Urbanisation and industrial waste are the primary sources of solid waste contamination. It causes bacillary dysentery, diarrhoea, and amoebic dysentery in humans, as well as the plague, salmonellosis, trichinosis, endemic typhus, cholera, jaundice, hepatitis, gastrointestinal disorders, and other diseases. Solid waste management refers to the collection, treatment, and disposal of solid waste that has served its purpose or is no longer useful. Unsanitary conditions can arise as a result of inappropriate municipal solid waste disposal, resulting in environmental contamination and outbreaks of vector-borne diseases (diseases spread by rodents and insects).
Solid waste pollution
Solid waste contamination occurs when solid wastes are present in the environment (air, water, and soil), making them less suitable or unsuitable for living creatures. Solid wastes are materials that are discarded, abandoned, worthless, or unwanted in residential, industrial, commercial, construction, and hospital settings. Solid waste encompasses not only solid trash, but also semi-solid, semi-liquid, and solid waste in liquid. Garbage, junk, and litter are commonly used colloquially to refer to solid wastes.
Cause of Solid Waste Pollution
The following are the major causes of solid waste pollution:
- Municipal solid wastes (Municipal Solid Wastes) are one of the most significant sources of solid waste contamination. Consumer products such as food waste, plastic, paper, glass, leather, cardboard, metals, ash, and electronic trash such as IC boards, wires, batteries, and so on are among the items found in these locations’ rubbish.
- Commercial establishments such as stores, malls, markets, and hotels pollute the environment by improperly disposing of papers, cups, plastic plates, packing materials, cans, bottles, and polythene bags, among other things.
- Industrial garbage such as metals, dyes, and chemicals is produced by light and heavy production units, and if not properly disposed of, causes solid waste contamination.
- Dust, concrete, scrap metals, and timber are all produced at construction and mining sites.
- Sponges, syringes, needles, and bandages are examples of biomedical waste generated by hospitals during disease diagnosis, treatment, or prevention. Infectious fluids or materials are also included.
- Solid waste pollution is also caused by spoiled agricultural and dairy products from farmers, orchards, and dairies.
- Organic solid waste pollution results from the disposal of deceased animals on roadways, rivers, and lakes.
- The digitalisation of our world has increased the use of electronic devices such as televisions, cellphones, laptops, and digital watches. Furthermore, the short shelf life of these things, as well as societal patterns around them, leads to early disposal, resulting in electronic solid waste contamination.
Solid waste pollution examples
The following materials are examples of solid wastes: waste tyres, septage, scrap metal, latex paints, furniture, and toys when these materials are dumped.
Garbage, appliances, and automobiles are all examples.
How to stop solid waste pollution?
- To treat and dispose of solid waste and reduce solid waste contamination, a variety of methods and techniques are used:
- Waste is dumped untreated and unsorted in an open dump field away from residential neighbourhoods. This method of disposal is becoming obsolete.
- Landfills are pits dug in the earth into which solid waste is dumped. After the pits have been filled, they are sealed with thick layers of mud.
- Sanitary landfills are landfills that have been modified. To prevent the garbage from seeping into underground water, the bottom and sides of the pits are lined with plastic, clay, or concrete.
- Incineration plants: Solid wastes are burned at high temperatures in enormous furnaces.
- Pyrolysis is the combustion of solid waste under pressure in the absence of oxygen, as an alternative to incineration. Pyrolysis is chosen over incineration since it is a cleaner technique.
- Composting is the process of degrading organic waste into humus using microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi.
Earthworms are employed in vermiculture to digest solid waste.
Conclusion
Urbanisation and industrial waste are the primary sources of solid waste contamination. . Solid waste management refers to the collection, treatment, and disposal of solid waste that has served its purpose or is no longer useful. Solid waste contamination occurs when solid wastes are present in the environment (air, water, and soil), making them less suitable or unsuitable for living creatures. Solid waste pollution is also caused by spoiled agricultural and dairy products from farmers, orchards, and dairies. Organic solid waste pollution results from the disposal of deceased animals on roadways, rivers, and lakes.