Waste Management

Wastes are any unwanted or discarded material from residential, commercial, industrial, or agricultural activities that may cause environmental problems. Not necessarily pollutants. Through recycling it might even possible to make it usable. Waste management is a problem in both urban and rural areas in our country as elsewhere in the world.

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal, managing and monitoring of waste materials. The goals of waste management are to minimize waste quantity, reduce the amount of raw materials consumed, dispose of non-hazardous waste cost-effectively, and dispose of hazardous waste with minimal risk to human health and the environment. 

 How Pollutants Enter the Environment

Hazardous-waste pollutants from a solid-waste disposal site may enter the environment by as many as six paths:

1.        Methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen gases may enter the atmosphere through emission

2.       Heavy metals, such as lead, chromium, and iron may be retained in the soil

3.       Soluble materials, such as chloride, nitrate, and sulfate may reach the groundwater system through seepage and leakage

4.      Overland runoff may transport leachate into streams and rivers

5.       Heavy metals and other toxic materials may enter food chain via plant uptake growing near the disposal site

6.      Crop residue containing toxic substances returns these to the soil after decomposition.