Types of Waste and Pollutants

Types of Waste and Pollutants

Types of waste: 

 -     Plastic bag

 -     Polystyrene

 -     Soft drink Bottle

 -     Food waste

Types of pollutants:

1 -     Water pollution

-  Involves any contaminated water, whether from chemical, particulate, or bacterial matter that degrades the water’s  quality and purity. Water pollution can occur in oceans, rivers, lakes, and underground reservoirs, and as different water sources flow together the pollution can spread.

-  The effects of water pollution include decreasing the quantity of drinkable water available, lowering water supplies for crop irrigation, and impacting fish and wildlife populations that require water of a certain purity for survival.

Flyers ON 3R Reuse Reduce Recycle

Problem of Solid Waste Management in Other Countries and Solutions

Problems of Solid Waste Management in Nima, Accra

                    Despite the present concerns of individuals and the government about waste management in Ghana, Nima, one of the many suburbs of Accra, is still faced with serious solid waste management problems. From observation, domestic and municipal solid wastes are commonly found in Nima. Domestic waste comes from activities such as cooking and from human excreta.

                      Municipal wastes are the trash from commercial establishments, small industries, and households. These include tins, plastic products, and polythene bags. These form the greater part of the waste observed on the streets, in gutters, and the back of houses in Nima.

                       Containers for storing solid wastes in homes include old buckets, baskets, plastic containers, boxes, sacks, and even polythene bags, which in most cases have no lids. Hence, the wastes are even spread around before they get to the sanitary sites. Solid waste, when treated well, can be turned into a resource, but the greater part of wastes generated in Nima seem not to undergo any treatment before their final disposal. They are left in piles for weeks to create unsanitary scenes that smell bad and, worst of all, create diseases. 

                           Solid wastes generated in Nima are most often disposed of in open dumps, gutters, and at the back of houses probably due to the inadequate solid waste management equipment or the long distances to the sanitary sites. People also leave their wastes in piles for days before they finally get to the sanitary sites for disposal.

Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made.

1. The public should be educated by the AMA on solid waste and its related issues. Basically, hygiene practices should be taught especially on radios, televisions, in news papers, and in schools to educate people on proper ways of handling solid waste and keeping the surrounding clean.
2. Stricter enforcement of byelaws should be ensured by the AMA where administrative penalties for minor violations should be taken with urgency.
3. The byelaws on sanitation should be made to require every landlord to provide an environmentally friendly toilet facility in his house.
4. The AMA should make it a responsibility of introducing the use of standard bins with lid for domestic and commercial use to the people of Nima.
5. People should develop proper attitudes and perception towards waste handling, which should be achieved through both formal and informal education.
6. The government, donor countries, Nongovernmental Organisations (NGO) and other stakeholders should be encouraged to donate money and equipment to the WMD to enable the department acquire effective and efficient personnel and equipment.
7. Worker dealing with solid waste in Nima should be residents of the area. With this, they would be more responsible for their job and be comfortable with the people.
8. The community should adopt a self-help approach to solve the problem. Much can be achieved when the various communities mobilise themselves and organise periodic clean up exercises and by contributing financially to support the exercise, the residents can also act as watch dogs and make sure that they themselves adhere to proper waste disposal practices.
9. The chiefs and other opinion leaders must be given additional roles to play in ensuring environmental cleanliness. This can be done by authorising the chiefs in each area or community to take up the additional job of ensuring clean environmental practices with the youth playing an important role.
10. The women should be made to play an important role as it has been realised that women do a greater part of solid waste handling and disposal in the community.

Waste Management In Russia

Moscow and St. Petersburg generate hugest volumes of waste, but problems exist all over Russia. Experts believe that poor environmental situation contribute to a very short life expectancy at birth in Russian Federation. There are very few facilities for specific or hazardous waste utilization and technologies for its collection and management are practically absent. 

By 2025, Moscow will grow 2.5 times in size, 25-30% of Russia’s GDP will be produced in the capital. St. Petersburg and some other Russian big cities demonstrate similar, though not so intensive, tendencies in population growth.

    Waste management was an acute problem already in Soviet times, but since the beginning of 2000ies it has become one of the most critical economic and environmental problems in Russia. Urgency and escalating problems related to waste management and the environment are spurring market development. For many years the Russian government priorities have focused on oil and gas, defence and heavy industries, where waste management was considered an issue for future generations. Therefore, these problems were neglected.

