H

Jution
Solid Wastes-Pollution
A

E
3 Treatment and Disposal
R

INTRODUCTION
Solid wastes can be broadly defined as those wastes which have been rejected for further
use
and which can neither be transported by water into streams nor can readily escape into the
atmosphere. They include all the discarded solid materials from municipal, agricultural and
industrial activities.

CLASSIFICATION AND ORIGIN

Solid wastes can be broadly classified into the following three categories:
(1) Domestic Wastes: These include wastes from household
of food: waste paper and
preparation, cooking and serving
plastics; cloth; rags; etc.
(2) Municipal Wastes: These include garbage and rubbish from
markets, etc. and also the street refuse such as street
households, offices, hotels,
sweepings, dirt, leaves, contents of litter
receptacles. etc. The term "garbage" is generally used to
wastes. The term "rubbish" is used to putrescible or biodegradable food
denote nonputrescible or
which include combustible materials non-biodegradable solid wastes
(e.g.. paper, cloth, plastic, tyres, etc.) as well as
combustible materials (e.g.. broken
crockery, metals, glass, masonry wastes, used metal cansnon
containers, etc.) Apart from these, the and
ashes. cinders. dead animals, following types of special wastes are
also encountered:
abandoned vehicles, construction and
tank sludges. pipes, wires,
conduits, insulations, demolition wastes, septic
etc.
3) Industrial wastes: These include
(a) Non-process wastes such
as office and
cafeteria wastes, packing
common to all industries and wastes, etc. which are
(b) Process wastes which
depend upon the type of the products
tannery wastes. weaving and
wastes, metal dying wastes, food-processing being manufactured, such as
scraps, etc., from the wastes, plastic wastes, rubber
Mineral wastes from
respective
industrial
establishments.
mining and mineral
processing units also fall under this
(4) Agricultural wastes: These wastes result from tarms, teed category.
agricultural wastesinclude paddy husk, lots and
slaughter house wastes, manures, etc. baggasse from sugarcane, tobacco livestock yard. The
and corn Tesidues,
(5) Special wastes: These
include hazardous wastes from
(a) Radioactive wastes
from nuclear power
different sources e.g.
(b) Toxic substances such as plants, laboratories, hospitals, etc.
(c) heavy metal sludges, pesticides,
Biological product such as enzymes, antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, etc.
patnogenicand
132
pathological wastes, etc.
 W a s t e s - P o l l u t i a
Treatment and Disposal 133
lid
scellaneous products Stuch as intlaminable substances, corrosive materials, cxplosives,
(d)
security wastes, etc.

OF THE PROBLEM
MAGNITUDE
Owing to increasing indust Istrialization
and ever inereasin population, the production of paper.
her.rubber. metals, plastics and ceramics has been steeply increasing over the last tew
turn resuited in steep increase in the generation of solid wastes both in the
ades. This in
decade
estimated
developed and «developing countries. For cxample, the annual urban refuse of USA is
x 10" generated n
he over 400 mega tons (i.e., kg). The national average of solid
400
North America is I tonne per capita per year (i.e., about 2.7 kg per person per day).
waste
and disposal of urban waste in USA is estimated to be 6 bilion
The annual cost of collection
dollars.
cities of India
The quantity of domestie and municipal solid wastes generated in some major
Since the quantity of waste generated depends on the
is 300 to 600 g per person per day.
the per capita waste produced in India is naturally lesser as compared to
affluence of the society,
in India for
that produced in affluent western countries. The amount being spent in municipalities
which accounts
solid waste management is estimated to be 850 to 1200 million rupees annually
the quantity of solid
for about 10% of their total budgetary provisions. During the seventies,
waste generated was increasing at a rate of 50% per year and in cighties,
the annual rate of
containers,
increase was 2 to 3%. Further, the new products such as cans, bottles, plastic
be
household appliances, tyres, food packing materials and several other items are considered to
in the
cheaper to throw away than to reclaim. Thus, with the advent of "throw-away*" concept
both in
present civilized society, the generation of solid waste has been considerably increasing
quantity as well as complexity.
CHARACTERISTICS OF soLID WASTES
(1) Composition : Apart from variations in quantity, wide variations in the composition of
domestic and municipal solid wastes may also occur depending on the following factors,
(a) Degree of urbanization and industrialization of the area

