Waste management: Everything you should know about waste!

In our daily life, we purchase things and after using it, we throw it away in the dustbin and forget about it. Have you ever noticed what happens to the waste you throw away in the dustbin?

In the most conventional way, the waste from the bin is being taken by the municipal body responsible for waste management. The waste is then taken away to the nearest waste processing plant in the truck where the most of the recyclable things are taken out. It gets sorted in basic forms as much as it could with the help of machines.

A truck collecting household waste

Rest of the waste is then again taken to another processing plant when it gets compressed and the compressed waste is then sent to the landfills where it would be dumped for years. If it is the waste which does not contain any plastics or non-biodegradable things, it would degrade and the land can again be used for dumping waste. But if the waste contains plastic and nonbiodegradable, it would prevent other wastes from being degraded and will accumulate the space for years. This is how most of the landfills today are full of waste. 

Landfilling is the most common waste management practice done by most of the states and countries all over the world. But, it is not the only waste management method as we'd discuss some more methods which are being used to manage the waste we generate daily.

A typical landfill

Incineration:

Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. The ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste and may take the form of solid lumps or particulates carried by the flue gas. The flue gases must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are dispersed into the atmosphere. In some cases, the heat generated by incineration can be used to generate electric power.

Incineration centre

Incinerators reduce the solid mass of the original waste by 80–85% and the volume (already compressed somewhat in garbage trucks) by 95–96%, depending on composition and degree of recovery of materials such as metals from the ash for recycling. This means that while incineration does not completely replace landfilling, it significantly reduces the necessary volume for disposal.

Recovery and recycling:

Recovery is the process of recovering the material which can be useful from the thrown away waste. Things like the metal waste, battery, alloys and electrical waste can be easily recovered. Paper waste is also one of the most recovered waste.

Recycling is creating the same or different stuff out of the recovered material which can be used afterwards. The rate of metal recycling is the highest in the world as around 95%. Second, comes the paper waste accounting around 70%.  But still, stuff like plastic requires more recycling as they are affecting the environment in very bad manner. Recycling saves billions of dollars every year and helps the environment. 

Plasma Gasification:

Plasma gasification is another form of waste management. Plasma is a primarily an electrically charged or a highly ionized gas. Lighting is one type of plasma which produces temperatures that exceed 12,600 °F. With this method of waste disposal, a vessel uses characteristic plasma torches operating at +10,000 °F which is creating a gasification zone till 3,000 °F for the conversion of solid or liquid wastes into a syngas.

Plasma gasification

During the treatment of solid waste by plasma gasification, the waste’s molecular bonds are broken down as result of the intense heat in the vessels and the elemental components. Thanks to this process, destruction of waste and dangerous materials are found. This form of waste disposal provides renewable energy and an assortment of other fantastic benefits.

Composting:

Composting is a process for converting decomposable organic materials into useful stable products. Therefore, valuable landfill space can be used for other wastes by composting these materials rather than dumping them on landfills.

Food waste being compost

On many farms, the basic composting ingredients are animal manure generated on the farm and bedding. Straw and sawdust are common bedding materials. Non-traditional bedding materials are also used, including newspaper and chopped cardboard. The amount of manure composted on a livestock farm is often determined by cleaning schedules, land availability, and weather conditions. Each type of manure has its own physical, chemical, and biological characteristics. Cattle and horse manures, when mixed with bedding, possess good qualities for composting.

Waste to energy:

Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes produce electricity and/or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels.  

Waste to energy

Avoidance/Waste Minimization:

Waste minimisation is a process of elimination that involves reducing the amount of waste produced in society and helps to eliminate the generation of harmful and persistent wastes, supporting the efforts to promote a more sustainable society. Waste minimisation involves redesigning products and/or changing societal patterns, concerning consumption and production, of waste generation, to prevent the creation of waste.

Waste minimization

The most environmentally resourceful, economically efficient, and cost-effective way to manage waste is to not have to address the problem in the first place. Waste minimisation should be seen as a primary focus for most waste management strategies. Proper waste management can require a significant amount of time and resources; therefore, it is important to understand the benefits of waste minimisation and how it can be implemented in all sectors of the economy, in an effective, safe and sustainable manner.

Downgauging:

Reducing the amount of packaging used per item will reduce waste volumes. Economics dictate that most manufacturers will already use close to the minimum required material necessary for a given application.

