening of responsibility, the end result is bound to be a zero-waste society.
Essay # 7. Sanitary Landfill for Safe Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste:
Sanitary landfill is a method of controlled disposal of municipal solid waste on land as landfills. The method was introduced in England in 1912. These landfills are isolated from the environment until they are safe to humans and animals. Sanitary landfills are known also as engineered landfills because they are engineered means of disposing of the waste.
In sanitary landfills, the concept of dumping and burying into the ground are followed, but all factors pertaining to environmental problems are addressed carefully, such that it is even possible to live near or on the landfill sites, and useful by-products such as methane can be converted to electricity for use by the inhabitants.
Engineered landfill operation has to be integrated with the collection, transportation and management of the solid wastes from individual households up to the landfill itself. The concept of waste management education is integrated to initiate the waste separation at household level itself and recycling becomes an industry with the participation of all at grass-root level to industry.
There are two types of sanitary landfills:
(i) Municipal solid wastes landfill, and
(ii) Municipal toxic wastes landfill.
In the first type, the household, commercial, institutional and industrial solid wastes are disposed. In the second type, wastes derived from oils, medical, industrial and commercial products, which if directly dumped into the environment will cause instant pollution and degradation of the ecosystem, are disposed.
The design and collection methods vary between the two types. It is important to distinguish the waste types to be disposed of, so that right type of engineered landfill may be designed. It is possible to combine these two types into one common engineered landfill, if the quantity of one type of waste is small compared to the other, to save the space and operational and maintenance.
Sanitary landfill is considered safe when it has completely degraded biologically, chemically and physically. Large landfills require more investment to improve standards than smaller sites. The unit cost of these landfills, measured per tonne of waste landfilled or per head of population served, decreases with increasing size of the site. There are financial and other benefits to sites with long operating lifetimes, say ten years or more. Large regional landfill sites serving two or more cities could be economically beneficial, if waste transport costs are not too high.
In a typical sanitary landfill the waste is spread in layers on land. The objective is to spread the layers and then compact them tightly, to reduce the volume of the waste. The waste is then covered by soil. Four basic conditions should be met by any site design and operation before it can be regarded as a sanitary landfill.
They are briefly discussed as follows:
(i) Total or Partial Hydro-Geological Isolation:
If a site cannot be located on land which needs leachate security, additional lining materials should be provided to the site to reduce leakage from the base of the site (leachate) and help reduce contamination of groundwater by percolation and the surrounding soil. If a soil or synthetic liner is provided without a system of leachate collection, all leachate will eventually reach the surrounding environment. Leachate collection and treatment must be stressed as a basic requirement in sanitary landfilling.
(ii) Formal Engineering Preparations:
Design of the landfill should be prepared after geological and hydro-geological investigations. A waste disposal plan and a final restoration plan should also be developed.
(iii) Permanent Control:
Trained staff should be employed at the landfill to supervise site preparation and construction, the depositing of waste and the regular operation and maintenance.
(iv) Planned Waste Emplacement and Covering:
Waste should be spread in layers and compacted. A small working area which is covered daily helps make the waste less accessible to pests and vermin.
There are two main methods used in sanitary landfills, the trench method and the area method.
Both of them are developed in similar manner excepting marginal difference. The waste is laid and spread in thin layers of about 1 metre, and instantly compacted by running heavy machinery such as bulldozers or rollers over it. Several layers are laid and compacted on top of each other to form a 3-metre thick refuse cell. (The basic element of a sanitary landfill is the refuse cell. This is a confined portion of the site in which refuse is spread and compacted in layer over layer).
At the end of each day the compacted refuse cell is covered with a layer of compacted soil to prevent odours and windblown debris. All modern landfill sites are carefully selected and prepared, as for example sealed with impermeable synthetic bottom liners, to prevent pollution of groundwater or other environmental problems.
When the landfill is completed, it is capped with a layer of clay or a synthetic liner in order to prevent water from entering. A final topsoil cover is placed, compacted and graded, and various forms of vegetation may be planted in order to reclaim otherwise useless land, like fill declivities (downward slopes) to levels convenient for building parks, golf courses or other suitable public projects.
Problems faced in open dumping (like insects, rodents, safety hazards and fire hazards) can be avoided with sanitary landfilling. A landfill should not be located in areas with high groundwater tables. Leachate migration control standards must be followed in the design, construction and operation of landfills during the use of the facility and during the post-closure period.
Most of the waste in a sanitary landfill decomposes through biological and chemical processes that produce solid, liquid, and gaseous products. Food wastes degrade rapidly, whereas plastics, glass and construction wastes do not. The most common types of gas produced by the decomposition of the wastes are methane and carbon dioxide.
Methane is produced by anaerobic decomposition of landfill materials, and is hazardous because it is explosive. Depending on the landfill composition, gases can be recovered and utilized in the generation of power or heat. After a sanitary landfill has reached its capacity, it is closed for waste deposition and covered.
In some cases it can be used as pasture, as cropland or for recreational purposes. Maintenance of the closed landfill is important to avoid soil erosion and excess runoff into desirable areas. Sanitary landfills are safe when they are completely degraded biologically, chemically, and physically.
Essay # 8. Solution to Solid Waste Management:
1. Reduce:
The ideal way to manage waste is to not produce it.