(b) Per capita incomne

(c) Social customs
(d) Climatic conditions of the area
() Acceptability of packaged foods
) municipality, etc.
Frequency of collection by the
(2) Density: The density of municipal solid wastes varies from 150 kg/m' to 8000 kg/m
depending upon the waste composition and degree of compaction for land-filled. pulverized
refuse.
3) Energy eontent: Municipal solid wastes contain about 50% of combustible matter. Hence
the waste is often burnt as a means of disposal and ocoasionally used as a source of energy. The
average calorific value ofthe urban solid wastes produced in India is about 1500 Kcals/kg. Since
Contain of compactable organic matter, these wastes e mostly disposed of
y a large quantity
by composting (aerobically) or for generation of bio-gas by anaerobic treatment.

o8JECTIVES AND CONSIDERATION IN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

bjectives: The principal objectives of solids waste management are to control, collect, treat.
uti
and dispose of the solid wastes in an economical manner consistent with the protection of
public health.
 134 A Textbook of Environmental Chemistry and Pollution Con
Considerations: The major considerations of
ntra
from the economics are (o) concern with solid waste management
public health, (b) waste separation for recycling, and (c) par
ene
recover
ergy
(a) Publie Health: Under and moist conditions, and particularly with the
warm
Vectors (carriers) like water, air, food, rodents,
heln
mosquitoes and flies, organic solid wastea
deal
breeding places for pathogenic organisms Potentially hazardous substances like solvent
pollution and
pesticide cans, medical wastes and asbestos debris present in solid wastes, air
gaseous and particulate emissions from land-fill sites and
municipal incinerators, etc.,. from
present some additional environmental concerns related to solid waste disposal.
Further, the salso
Waste
management strategies should also take into acount the possible deterioration of Rrosolid
water quality because of
land-filling of solid wastes, residues from incinerators and leachat und
from the decomposing refuse. hates
(6) Waste separation for recovery and recyeling: Recovery and recycling of some of th
resources in solid wastes, although a very
appealing idea, is rather difficult in practice. Expensi
materials such as some metals are found to be economical to
recycle by industries. Returnabile
bottles and refundable cans may be recycled from municipal wastes.
Separation of is warranted and feasible only when the reclaimed
wastes at sources
find reasonable market. However, this materiai.
rials
concept of waste separation at source is receivin
increasing attention in some developed countries due to the dwindling landfill capacity,
incentives, improving markets for the reclaimed materials, environmental economie
concerns and
will. political
Separation of mixed municipal refuse
for reclamation at a centralised
approach in waste management which is particularly suitable for dense facility is another
sorting and machine sorting processes are used depending upon themetropolitan areas. Hand
labour costs and other
sanitary considerations. Methods for the separation of dry,
characteristics such as size, diversity, inertia, pulverized mixed refuse are based on
materials like paper, and plastic,
conductivity, etc. Air or water classifiers for
light
magnetic separation for separation of ferrous
metals,
for separation of non-ferrous
materials, inertial classifiers for separating screening
from compost or for
separating heavy, resilient inorganic contaminants
the unit particles from light, inelastic ones, are some of
employed.
processes
(c) Energy recovery: Recovery of energy from
following two ways: municipal solid wastes can be achieved by the
(i) Solid wastes can be burnt
derived fuel" (RDF).
directly in incinerators or converted to more efficient "refuse-
Pyrolysis and anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in solid
wastes are the other methods
available for recovering the fuel value of
(i) Reuse of the recovered materials from solid solid wastes.
wastes is the other
conservation. Obviously, mining and manufacture principal mode of energy
of ferrous and nonferrous
from mining of the ores is so metals starting
energy-intensive
justified from the standpoint of energy conservation.
that reuse of these
metals is certainly