    However, the problem has recently increased awareness in driving federal, regional and local governments to develop a more efficient and environmentally safe waste management market. Also, they are initiating more and more public-private partnership projects in the sector, trying to attract foreign companies to the Russian waste management market. 

    It is expected that government support will largely drive the market towards more efficient operation in terms of waste processing and environmental safety.

   There is a demand for waste management and waste processing technologies from Russian megapolices’ governments, which will undoubtedly grow within next 5 years. The market looks promising for almost any contemporary technology of waste collecting, processing and utilization. However an insight on what technologies are most promising and potential hot spots for their application will be of certain value for Finnish business operating in this sector.

Types Of Waste Produced By Malaysian

Types of Waste Produced by Malaysian 

The major waste components

- Waste were grouped into 3 categories ,solid waste,medical waste and hazardous waste.

- About 64% domestic,25%industrial,8%commerciall,and 3% construction waste.

(source,roundtable on urban solid waste management.privatization management on solid waste in developing countries, The MalaysiaExperience,28 sep 1998.)

1.     Solid waste can be defined as:

Useless and unwanted products in the solid state derived from the activities of and discarded by society. It is produced either by product of production processes or arise from the domestic or commercial sector when objects or materials are discarded after use.  

a) Garbage: the term given principally to food waste, but may include other degradable organic wastes.

b) Rubbish: consists of combustible and non-combustible solid waste, excluding food wastes.

c) Litter: odds and ends, bits of paper, discarded wrappings, bottles etc. Left lying around in public places.

Medical waste

·       Clinical wastes differ from any other wastes that being produced in hospitals. Sharps, human tissues or body parts and other infectious materials contain in clinical waste poses potential health and environmental risk.

·       25% of clinical waste is considered infectious (Shinee et al., 2008). Environmental pollution, unpleasant odors encourages insects, rodents and worms to breed that may lead to transmission of disease like cholera, hepatitis or typhoid through injuries from contaminated sharps.

·       Frost and Sullivan have estimated that the total quantity of hospital waste produced in Malaysia could reach 33,000 tonnes per year by 2020, based on a recent survey. This is more than double the current 16,000 tonnes per year, and considerably greater than the 18,000 tonne per year capacity of the current incinerator infrastructure. 

·       Hospitals use special care in disposing of wastes contaminated with blood and tissue, separating these hazardous wastes from ordinary waste.

 Hazardous Waste

Sources of Hazardous Waste:


1) Industrial waste

For example, in the computer software industry. Making a computer circuit board generates spent electroplating baths that contain metal salts, and the production of computer chips uses acids, other caustic chemicals, and solvents. Other hazardous wastes are generated in the manufacture of fiber optics and copper wire used in electronic transmission, as well as magnetic disks

2) Agricultural Waste

Agriculture produces such wastes as pesticides and herbicides and the materials used in their application. Fluoride wastes are by-products of phosphate fertilizer production. Even soluble nitrates from manure may dissolve into groundwater and contaminate drinking-water wells; high levels of nitrates may cause health problems.

3) Household Waste

Household sources of hazardous wastes include toxic paints, flammable solvents, caustic cleaners, toxic batteries, pesticides, drugs, and mercury from broken fever thermometers.

Overall overview on Malaysian waste dumping

Source Typical waste generators Types of solid wastes Residential Single and multifamily dwellings Food wastes, paper, cardboard, plastics, textiles, leather, yard wastes, wood, glass, metals, ashes, special wastes (e.g., bulky items, consumer electronics, white goods, batteries, oil, tires), and household hazardous wastes.). Industrial Light and heavy manufacturing, fabrication, construction sites, power and chemical plants. Housekeeping wastes, packaging, food wastes, construction and demolition materials, hazardous wastes, ashes, special wastes. Commercial Stores, hotels, restaurants, markets, office buildings, etc. Paper, cardboard, plastics, wood, food wastes, glass, metals, special wastes, hazardous wastes. Institutional Schools, hospitals, prisons, government centers. Same as commercial. Construction and demolition New construction sites, road repair, renovation sites, demolition of buildings Wood, steel, concrete, dirt, etc. Municipal services Street cleaning, landscaping, parks, beaches, other recreational areas, water and wastewater treatment plants. Street sweepings; landscape and tree trimmings; general wastes from parks, beaches, and other recreational areas; sludge. Process (manufacturing, etc.) Heavy and light manufacturing, refineries, chemical plants, power plants, mineral extraction and processing. Industrial process wastes, scrap materials, off-specification products, slay, tailings. Agriculture Crops, orchards, vineyards, dairies, feedlots, farms. Spoiled food wastes, agricultural wastes, hazardous wastes (e.g., pesticides).

