Earth Science Reviewer

14.1
Solid waste is defined as any garbage, refuse, sludge from waste treatment plant, water supply
treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other materials, including solid, liquid,
semisolid, contained gaseous resulting from industrials, commercials, mining and agricultural
operations from community activities.

Common Household Waste Types:

1. Paper/Card Waste:
o Includes packaging materials, newspapers, and cardboards.
o Easily recyclable. Place them in your recycling bin or take them to a nearby
recycling center.
2. Tins and Metals:
o Found throughout your home, from cans to metal scraps.
o Most metals are recyclable. Take them to a scrap yard or a recycling area for
proper disposal.
3. Ceramics and Glass:
o Recyclable items like glass bottles and ceramics.
o Use special recycling bins for glass or bottle banks to ensure proper disposal.
4. Organic Waste:
o Includes food scraps, garden waste, manure, and rotten meat.
o Organic waste decomposes into manure but produces methane in landfills,
which is harmful. Always separate organic waste and consider composting.
5. Recyclable Waste:
o Includes items like paper, metals, furniture, and organic materials that can be
converted into reusable products.
6. Hazardous Waste:
o Flammable, toxic, corrosive, or reactive materials that can harm people and the
environment.
o Must be disposed of carefully. Examples include batteries, pesticides, paint, and
car oil.

Characteristics of Waste:

1. Corrosive Waste:
o These wastes contain acids or bases that can corrode metal containers.
o Examples: Battery acid, rust removers.
2. Ignitable Waste:
o These wastes can catch fire under certain conditions.
o Examples: Waste oils, solvents.
 3. Reactive Waste:
o These wastes are unstable and may explode or release toxic fumes when heated.
o Examples: Lithium-sulfur batteries, explosives.
4. Toxic Waste:
o These are harmful or fatal when ingested or absorbed.
o Examples: Old batteries, pesticides, paint, car oil.
5. Non-Hazardous Waste:
o Waste that doesn’t pose a significant risk but cannot be added to general trash.
o Examples: Municipal trash, sludge.
6. Hazardous Waste:
o Dangerous materials found in homes like paints, cleaning agents, solvents, and
heavy metals.
7. Radioactive Waste:
o Waste from nuclear reactions, including:
 Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW): A broad class of radioactive waste.
 High-Level Radioactive Waste: By-products from nuclear reactor
reactions, such as spent nuclear fuel.
8. Mixed Waste:
o Waste that falls into two or more hazardous categories.
o Examples: Radioactive contaminated liquids, mixed hazardous chemicals.

14.2
The report from the Senate Economic Planning Office (SEPO) highlights the alarming
increase in solid waste generation in the Philippines. Between 2012 and 2016, the country’s
daily waste output rose from 37,427.46 tons to 40,087.45 tons. By 2025, it is projected to surge
by 165%, reaching 77,776 tons per day. This dramatic increase is primarily attributed to
population growth, urbanization, industrialization, and modernization, which have intensified
the demand for goods, leading to increased waste.

Breakdown of Waste Sources

1. Residential Waste: Residential areas contribute the most to the country’s solid waste,
accounting for 57% of the total. This waste includes common household items such as
kitchen scraps, yard waste, paper, and glass bottles.
2. Commercial Waste: Making up 27% of the waste, this category originates from
businesses such as markets, shops, and offices, involving materials like plastic and
paper.
3. Institutional Waste: Generated by government offices, schools, and hospitals,
institutional waste comprises 12% of the total waste.
 4. Industrial Waste: The remaining 4% comes from the manufacturing sector, typically
consisting of by-products such as plastic and glass.

Causes of the Increase in Solid Waste

1. Population Growth: As the population expands, the demand for goods increases,
leading to more waste.
2. Industrial Expansion: Manufacturing activities result in industrial waste, further
straining waste management systems.
3. Urbanization: Rapid urbanization without adequate waste management systems in
place exacerbates the problem.
4. Modernization and Technological Advancements: These have led to a surge in the
consumption of goods, thus increasing the volume of waste generated per household.

Types of Waste

 Industrial Waste: Produced in factories and industries, often improperly discarded into
rivers and seas, causing significant pollution.
 Commercial Waste: Generated from educational institutions, businesses, and offices,
typically involving paper and plastic.
 Domestic Waste: Household waste, including vegetable peels, yard debris, and excreta,
produced from everyday activities.
 Agricultural Waste: Waste from farming activities such as cattle waste, husk, and
weeds.

When thinking about solid waste management, we often picture garbage being dumped in
landfills or burned. However, there are many methods to treat and reduce waste. The way
waste is treated and disposed of depends on the type and amount of waste.

Here are the main ways to treat and dispose of solid waste:

1. Thermal Treatment (Using Heat)

 Incineration: This involves burning waste in the presence of oxygen. It’s useful for
reducing waste volume quickly, cutting transportation costs, and recovering energy for
electricity. It also reduces harmful greenhouse gases.
 Gasification and Pyrolysis: These processes break down organic waste using very high
heat and little to no oxygen. These methods are better for the environment, as they can
recover energy without releasing much pollution.
 Open Burning: This is an old method of burning waste without pollution control. It
releases harmful chemicals into the air and is still used in some countries because it’s
cheap.

2. Dumps and Landfills

  Sanitary Landfills: These are carefully planned landfills designed to prevent
environmental or health hazards. They are placed in areas that naturally protect the
environment, like locations with clay soil or no nearby water bodies.
 Controlled Dumps: These are similar to sanitary landfills but may lack some important
features like proper gas management or regular covering.
 Bioreactor Landfills: These use advanced technology to speed up waste decomposition
by adding liquids to maintain moisture. This helps waste break down faster.