METHODS OF SOLID WASTE

TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL
The most commonly used solid
waste treatment
Sanitary landfills or controlled tipping (3) Thermaland disposal methods are: (1) Composting
and (4)
Recycling and Reuse. prncesses (e.g., incineration and
A.
pyrolysb
Auxiliary operation involved in solid waste
Before treatment and disposal
actually taking up the discussion on the
auxiliary operations involveddisposal methods, it will be useful to consio
some of the essential
in these
processes. These processes incuuc
 Wastes-Pol
ollution, Treatment and Disposal 135
Solic

i Collection, transport and handling: Solid wastes should be collected at least oncea
(a)
However, in high population density areas and for wastes with high putrescible content,
weck. H o w e v e r ,
modern
during warm weather, more frequent collection of refuse is desirable. The
trucks (with
p a r t i c u l a r l y

dkod of transporting and handling the refuse is by packer trucks or contain

methe

capacity of 4 to 5 tonnes each) provided with compaction facility, which are loaded
with trailer
manually or mecha hanically. then collected at transfer stations equipped
The wastes are
to
with higher carrying capacity (about 20 tonnes each). The wastes are then compacted
ts
units
waste-transport
high density and then transported to the disposal sites. Hydraulic and pneumatic
systems
also are being developed.
or jaw
(6) Pulverisation:
Solid wastes pulverised with the help of gyratory crushers
are
similar equipment prior to transfer loading, compacting, landfills or incineration
crushers or other material which
order to facilitate these processes. Pulverisation helps in getting homogeneous
in of the
initial settlement of the solids well as in future reclamation
helps both in the greater as

land.
Baling: Compaction and baling of solid wastes using hydraulic
or
and
(c) Compaction
The advantages achieved by
pneumatic presses is carried out at the site or at a central facility.
collection time (iii) Reduction in
this process are (i) Reduction in refuse value (i) Reduction in
hazards (ví) Cleaner storage
transport time and cost (iv) Lesser storage area (v) Lesser safety
area.

B. MICROBIOLOGY INVOLVED IN SOLID WASTE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL

and sanitary
Micro-organism play a vital role in water and wastewater treatment, composting
from the point of view of
land-filling. Some types of these macro-organisms of interest
environmental science and engineering are shown in Fig 3.1-A.
or the
Most living things were originally classified as belonging to either the plant kingdom
animal kingdom. In 1866, a third kingdom called the "protista" was proposed to fit in
such
micro-organisms which did not unequivocally fit into the plant or animal kingdom, e.g. protozoa,
bacteria, and algae viruses were discovered later.
fungi
Bacteria are the most important group of micro-organisms which are essential to the nutrient
cycle of the ecosystem. Pathogenic (disease causing) bacteria received greatest attention from the
point of view of epidemiology. Many other types of bacteria are important in natural self
purification of streams and lakes, in the decomposition of solid wastes in landfills, solids and in
composting. Bacteria also play an important role in water an wastewater treatment processes

(vide Chapter 2).

Viruses are smaller than bacteria and may also cause diseases in plants, animals and human

beings.
Algae belong to a group of photosynthetic plant-like micro-organisms. The impart odours and
astes in water. They may also interfere with water supply by clogging water filters. Algae
Provide oxygen for low-cost wastewater treatment in oxidation ponds. (vide Chapter 2) However,

amounts of nutrients in water can lead to algae blooms which leads to

CKCessive
uirophication", removing dissolved oxygen from lakes when they decompose.
Fungi are unicellular or multicellular micro-organisms which can survive under low pH
ditions. They are non-photosynthetic "protista". Fungi are useful in the biological treatment
organic wastes.
me industrial wastes and also in composting ofsolid
Protozoa are, by and large, an order of magnitude larger than bacteria. They also play a role
in iological wastewat in Chapter 2.
vater treatment processes described
 SIllaliPo^,
Aludauglh viruses a t 9ol
hving organisms, they can reproduce or
replicate themselves within
Wasle venlmen And
dis posal methods
()ompualing

