Types of solid waste

Solid waste can be classified into different types depending on their source:
a) Household waste is generally classified as municipal waste,
b) Industrial waste as hazardous waste, and
c) Biomedical waste or hospital waste as infectious waste.

Municipal solid waste

Municipal solid waste consists of household waste, construction and demolition debris, sanitation
residue, and waste from streets. This garbage is generated mainly from residential and
commercial complexes. With rising urbanization and change in lifestyle and food habits, the
amount of municipal solid waste has been increasing rapidly and its composition changing. In
1947 cities and towns in India generated an estimated 6 million tonnes of solid waste, in 1997 it
was about 48 million tonnes. More than 25% of the municipal solid waste is not collected at all;
70% of the Indian cities lack adequate capacity to transport it and there are no sanitary landfills to
dispose of the waste. The existing landfills are
neither well equipped or well managed and are not Garbage: the four broad categories
lined properly to protect against contamination of
soil and groundwater.
Organic waste: kitchen waste, vegetables,
flowers, leaves, fruits.
Over the last few years, the consumer market has
grown rapidly leading to products being packed in
Toxic waste: old medicines, paints,
cans, aluminium foils, plastics, and other such
chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and
nonbiodegradable items that cause incalculable
pesticide containers, batteries, shoe polish.
harm to the environment. In India, some municipal
areas have banned the use of plastics and they
seem to have achieved success. For example, Recyclable: paper, glass, metals, plastics.
today one will not see a single piece of plastic in
the entire district of Ladakh where the local Soiled: hospital waste such as cloth soiled
authorities imposed a ban on plastics in 1998. with blood and other body fluids.
Other states should follow the example of this
region and ban the use of items that cause harm to the environment. One positive note is that in
many large cities, shops have begun packing items in reusable or biodegradable bags. Certain
biodegradable items can also be composted and reused. In fact proper handling of the
biodegradable waste will considerably lessen the burden of solid waste that each city has to
tackle.

There are different categories of waste generated, each take their own time to degenerate (as
illustrated in the table below).

The type of litter we generate and the approximate time it takes to

degenerate
Type of litter Approximate time it takes to
degenerate the litter
Organic waste such as vegetable and a week or two.
fruit peels, leftover foodstuff, etc.
Paper 10–30 days
Cotton cloth 2–5 months
Wood 10–15 years
 Woolen items 1 year
Tin, aluminium, and other metal items 100–500 years
such as cans
Plastic bags one million years?
Glass bottles undetermined

Hazardous waste

Industrial and hospital waste is considered hazardous as they may contain toxic substances.
Certain types of household waste are also hazardous. Hazardous wastes could be highly toxic to
humans, animals, and plants; are corrosive, highly inflammable, or explosive; and react when
exposed to certain things e.g. gases. India generates around 7 million tonnes of hazardous
wastes every year, most of which is concentrated in four states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

Household waste that can be categorized as hazardous waste include old batteries, shoe polish,
paint tins, old medicines, and medicine bottles.

Hospital waste contaminated by chemicals used in hospitals is considered hazardous. These

chemicals include formaldehyde and phenols, which are used as disinfectants, and mercury,
which is used in thermometers or equipment that measure blood pressure. Most hospitals in India
do not have proper disposal facilities for these hazardous wastes.

In the industrial sector, the major generators of hazardous waste are the metal, chemical, paper,
pesticide, dye, refining, and rubber goods industries.

Direct exposure to chemicals in hazardous waste such as mercury and cyanide can be fatal.

Hospital waste

Hospital waste is generated during the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or
animals or in research activities in these fields or in the production or testing of biologicals. It may
include wastes like sharps, soiled waste, disposables, anatomical waste, cultures, discarded
medicines, chemical wastes, etc. These are in the form of disposable syringes, swabs, bandages,
body fluids, human excreta, etc. This waste is highly infectious and can be a serious threat to
human health if not managed in a scientific and discriminate manner. It has been roughly
estimated that of the 4 kg of waste generated in a hospital at least 1 kg would be infected.