This can be achieved by shopping judiciously under a few principles as follows:
i. Products can be bought in bulk. Larger the products, they are more economical and they use less packaging materials that need disposal.
ii. Over-packed materials or those packed with several layers such as foil, polystyrene, thermoplastics, thermocol, paper and plastic. They are not only difficult to recycle, but we pay for the packaging materials too.
iii. Disposable materials such as paper plates, cups, tissues, razors and so on have to be avoided or minimized. Throwaways contribute to the wastes, and cost more because they need replacement. We can use cloth napkins and dish cloth instead of paper napkins.
iv. Only durable goods need to be bought, because they last longer and economical in long run.
v. In office, we have to print or copy on both sides of the paper since it reduces the number of papers used. We have to use electronic mail for correspondence and main notice board or routine information.
vi. As a society, we should avoid generating waste by buying items that have little or no packaging, rechargeable batteries and reusable materials, we have to lessen the detrimental effects on the environment by conserving water, fuel and energy.
vii. The electricity consumers have to unplug electronic devices when not in use, and use energy-efficient appliances.
viii. Pool up vehicular use by individuals or use public transportation; these measures along with regular servicing of the cars and maintaining correct tyre- pressure ensure less fuel consumption.
ix. Turn off the water tap while brushing the teeth and shaving; put off air- conditioners, fans and lights when not in use. These measures help reduction in pollution and warming effects on the environment.
Reuse in the context of waste management means that an item is used several times before consigning it to the trash. The fundamental aim of reuse is to put to use the items we normally throw away after use once, as for example, using lunch bags multiple times instead of throwing them away after just one use.
There are a lot of advantages in terms of economic and environmental sense if we reuse the products which are otherwise known as solid wastes or garbage. Further, often it adds to the creativity too to the individual in the course of reuse of the wastes.
Some of the simple measures for reuse are as follows:
i. Reuse the products for the same purpose. Save paper/plastic bags, and repair broken appliances, furniture, electronic goods and so on.
ii. Reuse products in different ways. For example, paper coffee cup to pack a lunch, and plastic microwave dinner trays as dishes.
iii. Used clothes, appliances, toys and furniture can be sold for reuse or donated.
iv. Ceramic mug can be used instead of paper cups, cloth bags instead of plastic bags; use own cloth bags for shopping.
v. It should be ensured that the article that is put to reuse has not undergone decomposition or degradation in such a way that it has become toxic or it has started releasing chemicals or it has started hosting bacteria or other microorganisms.
3. Recycle:
Recycling is a set of steps taken by appropriate processes by a manufacturer in respect of the production of usable new products from unserviceable/used materials. When the things are recycled, items such as paper, plastic, glass and metal are taken to processing centres. At these facilities, the recyclable products are cleaned and subjected to processes that turn them back into useable goods.
It would be appropriate for the local administration or non-governmental agencies to organize pickup of recyclable goods such as papers, cloth, ceramics, plastics, glass and metals from residential/industrial areas for industrial recycling to make them as recycled usable goods.
The common consumer products that are recycled are:
i. Aluminium metal from beverage cans, copper from used wire, quality steel from food and aerosol cans, and steel from scraps, construction wastes, furnishings and equipment.
ii. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, glass bottles, buckets and jars, paperboard cartons, newspapers, magazines and light paper, and corrugated and fibreboard boxes, and jute articles are also frequently recycled.
iii. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene and polystyrene are also recyclable, since these are composed of a single type of material, making them relatively easy to recycle into new products.
The recycling of complex products such as computers, cellular phones and electronic equipment is more difficult, due to the additional dismantling and separation of parts having toxic chemicals are required for them. The printed circuit boards (PCBs) in cell phones contain a host of toxins such as arsenic, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc.
Brominated flame retardants are present in the plastic housing of the cellular phone, printed wiring board, and cables. The lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride batteries contain heavy metals such as cobalt, zinc, and copper. The other electronic products and therefore the e-wastes contain bromine, chlorine and phthalates which are hazardous.
There are a few simple steps that can be taken by the citizens as discussed below to facilitate recycling processes:
i. Buy the products made from recycled materials. The recycling symbol means either the product is made of recycled material, or the product can be recycled.
ii. Look for waste collection points and/or pickup services to see what they accept/buy, and collect, sort and accumulate those materials.
iii. Consider purchasing recycled materials at work when purchasing material for office supply, materials and equipment.
iv. Ask for such products in which packaging material is minimally used; that helps cut down on waste, such as recycled products and products that are not over packaged.
v. Use recycled paper for letterhead, copier paper, greeting and invitation cards, envelopes, bill-papers, notices and newsletters.
vi. We need to continuously look for new ways to recycle the materials that are currently non-recyclable items.
Recycling of solid wastes is a method that many countries are resorting to in current times. It not only facilitates the waste disposal, but also conserves energy, minimizes pollution, and preserves natural resources such as ores.
For example, manufacture of cans from recovered aluminium requires 10% of the energy needed to make them from original ore. Recycling ensures that the ore is saved, and the pollution resulting from mining and processing are avoided. Making steel bars from scrap requires 74% less energy and 50% less water, while reducing air-polluting emissions by 85% and mining wastes by 95%.