Source: What A Waste: Solid Waste Management in Asia. Hoornweg, Daniel with Laura Thomas. 1999. Working Paper Series Nr. 1. Urban Development Sector Unit. East Asia and Pacific Region. Page 5.

WiWW Table

What do we already know	Ideas	What do we need to know( to solve this problem)	What should we do
1) Increasing number of waste in Malaysia	Malaysian's consumption is a lot and increasing anually	Why is Malaysian's consumption increasing anually?	Conduct a research on types of waste  in Malaysia. Make a visit to local authorities to get information. (Faris Farhan)
2) Waste management in Malysia is still poor and incompetent	The issue of improper solid waste management is not yet critical in the eye of authorities	What is the government current action regarding this issue?	Search the web for related campaigns and how to support them. Make some visit to local authorities to confirm that the campaign is still going on. (Hemah)
	The public is less concerned or has no awareness about the issue	How is the level of  public awareness towards this issue?	Carry out a simple survey online or by hands-out to determine the public awareness (Amalina & Aqila)
	Malaysia lacks the resource in tools, ideas and technology to properly handle or dispose waste	What are the other countries facing the problem and how they face it?	Search the web, journals and books/magazines on countries facing the same problem and their solutions. (Safwan)
3) Solid waste end up in drains and causes flash flood, drainage blockage and spread diseases	Poor waste management causes the waste to end up in the drain as landfills are no longer available. They pollute the soil and water reducing the environment capacity to sustain life	Why do waste ends up in drain in Malaysia? What type of pollutants is dangerous to human?	Observe the types of waste that ends up in drain in 'hot' places. Search the web for information on these types of pollutants. (Farhanah)
4) 3R or Reduce, reuse and recycle is not practised by Malaysians	There is lack of knowledge among the public on how certain things that are considered waste can be reuse or disposed in the safest form.	What can be done to increase the public awareness?	Make a blog and create fliers and distribute them to increase people's awareness about this issue. (Hanif)

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUES IN MALAYSIA

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE IN MALAYSIA

Litter at the roadside, drains clogged up with rubbish and rivers filled with filthy garbage definitely indicate that solid waste is a major environmental problem in Malaysia. As of the year 2008, 23,000 tons of waste is produced each day in Malaysia, with less than 5% of the waste being recycled. In Selangor alone, waste generated in 1997 was over 3000 tons/day and the amount of waste is expected to rise up to 5700t/day in the year 2017. 19% of waste ends up in our drains, which then causes flash floods and drainage blockage. This situation has reduced our environmental capacity to sustain life.

Despite the massive amount and complexity of waste produced, the standards of waste management in Malaysia are still poor. Waste that end up in water bodies negatively charged the chemical composition of the water and will affect all ecosystems existing in water causing cause harm to animals that drink the water.

Soil contamination is another environmental effect. When plants transpire, they suck in the hazardous chemical into their bulks. Consequently, any animals or human that consume these plants will be infected too.

            Bad waste management practice can also cause respiratory problems and other adverse health effects as contaminants are absorbed from the lungs into other parts of the body. In addition, leachate is a major problem of environmental effect. Leachate is defined as a liquid that forms as water trickles through contaminated areas. It is a very harmful mixture of chemical that may result in hazardous substance entering surface water, groundwater and soil.

           Exposure to hazardous waste can affect human health. The group at risk from the unscientific disposal of solid waste include the population in areas where there is no proper waste disposal method and whose water supply has become contaminated either due to waste dumping or leakage from landfill sites. Examples of infections or health problems are skin and blood infections resulting from direct contact with waste and eye and respiratory infections resulting from exposure to infected dust, especially during landfill operations.

WHO estimate that 2.1 million people die annually from diarrhea diseases due to parasite worm infection related to improper waste management.   Other than that, disposal of health-care wastes require special attention since it can create major health hazards, such as Hepatitis B and C, through wounds caused by discarded syringes.