Surveys carried out by various agencies show that the health care establishments in India are not
giving due attention to their waste management. After the notification of the Bio-medical Waste
(Handling and Management) Rules, 1998, these establishments are slowly streamlining the
process of waste segregation, collection, treatment, and disposal. Many of the larger hospitals
have either installed the treatment facilities or are in the process of doing so.
Landfills:

A landfill is a planned and designed to discard solid waste materials by burying it

between the layers of earth, in an effort to

decrease human heath hazards which get caused if it is left open or without treatment. In
the landfill, there are some preventive measures followed before settling the solid
material underground. If not buried properly and with lack of proper management, it can
be dangerous. The compressed solid waste placed underground creates methane gas and
other dangerous gases. Methane gas is flammable. But if comes out in open air and gets
mixed with atmosphere, it can create lots of problem for living being including humans.
That’s why pipes are placed underground to absorb these gases before it comes out into
open. Even some landfills have water containers built underground to prevent
contaminated water from mixing with groundwater or seep through ground into pure
groundwater. But many landfills around the world are not built properly and managed.
Most of the landfills are just dug and all solid wastes are dumped into it, which have
added to both water as well as air pollution.

Landfill Problems:

The older landfills that were built and forgotten are now creating many problems. The
dumped wastes inside the ground are prone to make Leachate, which is very harmful to
human as well as for ground water. Leachate is a very toxic liquid, which is formed when
water gets in contact with the solid waste. The rainwater seeps through the ground and
comes in contact with wastes, collecting all inorganic and organic materials it penetrates
through the ground. If any groundwater stream is under that landfill, then Leachate and
groundwater gets mixed, thus contaminating the groundwater and making it toxic. The
people who live close by landfills are prone to get ill with common symptoms of
allergies, dizziness, skin problems, vomiting as well as dangerous illness like cancer.
Children are more susceptible to illness and diseases than adult is and even sometimes
causes premature dead of child.

Incinerators:

Few solid wastes such as health care wastes are destroyed by burning them in
incinerators. If you think it better to burn the waste then dump into the ground, then you
are wrong. The burnt waste turns into ashes. These ashes are used in covering the
landfills and also export to other areas. This process only adds on to the hazardous cause.
The ashes of the solid waste used to cover the landfills create more risks of hazardous
Leachate.

Incinerator Problems:

While the waste is burnt, it releases deadly particulates and gases into the air and also if
breath in, it gets settled in lungs. Air movement cannot be controlled so the air currents
can carry these harmful particulates anywhere in the world. Deadly toxics like cadmium,
sulfuric acid, mercury, poisonous dioxin and hydrogen chloride are created by burning
solid wastes and its ashes.

Some wastes are more harmful as they may contain heavy metals

The disposal of plastics in dumping ground and its effects on human health
has become a matter of concern. Colored plastics are harmful as their
pigment contains heavy metals that are highly toxic. Some of the harmful
metals found in plastics are copper, lead, chromium, cobalt, selenium, and
cadmium.

Heavy metals refer to metal elements that have higher molecular weights,
such as Lead, Cadmium, Mercury, Chromium and others. There have always
been metals on earth, and many of them fulfill essential functions in all living
beings. Nevertheless, a considerable number of metals are harmful to plants,
animals and man in excessive quantities. This is particularly true of certain
heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and lead. Several of these metals
can be stored in living tissue and remain there for a very long time. A part
from waste, waste incinerators and other sources of heavy metals in the
environment are coal-burning plants, smelters, and other industrial facilities,
mining operations and lead in household plumbing and in some countries lead
in old paint and lead in petrol.

