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The document discusses the critical importance of solid waste management and its significant impact on human health and the environment, highlighting the projected increase in global waste due to urbanization and population growth. It emphasizes the disproportionate effects on vulnerable populations and the need for improved waste management practices to mitigate health risks and environmental degradation. Preventive measures and solutions, including waste reduction, public education, and financing for better waste management systems, are proposed to address these challenges.

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6 views

week 3

The document discusses the critical importance of solid waste management and its significant impact on human health and the environment, highlighting the projected increase in global waste due to urbanization and population growth. It emphasizes the disproportionate effects on vulnerable populations and the need for improved waste management practices to mitigate health risks and environmental degradation. Preventive measures and solutions, including waste reduction, public education, and financing for better waste management systems, are proposed to address these challenges.

Uploaded by

ek8507492
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Week 3: Importance of Solid Waste and its

impact on Environment and Human Health

ES 468

Aneeza Islam
Waste not, want not.”
This old saying rings so true today, as global
leaders and local communities alike
increasingly call for a fix for the so-called
“throwaway culture.”
But beyond individuals and households,
waste also represents a broader challenge
that affects human health and livelihoods,
the environment, and prosperity.
It is said that rapid urbanization, population
growth, and economic development will
push global waste to increase by 70% over
the next 30 years – to a staggering 3.40
billion tonnes of waste generated
annually.
How much trash is that?
 Take plastic waste, which is choking our oceans
and making up 90% of marine debris.
 In 2016 alone, the world generated 242 million
tonnes of plastic waste – equivalent to about 24
trillion 500-millimeter, 10-gram plastic bottles. The
water volume of these bottles could fill up 2,400
Olympic stadiums, 4.8 million Olympic-size swimming
pools, or 40 billion bathtubs. This is also the weight of
3.4 million adult blue whales or 1,376 Empire State
Buildings combined.
 And that’s just 12% of the total waste generated
each year.
Reducing carbon, enhancing
resilience
 Without improvements in the sector, solid waste
related emissions will likely increase to 2.6 billion
tonnes of CO2-equivalent by 2050.
 Improving waste management will help cities
become more resilient to the extreme climate
occurrences that cause flooding, damage
infrastructure, and displace communities and their
livelihoods
Scavengers burning trash at the
Tondo Garbage Dump in Manila,
Philippines
 Solid waste management is a universal issue that
matters to every single person in the world.
 And with over 90% of waste openly dumped or
burned in low-income countries, it is the poor and
most vulnerable who are disproportionately
affected.
 In recent years, landslides of waste dumps have
buried homes and people under piles of waste. And
it is the poorest who often live near waste dumps
and power their city’s recycling system through
waste picking, leaving them susceptible to serious
health issues.
 Greenhouse gasses from waste are also a key
contributor to climate change.
 In 2016, 5% of global emissions were generated from
solid waste management, excluding transportation.
In Pakistan, a $5.5 million dollar project
supported a composting facility in Lahore in
market development and the sale of emission
reduction credits under the Kyoto Protocol of
the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Activities resulted in reductions of 150,000
tonnes of CO2-equivalent and expansion of
daily compost production volume from 300 to
1,000 tonnes per day.
What Harmful Chemicals
Are in Your Home?
Cleaning Gardening
Disinfectants Pesticides
Drain, toilet, and Weed killers
window cleaners
Ant and rodent killers
Spot removers Flea powders
Septic tank cleaners

Paint Products
Paints, stains,
varnishes, and
lacquers
Paint thinners,
solvents, and
strippers Automotive
Wood preservatives Gasoline
Artist paints and inks Used motor oil
General Antifreeze
Dry-cell batteries Battery acid
(mercury and
cadmium) Brake and
transmission fluid
Glues and cements
Natural Capital Degradation: Solid
Wastes Polluting a River in Indonesia
Hundreds of Millions of Discarded
Tires in a Dump in Colorado, U.S.
We Can Burn or Bury Solid
Waste or Produce Less of It

 Waste Management

 Waste Reduction

 Integrated waste management


 Uses a variety of strategies
Causes of increase in solid waste
Population growth
Increase in Industrials manufacturing
Urbanization
Modernization
Modernization, technological advancement
and increase in global population created
rising in demand for food and other essentials.
This has resulted to rise in the amount of waste
being generated daily by each household.
Groups at risks due to solid waste

The groups at risk from the unscientific waste


disposal include:
Populations in areas where there is no
proper waste treatment method.
children
Waste workers
Populations living close to waste dump
Animals
SOURCES OF HUMAN EXPOSURES
Exposures occurs through
Ingestion of contaminated water or
food
Contact with disease vectors
Inhalation
Dermal
Points of contact
 Soil adsorption, storage and biodegrading
 Plant uptake
 Ventilation
 Runoff
 Leaching
 Insects, birds, rats, flies and animals
 Direct dumping of untreated waste in seas, rivers
and lakes results in the plants and animals that feed
on it
Impacts of solid waste on health
Impacts of solid waste on health
 Chemical poisoning through chemical inhalation
 Uncollected waste can obstruct the storm water
runoff resulting in flood
 Cancer
 Congenital malformations
 Neurological disease
 Nausea and vomiting
 Mercury toxicity from eating fish with high levels of
mercury.
Effects of Solid Waste on Animals
and Aquatics life
Increase in mercury level in fish due to
disposal of mercury in the rivers.
Plastic found in oceans ingested by birds
Resulted in high algal population in rivers
and sea.
Degrades water and soil quality
Impacts of solid waste on
Environment.
 Waste breaks down in landfills to form methane, a
potent greenhouse gas
 Change in climate and destruction of ozone layer
due to waste biodegradable
 Littering, due to waste pollutions, illegal dumping,
Leaching: is a process by which solid waste enter
soil and ground water and contaminating them.
 Decomposition and purification ( Fdecay) may take
place.
 Obnoxious( intolerable) adours may be generated
during decomposition of organic waste.
With a focus on waste data, supporting countries to
make critical solid waste management financing,
policy, and planning decisions is key.

Solutions include:
PREVENTIVE MEASURES

 Proper management of solid waste


 Involving public in plans for waste treatment and
disposal
 Provide the public accurate, useful information
about the whole projects, including the risks and
maintain formal communication with public
 Educate people on different ways of handling
waste.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES

 Waste Minimization is a process of reducing waste


produce by individuals, communities and
companies, which reduces the impact of chemical
wastes on the environment to the greatest extent.
 Household level of proper segregation of waste,
recycling and reuse.
 Process and product substitution e.g. use paper
bag instead of plastic bags.
 Providing financing to countries most in need,
especially the fastest growing countries, to develop
state-of-the-art waste management systems.
 Supporting major waste producing countries to
reduce consumption of plastics and marine litter
through comprehensive waste reduction and
recycling programs.
 Reducing food waste through consumer education,
organics management, and coordinated food
waste management programs.

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