Types Of Solid Waste
Municipal solid waste
> Municipal solid waste consists of household waste, construction and demolition debris, sanitation residue, and waste from streets.
> 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 and are not lined properly to protect against contamination of soil and groundwater.
> Over the last few years, the consumer market has grown rapidly leading to products being packed in cans, aluminium foils, plastics, and other such non-biodegradable items that cause incalculable harm to the environment.
Hazardous waste
> Industrial and hospital waste is considered hazardous as they contain toxic substances. Hazardous wastes could be highly toxic to humans, animals, and plants and are corrosive, highly inflammable, or explosive.
> 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 wastes that can be categorized as hazardous waste include old batteries, shoe polish, paint tins, old medicines, and medicine bottles.
> 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 or in the production or testing of biologicals.
> These chemicals include formaldehyde and phenols, which are used as disinfectants, and mercury, which is used in thermometers or equipment that measure blood pressure.
> It may include wastes like soiled waste, disposables, anatomical waste, cultures, discarded medicines, chemical wastes, disposable syringes, swabs, bandages, body fluids, human excreta, etc.
> These are highly infectious and can be a serious threat to human health if not managed in a scientific and discriminate manner.
> 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.