Heavy metals most often linked to human poisoning are mercury, lead,
arsenic and cadmium. Other heavy metals, including copper, zinc, and
chromium, are required by the body in small amounts, but can be toxic in
larger doses. Such poisoning may result in reduced growth and development
particularly in children, cancer, organ damage, nervous system damage and
in extreme cases death.
EXPECTED QUANTITIES OF SOLID WASTE

For the assessment of collection, conveyance, treatment and disposal, the expected
quantities of solid waste generated in a locality must be known. NEERI has done
extensive work and has measured the quantities of waste generated in the Indian cities.
The quantity of waste produced is lesser in Indian cities as compared to the developed
countries, because of the poverty and the way of living. Ours is a more natural way of
living and nature has its cycles to recycle the waste. In India the average solid waste
produced per capita per day vary between 0.2-0.6 kg/capita/day, the higher value is for
metropolitan cities. The total solid waste generated in urban area (towns with population
more than 5000 and having other amenities) is estimated to be around 38 million tones
per annum.

Landfill Sites and Our Ecosystem.

Landfill sites provide many benefits to the ecosystem. They are a

necessary solution to a growing waste management problem. Various types of landfills
exist to manage different types of waste. They are effective in managing that waste and
are often equipped to treat hazardous waste and compost trash. Some landfill sites are
even able to harness the gas byproducts from that waste into renewable and
environmentally friendly

fuel.

Landfill sites can be managed for trash disposal at a basic level or at a more advanced
level. Basically, trash is piled and buried and covered with dirt. Much consideration is
weighed in choosing a landfill site such as proximity to rivers, streams and homes.
Rubber tarps are often put at the bottom level to ensure that waste does not leach into the
ground to create a problem for the watershed. Landfills can be managed with layers of
soil, rock, clay and other matter to manage and compress the waste. Sites can contain
subsystems such as a place that collects the liquid that leaches out, a drainage system as
well as monitoring systems for the leachate and gas. Many landfill sites contain
incinerators and waste treatment facilities to reduce the trash. Sorting your trash can help
your local landfill site do its job effectively with the least amount of impact on your
environment. For example, if you leave recyclable paper in your trash bag instead of
separating it for the recycling bin, that paper can take generations to break down into
compost.
 Landfill operators manage various amounts of waste including
hazardous waste and industrial waste and can even have beneficial tools such as
anaerobic digestion systems that turn organic compost into both liquid fertilizer and a gas
that can be harnessed to create energy sources for generators. Most landfill sites have
sections for hazardous material that can either be disposed of at that location or brought
to another treatment facility.

Your local landfill, tip site or dump does more than simply collect the waste that comes
from your home and neighboring businesses. It manages all the waste and recycling for
your area.

Many cities and towns do not want new landfill sites established.
Urban sprawl and the way society manages their waste systems impacts how effective the
landfill sites are. Some areas are creating landfill sites for foreign cities’ trash due to
population growth and the manufacture of more and more disposable items. Composting,
recycling and alternative waste management systems shape the future in terms of the
ability of landfill sites to effectively manage waste.

1. Introduction
Over the last three decades there has been increasing global concern over the
public health impacts attributed to environmental pollution, in particular, the global
burden of disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about a
quarter of the diseases facing mankind today occur due to prolonged exposure to
environmental pollution. Most of these environment-related diseases are however
not easily detected and may be acquired during childhood and manifested later in
adulthood.
Improper management of solid waste is one of the main causes of
environmental pollution and degradation in many cities, especially in developing
countries. Many of these cities lack solid waste regulations and proper disposal
facilities, including for harmful waste. Such waste may be infectious, toxic or
radioactive.
Municipal waste dumping sites are designated places set aside for waste
disposal. Depending on a city’s level of waste management, such waste may be
dumped in an uncontrolled manner, segregated for recycling purposes, or simply
burnt. Poor waste management poses a great challenge to the well-being of city
residents, particularly those living adjacent the dumpsites due to the potential of
the waste to pollute water, food sources, land, air and vegetation. The poor disposal
and handling of waste thus leads to environmental degradation, destruction of the
ecosystem and poses great risks to public health.