Cmpostg ls me ieroDc nd
thermophilic
afiuse hy
merrganls8, prmarily bacteria
decomposition of organic matter present in the
and fungi. The organic matter
able humus like subslance
during this process. The reactions into is transformed a

ueerale heal and henCe he compost taking place during composting8

tbiln ad temperature
nalure of the Wasse, the raises during the process. Depending upon the
waste volume is reduced
or an opiimum conposting by about 30 to 60%.
operation, the following control parameters usually
are
adhered
Temperature 40 to 50°C
(If the temperature goes beyond 66°C,
biological activity will be reduced)
pl 4.5 to 9.5
(It is better to maintain pH below 8.5 to
minimise the loss of nitrogen in the form of
ammonia as gas).
2 Moisture 40 to 70% (The optimum value is about 55%).
A Particle size 0.63 to 2.54 cm
5 Air 0.5 to m°/day/kg of volatile compost solids
0.8
Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio (35 to 50):1
7 Carbon to Phosphorus ratio : 100:1
Composting may be carried out naturally under controlled condition or in mechanized
CUmposting plants. In natural systems, the garbage (which is ground after removing glass and
melalie materials) is mixed with a nutrient source (e.g., sewage sludge, animal manure or
night
0l) and a filler (e.g. , wood chips or ground corn cobs) which permits the air to enter into the
pile. The mixture, which is maintained at about 50% moisture content, is kept in windrows
having a width of about 2.5 m. The mixture is turned over twice a week. Within about 4 to 6
Weeks, the temperature falls, the colour darkens and a musty odour develops. This indicates
npletion of the process. The filler may then be removed and the remaining humus-like material
4sed as soil conditioner. With mechanical systems, the composting time is reduce to half of that
I$
quired in natural systems, because of continuous aeration and mixing.
The composting process usually consists of the following three steps:
) Waste preparation: The solid waste is placed on slow moving conveyor belt. Materials
ike corrugaled
paper
are hand-picked and then the ferrous materials
are
removed by magnetic
epar iafion. 1he waste is then ground in hammer mills or wet pulpers to the desired size range
. o 2.5 em). Then, it is mixed with nutrient source, filler and water (to provide 50%
moisture)
( windrows for 4/6 weeks, while turning it once or
Dgestlon: The mixture is placed in the
micro-organisms during this period. The
Week. The waste is decomposed by thermophilic
T al is then allowed to stabilize for another 2 to 5 weeks.
140 A Textbook of Environmental Chemistry and Pollution .
(in Product upgradation: In order to ensure quick and better marketing prospects
product is sometimes upgraded by operations such as curing, grinding, screening, pelletising
bagging
In Western Europe, Japan, Israel and some Third-World countries which arc committe
land reclamation, many successful composting plants have been operating for several years tn
has made considerable progress in organising compost plants in cities like Bombay, a
alcutta. Nagpur, Delhi, Bangalore and Ahmedabad, Mechanical compost plants are encouray
by the Government in our country as a national programme. The National Rescarch Develon
Corporation is now in a position to offer the India know-how to other countries. The agricuh
research institutes of our country are developing the technology to produce blue green altural
coated granulated compost.
(2) Sanitary Landfilling
Landfilling is the most common and economic method of solid waste
disposal in man.
countries. ny
Disposing solid wastes into "open dumps"
the normal practice by
was
good olden days. The "town municipalities from
dump" generally used to be in a low-lying area near a
This unsanitary dumping of the waste used
to result in water watercoure
papers, fires, flies, rats, etc. These pollution, bad odours, blowino
problems are mostly reduced by burial of the waste.
improvement was achieved by compacting the waste in Further
end of the
disposal of the waste every day. In order to
layers and çovering it with earth
at the
unsanitary "open dump", this method is called distinguish from the earlier practice of
covering still continue to be the basic "sanitary landfill", Although compacting and
process have taken place during recent operations today, several further improvements
in the
years. These include careful
controlled deposition, better method of and scientific site
water pollution and site compaction, reduced cover, leachate collectionselection,
In
monitoring
to ensure
environmental protection.
to avoid

