PHLT612: Special Issues in Public Health – II
Unit 03: - Solid Waste Management – Classification, Origin, Methods of Solid Waste
Treatment and Disposal Compositing, Sanitary Land Filling, Thermal Process
(Incineration, Pyrolysis) Recycling and Reuse. Biomedical Waste, Hazardous Waste –
Sources, Identification and Management of Hazardous Waste – Treatment and
Disposal.
Solid Waste Management
Solid waste management is a term that is used to refer to the process of collecting and treating solid wastes.
It also offers solutions for recycling items that do not belong to garbage or trash. As long as people have
been living in settlements and residential areas, garbage or solid waste has been an issue. Waste
management is all about how solid waste can be changed and used as a valuable resource.
Solid waste management should be embraced by each and every household, including the business owners
across the world. The industrialization has brought a lot of good things and bad things as well. One of the
adverse effects of industrialization is the creation of solid waste.
Categories of Waste
1. Organic waste: Kitchen waste, waste from food preparation, vegetables, flowers, leaves, fruits, and
marketplaces.
2. Combustibles: Paper, wood, dried leaves, packaging for relief items etc. that are highly organic and
having low moisture content.
3. Non-combustibles: Metal, Tins, Cans, bottles, stones, etc.
4. Toxic waste: old medicines, paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers,
batteries, shoe polish.
5. Recyclables: Paper, glass, metals, plastics.
6. Ashes or Dust: Residue from fires that are used for cooking.
7. Construction waste: Rubble, roofing, broken concrete etc.
8. Hazardous waste: Oil, battery acid, medical waste, industrial waste, hospital waste.
9. Dead animals: Carcasses of dead livestock or other animals.
10. Bulky waste: Tree branches, tires etc.
11. Soiled waste: Hospital waste such as cloth soiled with blood and other body fluids.
Sources of Solid Waste
Every day, tonnes of solid waste are disposed of at various landfill sites. This waste comes from homes,
offices, industries and various other agricultural related activities.
These landfill sites produce foul smell if waste is not stored and treated properly. It can pollute the
surrounding air and can seriously affect the health of humans, wildlife and our environment. The following
are major sources of solid waste:
1. Residential
Residences and homes where people live are some of the major sources of solid waste. The garbage from
these places includes food wastes, plastics, paper, glass, leather, cardboard, metals, yard wastes, ashes and
special wastes like bulky household items such as electronics, tires, batteries, old mattresses and used oil.
, Most homes have garbage bins where they can throw away their solid wastes in and later, the bin is emptied
by a garbage collecting firm or person for treatment.
2. Industrial
Industries are known to be one of the biggest contributors to solid waste. They include light and heavy
manufacturing industries, construction sites, fabrication plants, canning plants, power and chemical plants.
These industries produce solid waste in the form of housekeeping wastes, food wastes, packaging wastes,
ashes, construction and demolition materials, special wastes, medical wastes as well as other hazardous
wastes.
3. Commercial
Commercial facilities and buildings are yet another source of solid waste today. Commercial buildings and
facilities, in this case, refer to hotels, markets, restaurants, godowns, stores and office buildings.
Some of the solid wastes generated from these places include plastics, food wastes, metals, paper, glass,
wood, cardboard materials, special wastes and other hazardous wastes.
4. Institutional
The institutional centres like schools, colleges, prisons, military barracks and other government centers also
produce solid waste. Some of the common solid wastes obtained from these places include glass, rubber
waste, plastics, food wastes, wood, paper, metals, cardboard materials, electronics as well as various
hazardous wastes.
5. Construction and Demolition Areas
Construction and demolition sites also contribute to the solid waste problem. Construction sites include new
construction sites for buildings and roads, road repair sites, building renovation sites and building demolition
sites.
Some of the solid wastes produced in these places include steel materials, concrete, wood, plastics, rubber,
copper wires, dirt and glass.
6. Municipal Services
The urban centres also contribute immensely to the solid waste crisis in most countries today. Some of the
solid waste brought about by the municipal services include street cleaning, wastes from parks and beaches,
wastewater treatment plants, landscaping wastes and wastes from recreational areas, including sludge.
7. Treatment Plants and Sites
Heavy and light manufacturing plants also produce solid waste. They include refineries, power plants,
processing plants, mineral extraction plants and chemical plants.
Among the wastes produced by these plants, there are industrial process wastes, unwanted specification
products, plastics, metal parts, just to mention a few.
8. Agriculture
Crop farms, orchards, dairies, vineyards and feedlots are also sources of solid wastes. Among the wastes
they produce are agricultural wastes, spoiled food, pesticide containers and other hazardous materials.