3. Biological Waste Treatment

 Composting: This is a common method where organic waste (like food scraps) is broken
down by microorganisms in the presence of air. There are several techniques, including
composting in piles or using worms.
 Anaerobic Digestion: This process also breaks down organic waste, but it happens in an
environment without oxygen. It’s an alternative to composting.

Common Waste Disposal Methods:

 Incineration: Burning waste at high temperatures to turn it into gas or ash.

 Recycling: Converting waste materials into new products to reduce environmental
impact.
 Open Dumping: Dumping garbage in an open space, which is cheap but harmful to the
environment.
 Ocean Dumping: Disposing of waste at sea, including sewage, chemicals, and
construction debris.

The 3R Principle:

 Reduce: Create less waste.

 Reuse: Use items multiple times.
 Recycle: Convert waste into new products.

Color-Coded Waste Bins:

 Green: Biodegradable waste (like food scraps).

 Black: E-waste (electronics).
 Blue: Plastic and metal waste (recyclables).

By following proper waste management techniques and using the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle),
we can significantly reduce the impact of waste on our environment.
 14.3

Exposure to hazardous waste has significant health and environmental consequences. Children
are particularly vulnerable to pollutants, while improper waste management from agriculture
and industries poses risks for everyone. Mixing industrial hazardous waste with regular
municipal waste can expose people to chemical and radioactive hazards.

How Improper Waste Disposal Affects the Environment

1. Pollution: When hazardous materials are not disposed of properly, they contaminate
the soil, water, and air. This leads to pollution, which harms marine life, wildlife, and
contributes to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Ignorance and Laziness: Many people either don’t know how to dispose of waste
properly or are too careless. This behavior leads to littering and improper waste
management, which causes environmental damage and health risks.
3. Methane Emission: Waste that decomposes in landfills can generate methane, a
greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Methane is also explosive, posing
additional risks.
4. Leachate: As waste decomposes, it can produce a liquid called leachate, which can
pollute soil and water.

Sources of Human Exposure to Hazardous Waste:

1. Ingestion: Drinking contaminated water or eating food exposed to hazardous waste.

2. Contact with Vectors: Exposure through insects, rodents, or other animals that carry
diseases.
3. Inhalation: Breathing in contaminated air.
4. Direct Contact: Touching contaminated soil, water, or waste materials.

Other ways of exposure include:

 Runoff from waste that enters water sources.

 Plants absorbing contaminated materials.
 Dumping untreated waste into seas, rivers, and lakes, affecting the food chain.

Health Impacts of Solid Waste:

1. Chemical Poisoning: Inhaling toxic chemicals.

2. Flooding: Uncollected waste can block stormwater systems, leading to floods.
3. Serious Health Issues: Low birth weight, cancer, congenital disabilities, and neurological
diseases.
4. Increased Hospitalization: Especially in diabetic residents near hazardous waste sites.
 5. Mercury Toxicity: Eating fish with high levels of mercury can lead to mercury poisoning.

Effects of Solid Waste on Animals and Aquatic Life:

1. Mercury in Fish: High mercury levels due to the disposal of toxic materials into rivers.
2. Plastic Pollution: Birds and marine animals ingest plastic waste, which can be deadly.
3. Algal Blooms: Waste in water bodies leads to an overgrowth of algae, which disrupts
aquatic ecosystems.
4. Water and Soil Degradation: Pollution from waste impacts the quality of natural
resources.

Environmental Impacts of Solid Waste:

1. Methane Emissions: As waste decomposes in landfills, it releases methane, a potent

greenhouse gas.
2. Climate Change: The breakdown of waste affects the climate and contributes to the
destruction of the ozone layer.
3. Littering: Improper disposal of waste leads to pollution and illegal dumping, which
harms the environment.

Leaching: is a process by which solid waste enter soil and ground water and contaminating
them.

Improper disposal of waste has far-reaching consequences, not just for the environment but
also for human health, animals, and the economy. Here’s a breakdown of the major negative
effects:

1. Soil Contamination

 Impact: Harmful to plants, animals, and humans.

 Example: Plastic bottles release chemicals like DEHA, a carcinogen that can disrupt
reproductive systems, cause liver problems, and lead to weight loss.

2. Air Contamination

 Impact: Waste can release dioxins, which are harmful when inhaled. Landfill gases,
produced by decomposing waste, can be explosive and pose health risks to nearby
communities.

3. Water Contamination

 Impact: Untreated sewage can suffocate marine habitats (e.g., coral reefs). Consuming
contaminated fish and marine life can harm human health.
4. Bad Impact on Human Health

 Impact: Living near landfills or polluted areas can cause various health issues, including
skin irritations, respiratory problems, infections, and reproductive issues.

5. Impact on Animals and Marine Life

 Impact: Animals, particularly marine life, can die from ingesting improperly disposed
waste such as plastic, styrofoam, and cigarette butts. Animals feeding near landfills may
be poisoned by toxins in the soil.

6. Disease-Carrying Pests

 Impact: Mosquitoes breed in waste containers like cans and tires, leading to diseases
like malaria and dengue. Rats find food in landfills, carrying diseases like leptospirosis
and salmonellosis.

7. Adverse Effects on the Local Economy

 Impact: Mismanaged landfill facilities can harm the local economy by reducing tourism,
decreasing property values, and affecting the livelihood of locals.

8. Missed Recycling Opportunities

 Impact: Failure to recycle wastes can result in missed opportunities for generating
revenue, creating jobs, and reusing valuable materials.

9. Causes of Extreme Climate Changes

 Impact: Decomposing waste emits greenhouse gases like methane, which contribute to
climate change and extreme weather conditions.