sanitary landfill, complex organic wastes are

a

micro-organisms, primarily by aerobic or facultativeslowly degraded or decomposed by the soil

bacteria and fungi. Since air
through a compacted land-fill, the aerobic cannot enter
utilizing whatever oxygen is present inside the bacteria decompose the organic solid waste by
micro-organisms landfill. Then,
in the landfill. The
begins, and this accounts for
the degradation ofdecomposition by the anaerobie
water-soluble organic acids most of the solid waste
and diffuse generated in this present
through the landfill soils. The bacteria process enter the water media
metabolise these organic acids into and fungi
present in the soils aerobically
CO, and water.
Occasionally, anaerobic methane bacteria
appreciable quantities of methane accumulate in landfill
gas. A portion of this systems and
landfill. But, however, most gas may be utilised by aerobic generate
as it diffuses
and may pose a
through the bacterid
potential fire hazard. of the methane
An ideal escapes into the atmosphere
sanitary landfill site should
(i) It should be satisfy the following criteria:
cheap, accessible and at a
(ii) It should be atleast
1% km
reasonable distance.
area. downwind from the
(ii)
commercial and residential uring
It should be
reasonably levelled, clear and well neighbou
years.
drained, with capacity of t3
(iv) Its soil should be a low use for at
(v) It should be well above permeability so that it can be used as
not polluted. the
ground water table so that the satisfactory cover mae a.

underground water supplies are

*
Solid Wastes-Pollut Treatment and Disposal 141

(The site selected for landfilling should not be deleterious or offensive to the surrounding
environment. It should be consistent with the topography, climatic conditions,
hydrogeological requirements and economical considerations.
The planning of a sanitary landfill operation should be based on the following considerations:
a The quantity and nature of the solid waste to be treated.
(n Overall suitability of the land for such operation.
(ii) Economic considerations of the landfilling process as compared to other available solid
waste treatment processes.
Public health criteria.
(iv)
of
(v) Proper design of the sanitary landfill operation with respect to the appropriate method
the landfill suitable for the chosen site and efficient organisation of the possible pollution
problems such as leachate generation, escape of gases, etc.
Preparation of the landfill site involves fencing, grading, stockpiling of the cover material,
nstruction of berms, landscaping and the installation of leachate collection system, gas
collection system and monitoring system.
A cross-sectional view of an ideal sanitary landfill is shown in Fig. 3.2.

Final soil
Trees and Vegetation
Wind screen cover
for erosion control
or fense Slope & for aesthetic

Buffer Gas vent Daily soil

Zone cover

V Leachate collector (Cell

Barrier to Drainage
prevent gas ditch
m igration Leachate
Drain for Impermeable monitoring
Compacted soil
ground water ining
protecting the
impermeable lining

Ground water

typical sanitary land-fill.

Fig. 3.2. Cross-sectional view of a

of compaction are delivered to the landfill site by

Mixed solid wastes with varying degrees
the wastes, pulverising or high pressure
packed trucks or trailer units. After hand sorting
reduction may be done before placement. Loose material is
Compaction and baling for volume
or trench. It is then spread
and compacted by machines in
Placed in the lower part of the pit
end of each day's operation and when the depth is
layers of about 0.5 m thickness. After the15 to 30 cm of earth. This consolidated solid waste
a00ut 3 m,the refuse is covered with
is called a "cell".
HCIOsed by earth at the end of a day's operation site with limited
not be economical particularly at a
Landfilling by low density refuse may also prove to be
the life of the landfill and will
apacity. Reduction of waste volume extends
incineration is expensive and hence physical methods such as
nomical. Volume reduction by compaction into bales or blocks (of about 1 m*
Pulverising (by a hummer mill) or high-pressurePulverisation brings about a volume reduction by
about 900 are usually preferred.
ghing
dDout 50% and also kg)
helns in reducing the cover material required, problems of odours, rodents,
 C h e f n s t