Unit 03: - Solid Waste Management – Classification, Origin, Methods of Solid Waste
Treatment and Disposal Compositing, Sanitary Land Filling, Thermal Process
(Incineration, Pyrolysis) Recycling and Reuse. Biomedical Waste, Hazardous Waste –
Sources, Identification and Management of Hazardous Waste – Treatment and
Disposal.
Solid Waste Management
Solid waste management is a term that is used to refer to the process of collecting and treating solid wastes.
It also offers solutions for recycling items that do not belong to garbage or trash. As long as people have
been living in settlements and residential areas, garbage or solid waste has been an issue. Waste
management is all about how solid waste can be changed and used as a valuable resource.
Solid waste management should be embraced by each and every household, including the business owners
across the world. The industrialization has brought a lot of good things and bad things as well. One of the
adverse effects of industrialization is the creation of solid waste.
Categories of Waste
1. Organic waste: Kitchen waste, waste from food preparation, vegetables, flowers, leaves, fruits, and
marketplaces.
2. Combustibles: Paper, wood, dried leaves, packaging for relief items etc. that are highly organic and
having low moisture content.
3. Non-combustibles: Metal, Tins, Cans, bottles, stones, etc.
4. Toxic waste: old medicines, paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers,
batteries, shoe polish.
5. Recyclables: Paper, glass, metals, plastics.
6. Ashes or Dust: Residue from fires that are used for cooking.
7. Construction waste: Rubble, roofing, broken concrete etc.
8. Hazardous waste: Oil, battery acid, medical waste, industrial waste, hospital waste.
9. Dead animals: Carcasses of dead livestock or other animals.
10. Bulky waste: Tree branches, tires etc.
11. Soiled waste: Hospital waste such as cloth soiled with blood and other body fluids.
Sources of Solid Waste
Every day, tonnes of solid waste are disposed of at various landfill sites. This waste comes from homes,
offices, industries and various other agricultural related activities.
These landfill sites produce foul smell if waste is not stored and treated properly. It can pollute the
surrounding air and can seriously affect the health of humans, wildlife and our environment. The following
are major sources of solid waste:
1. Residential
Residences and homes where people live are some of the major sources of solid waste. The garbage from
these places includes food wastes, plastics, paper, glass, leather, cardboard, metals, yard wastes, ashes and
special wastes like bulky household items such as electronics, tires, batteries, old mattresses and used oil.
, Most homes have garbage bins where they can throw away their solid wastes in and later, the bin is emptied
by a garbage collecting firm or person for treatment.
2. Industrial
Industries are known to be one of the biggest contributors to solid waste. They include light and heavy
manufacturing industries, construction sites, fabrication plants, canning plants, power and chemical plants.
These industries produce solid waste in the form of housekeeping wastes, food wastes, packaging wastes,
ashes, construction and demolition materials, special wastes, medical wastes as well as other hazardous
wastes.
3. Commercial
Commercial facilities and buildings are yet another source of solid waste today. Commercial buildings and
facilities, in this case, refer to hotels, markets, restaurants, godowns, stores and office buildings.
Some of the solid wastes generated from these places include plastics, food wastes, metals, paper, glass,
wood, cardboard materials, special wastes and other hazardous wastes.
4. Institutional
The institutional centres like schools, colleges, prisons, military barracks and other government centers also
produce solid waste. Some of the common solid wastes obtained from these places include glass, rubber
waste, plastics, food wastes, wood, paper, metals, cardboard materials, electronics as well as various
hazardous wastes.
5. Construction and Demolition Areas
Construction and demolition sites also contribute to the solid waste problem. Construction sites include new
construction sites for buildings and roads, road repair sites, building renovation sites and building demolition
sites.
Some of the solid wastes produced in these places include steel materials, concrete, wood, plastics, rubber,
copper wires, dirt and glass.
6. Municipal Services
The urban centres also contribute immensely to the solid waste crisis in most countries today. Some of the
solid waste brought about by the municipal services include street cleaning, wastes from parks and beaches,
wastewater treatment plants, landscaping wastes and wastes from recreational areas, including sludge.
7. Treatment Plants and Sites
Heavy and light manufacturing plants also produce solid waste. They include refineries, power plants,
processing plants, mineral extraction plants and chemical plants.
Among the wastes produced by these plants, there are industrial process wastes, unwanted specification
products, plastics, metal parts, just to mention a few.
8. Agriculture
Crop farms, orchards, dairies, vineyards and feedlots are also sources of solid wastes. Among the wastes
they produce are agricultural wastes, spoiled food, pesticide containers and other hazardous materials.