Environmental Pollution and Impacts of

Exposure
Heavy metals are metallic elements that are present in both natural
and contaminated environments. In natural environments, they occur at low
concentrations. However at high concentrations as is the case in contaminated
environments, they result in public health impacts. The elements that are of
concern include lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, chromium, zinc, nickel and
copper. Heavy metals may be released into the environment from metal smelting
and refining industries, scrap metal, plastic and rubber industries, various consumer
products and from burning of waste containing these elements. On release to
the air, the elements travel for large distances and are deposited onto the soil,
vegetation and water depending on their density. Once deposited, these metals
are not degraded and persist in the environment for many years poisoning humans
through inhalation, ingestion and skin absorbtion. Acute exposure leads to nausea,
anorexia, vomiting, gastrointestinal abnormalities and dermatitis.
Table 1 below shows the sources, risk levels and health effects from exposure
to these heavy metals.

Table 1: Toxic heavy metals with established health effects

Heavy Metal
Sources of Environ
mental exposure
Minimum Risk level
Chronic exposure
toxicity effects
Lead
Industrial, vehicular
emissions, paints and
burning of plastics,
papers, etc.
Blood lead levels
below 10 μg/dl of
blood*
Impairment of neurological
development,
suppression of
the haematological
system and kidney
failure
Mercury
Electronics, plastic
waste, pesticides,
pharmaceutical and
dental waste
Below 10 μg/dl of
blood*
Oral exposure of
4mg/kg/day**
Gastro-intestinal
disorders, respiratory
tract irritation, renal
failure and neurotoxicity
Cadmium
Electronics, plastics,
batteries and contaminated
water
Below 1 μg/dl of
blood*
Irritation of the lungs
and gastrointestinal
tract, kidney damage,
abnormalities of the
skeletal system and
cancer of the lungs
and prostate

Impacts on Public Health

From the environmental evaluation conducted, it was determined that the
dumpsite exposes the residents around it to unacceptable levels of environmental
pollutants with adverse health impacts. A high number of children and adolescents
living around the dumping site had illnesses related to the respiratory,
gastrointestinal
and dermatological systems such as upper respiratory tract infections, chronic
bronchitis, asthma, fungal infections, allergic and unspecified dermatitis/pruritis
– inflammation and itchiness of the skin.
Table 3 below summarizes the health results of the 328 children aged 2-18
years examined.
Table 3: Impacts on Public Health and Systems Affected
System affected No. of children affected % with disorders
Dermatological
(skin disorders)
48 14.5
Respiratory 154 46.9
Gastroenteritis (GE)
(abdominal and
intestinal problems)
59 17.9
Dental disorders 31 9.5
Oto (affecting the hearing system) 15 4.6
Skeletal /muscular systems 8 2.4
Central nervous system 7 2.13
Eye infections 32 9.8
Blood (anaemia) 1 0.3
Others* 21 6.4
Normal 26 7.9
Others*: malaria, chicken pox, septic wounds, congenital abnormalities, cardiovascular
diseases and lung cancer

6. Conclusion
This pilot study has linked environmental pollution to public health. Soil
samples analyzed from locations adjacent and within the dumpsite show high
levels of heavy metals emanating from the site in particular lead, mercury, cadmium,
copper and chromium. At the same time, a medical evaluation of the children and
adolescents living and schooling near the dumpsite indicates a high incidence of
diseases that are associated with high exposure levels to these metal pollutants.
.
Figure 2: Blood Lead Levels in Children Living within the Environs of
the Dumpsite
Photo: UNEP
Blood samples collected from the children also indicated a significantly high
level of certain enzymes that collectively with other parameters or individually
result in cellular damage in the body or the presence of a disease process affecting
the liver. High levels of creatinine (breakdown product of creatine phosphate in
muscle usually produced at a fairly constant rate by the body depending on muscle
mass) in some children examined indicated the need of closer follow-up in order to
determine the onset of renal disfunction.

Blood investigations confirmed that 50% of the children had low haemoglobin
levels while 30% had size and staining abnormalities (microcytosis) of their red blood
cells (iron deficiency anaemia – IDA), a condition brought about by heavy metal
intoxication. Further, the blood film studies indicated that 52.5% of the children had
marked eosinophilia (increase in the number of white blood cells mostly associated
with allergic reactions) a condition that could lead to chronic rhinitis (irritation of the
nasal cavity), asthma, allergic conjunctivitis and dermatitis.