Environmental

Textbok of
A
142 compaction
into solid
bales also
provides all

water.
all the .

papers,
etc.
High-pressure
to
infiltration by rain
insects, fires,blowing resistance
addition to provide
above advantages in

f u t u r e as aproduct
PROBLEMS wITH LANDFILLING
be used in
only to so
cannot

The land use

as landfill should be
restricted

(1) Economic problems:

site, its further use in thee
after closure of the landfill recreational area. Building
construction
site
tarm land. Even
such as a park
or

of development
tpe open problems cause
due to ba
must be controlled. may
landfill operations and nois
operated from the dust
problems: Poorly birds, apart
(2) Aesthetic rats, and
papers,
scavenger
Continuous field compaction of th
insect, vermin. blowing operations.
Odours, and compacting reduce the
vehicles each day's operation
from transporting the end of
waste
covering with
earth at
compaction may ensure an
ioose refuse and proper or high-pressure
reduction by pulverisation
problems. VoBume
aesthetically acceptance operation. of municipal solid wastes
operations
Environmental problems: During landfilling few weeks (in wet areas) to a few
(3) from a

aerobic degradation
occurs initially for periods varying degradation of the organie
the oxygen is exhausted, anaerobic
After all
months (in dry areas).
these processes are taking place,
liquids from the waste, seepage from
wastes takes place. While the refuse. This produces a
and surface run-off percolates through
ground water, rain water
The leachates having high organic
content, soluble salts
contaminated liquid called "leachate".
the ground water.
can contaminate
and other constituents the anaerobic
dioxide (CO;) are generated during
Further, methane (CH4) and carbon 60% of the gas
landfill. Methane constitutes about
decomposition of organic matter in the
heavier than air, odourless and explosive when its
generated in a sanitary landfill. Methane is
concentration in air reaches over 5%. Hence its
hazardous potential should be given due
consideration.
Carbon dioxide combines with water giving carbonic acid. The resultant acidic environment
may help in dissolution of minerals and salts of Ca, Mg, Fe, Cd, Pb and Zn present in the refuse
or the soil. If these dissolved salts move into the ground water, increased hardness and heavy
metal toxicity of the water may result.
In order to control the contamination of ground water by the leachate, certain regulations are
prescribed for sanitary landfills. These include mandatory minimum distance of the location of
the landfills above the ground-water table, minimum distance from the nearest point of water use,
of soil of low permeability, preventing the
build-up of the leachate within the landf+ll,
extensive hydrogeological investigation of the actual landfill site
including
stratigraphy, drainage and groundwater characteristics (e.g., depth topography, etc.
and movement),
sol

Supplementary measures such as inclusion of clay and/or membrane covers or liners for the
landfill, leachate collection, removal and treatment
also suggested to ensure that the buried refuse facility, installation of monitoring system are
remains as dry as
ground water. In spite of these precautions, if somepossible ofthe
not reach the and leachate does
occurs, the soil beneath serves as an additional leakage
barrier to attenuate the
the leachateS
reaching the groundwater by mechanisms such contaminants beror
biological activity.
as
filtration, adsorption, precipitation a
The gases
produced in sanitary landfills
generally vented to the atmosphere through by the anaerobic
digestion or organic waste the are

escaping gases are burnt gravel-packed

seams or wells. In some
measures are meant for off with landtil
the help of
burners installed at the
the gases preventing
undue accumulation and top the ventS. hese of
under the landfill cover lateral movement
movement and
and migration
explosions. to nearby
residential areas which and migrato
may cause fires