This principle is, however, offset against aesthetics, convenience and marketing benefits that can lead to over-use of packaging, as well as the effect of existing investment in tooling and production process, which can also result in the excessive packaging of some products.

Keep recycling and save the earth from being the garbage plantet!

Marine life and plastic pollution

Two months ago, people in Versova, Mumbai were celebrating because their efforts for about two years have now born some fruits. Olive Ridley turtle hatchlings spotted after cleanup of Versova beach by Afroz Shah and volunteers. It was a very proud moment for the group as well as the other people living there.

Olive ridley turtle on Versova beach, Mumbai

No one witnessed these turtles over past few years on the beach as it was very dirty and polluted. But, their showing up on the beach definitely mean the positive action of the beach cleanup that is happening on the beach from past 2 years every weekend. But, why would we need the beach clean up in the first place?

Afroz shah cleaning up the litter on his weekly clean up

Marine litter is the result why the beach looked awful and dirty back two years ago. But thanks to Afroz Shah and his volunteers. But sadly, other beaches in Mumbai and other cities on the shores don't get beach cleanups. In fact, they are so overly polluted and littered that people have stopped visiting them. India has some of the most polluted waterways and beaches in the world due to rapid, unplanned urbanisation, overpopulation and neglectful attitudes, including to public littering.

What is marine litter?

Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human-created waste that has deliberately or accidentally been released in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Floating oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or tidewrack.

Marine debris floating in oceans

Types of debris

• Fishing nets left or lost in the ocean by fishermen – ghost nets – can entangle fish, dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, dugongs, crocodiles, seabirds, crabs and other creatures. These nets restrict movement, causing starvation, laceration and infection, and, in animals that breathe air, suffocation. 
• 8.8 million metric tons of plastic waste is dumped in the world's oceans each year. Asia was the leading source of mismanaged plastic waste, with China alone accounting for 2.4 million metric tons. Eighty percent of marine debris is plastic. Plastics accumulate because they typically do not biodegrade as many other substances do.
• Nurdles, also known as "mermaids' tears", are plastic pellets, typically under five millimetres in diameter, that are a major component of marine debris.
• Litter, made from diverse materials that are denser than surface water (such as glasses, metals and some plastics), have been found to spread over the floor of seas and open oceans, where it can become entangled in corals and interfere with other sea-floor life, or even become buried under sediment, making clean-up extremely difficult, especially due to the wide area of its dispersal compared to shipwrecks. 

A turtle caught in the abandoned fishing net

Plastic debris from inland states come from two main sources: ordinary litter and materials from open dumps and landfills that blow or wash away to inland waterways and wastewater outflows. The refuse finds its way from inland waterways, rivers, streams and lakes to the ocean. Though ocean and coastal area cleanups are important, it is crucial to address plastic waste that originates from inland and landlocked states.

How marine life is affected by this?

Many animals that live on or in the sea consume flotsam by mistake, as it often looks similar to their natural prey. Bulky plastic debris may become permanently lodged in the digestive tracts of these animals, blocking the passage of food and causing death through starvation or infection. Tiny floating plastic particles also resemble zooplankton, which can lead filter feeders to consume them and cause them to enter the ocean food chain. 

Turtle died because of starvation as it couldn't move out of the net

Plastic waste has reached all the world's oceans. This plastic pollution harms an estimated 100,000 sea turtles and marine mammals and 1,000,000 sea creatures each year. Larger plastics such as plastic shopping bags can clog the digestive tracts of these larger animals when consumed by them and can cause starvation through restricting the movement of food, or by filling the stomach and tricking the animal into thinking it is full.

Birds mistook the plastic waste as their food

How can you help?

One of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to help reduce the amount of plastic entering our oceans is to not participate in using single-use plastics, avoid plastic bottled drinks such as water bottles, use reusable shopping bags, and to buy products with reusable packaging.

A poster trying to raise awareness about balloons

Other ways to help are as follows:

• Reduce usage of single-use plastics such as plastic bags, straws, water bottles, utensils and coffee cups by replacing them with reusable products such as reusable bags, metal straws, reusable water bottles, bamboo toothbrushes and reusable coffee cups
• Avoid microbeads, which are found in face scrubs, toothpaste and body washes
• Participate in a river or lake beach clean up
• Support municipality bans and other legislation regulating single-use plastics and plastic waste
• Continue to recycle, recycle, recycle