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+GEO

CHAPTER 22

methods of safe disposal of waste – segregation, dumping and

composting

segregation : dividing the waste into different categories like dry and
wet or biodegradable and non-biodegradable.

dry waste : waste that does not decay and is non-biodegradable. ex-
wood and related products like timber, sawdust, home and office
furniture, steel utensils, glass, tetra packs, aluminium foils, plastic
products.

wet waste : waste organic in nature and is biodegradable it can be

decomposed or broken down by living organisms. ex- kitchen waste,
vegetable and fruit peels, stale food, rotten fruits and vegetables.

when waste is segregated there is a reduction in the volume of waste

that reaches landfills. air and water pollution is reduced and it becomes
easier to conduct further process of waste disposal like composting,
recycling and incineration. so segregation of waste is the key to
effective waste management.

open dumping : waste materials are dumped in open low lands far
away from city. method is not environment friendly. cheapest method
and does not need much planning.

dangers of open dumping

 open pits spoil area and becomes a breeding ground for

mosquito flies, insects etc. that are carriers of harmful disease.
 give out foul odour.
 burning of waste materials in open dump pollutes air.
 rainwater can carry harmful substances to nearby streams,
05575ponds, lakes etc.
sanitary landfill : waste is packed and dumped daily at the site and is
covered with earth to prevent insects or rodents from entering into
landfill. the waste then undergoes bacterial decomposition. physical
chemical and biological reactions take place generating gases like
carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia etc. these gases can be recovered
and used to generate power.

five phases of disposal of waste in sanitary landfill :

 first phase : aerobic bacteria depletes available oxygen causing

temperature to increase
 second phase : anaerobic conditions get established and lead to
evolution of hydrogen and carbon dioxide
 third phase : production of methane from decomposition of
organic matter
 fourth phase : methanogenic activity becomes stabilised.
 fifth phase : depletes organic matter and system returns to
aerobic state

advantages of sanitary landfill as opposed to open dumping :

 free from air pollution from burning

 health problems are minimised since flies, rats and other pests
cannot breed in landfill because of covered waste. mostly free
from fire hazards.

plantation at landfill site

 locally adapted non-edible perennial plants that are resistant to

drought and extreme temperatures should be planted.
 plants roots should not penetrate more than 30 cm.
 plants should have the ability to thrive on low nutrient soil with
minimum nutrient addition
 plantation should be made in sufficient density to minimise soil
erosion.

Municipal waste management

1. collection of municipal solid wastes

  house to house collection of municpal solid wastes
 collection of waste from slums and localities including
hotels, restaurants, office complexes and commercial
areas.
 bio medical wastes and industrial wastes should not be
mixed with municpal solid wastes.
 horticultural and construction wastes should be separately
collected and disposed of.
 waste should be segregated into biodegradable and non-
biodegradable.
 waste(garbage, dry leaves) should not be burnt.
 stray animals should not be allowed to move around waste
storage facilities.
2. storage of municipal solid wastes
 storage should be set up and established taking into
account quantities of waste generation in an area and its
population density. it should be accessible to users.
 not exposed to open atmosphere and are aesthetically
accepatble and user-friendly.
 easy to operate design for handling, transfer and
transportation of waste.
 manual handling of waste should be avoided
3. transportation of municipal solid wastes
 vehicle used for transportation of wastes should be
covered this prevents the wastes from being scattered.
waste should not be visible to public nor exposed to open
environment.
4. community participation in segregation of municipal solid
wastes
 municipal authorities should undertake phased
programme to ensure community participation in waste
segregation.

composting
aerobic method of decomposing solid wastes. organic wastes from
household are made to undergo decomposition in such a way that
bacteria and other micro-organisms break them down and produce a
safe clean and soil-like material called compost.

indore method – in rural areas layers of vegetable waste and night soils
are alternated in a shallow hole dug in the ground. the mixture is
turned regularly for about three months to provide air to the mixture.

bengaluru method – waste material is placed in layers about one metre

deep. material then decomposes completely in about five months.

advantages of composting

 enhances soil nutrients and water retention capacity of

soils
 supresses plant disease
 rejuvenates poor soils by adding humus
 absorbs odours and degrades volatile organic compounds
 prevents pollution by preventing pollutants in storm water
run off from draining into water resources
 checks soil erosion and silting on embankments
 reduces cost as there is need for excess water, fertilizers
and pesticides.

incineration

process of controlled high temperature oxidation of primarily organic

compounds that release thermal energy and produce carbon dioxide
and water.

involves burning of wastes at a very high temperature. waste to be

burnt is fed into an incineration chamber. by this method pathogenic
organisms are killed and volume of waste is reduced to 50 per cent.

limitations

 quite expensive
  generates ash and combustion gases which have an adverse
impact on human health and environment
 consumes significant amount of energy to achieve high
temperature.

Reduce – Reuse – Recycle

Reducing the waste

 change of process : reduction can be made by changing the

material used to finsish the product or by using more efficiently
the input materials in the production process.
 waste concentration : by using scientific techniques like
precipitation and evaporation amount of liquid waste can be
reduced.
 segregation of waste : non-hazardous waste are separated from
hazardous waste rather than dumping them together.

reusing the waste

in india some of the waste materials like old glass bottles, steel tyres,
tin cans are reused. for ex- shoes or chappals are made from old tyres,
water bags are made from leather, lamps are made from tin cans, etc.
waste is segregated and supplied to specialised artisans who make
utility articles from such material and make a living from their skill. for
ex- a beautiful rock garden has been created by nek chand in
chandigarh using waste products like tin cans, bottles, broken pieces of
crockery etc. waste collectors thus help in making new production
processes. thus they reduce the burden of waste disposal. fly ash from
power plants is used to manufacture cement. bricks are made from
flyash.

recycling of waste

in india we have tonnes of bagasse from sugarcane during a particular

season. bagasse is used in manufacture of paper pulp. this helps to save
trees which are normally used for making paper pulp. bagasse is also
used for making packaging material for dairy products. paper industry
recycles pieces of wood from furniture industry, used and discarded
cloth and used paper.

Roads from plastic waste

the technology for this was developed by “plastic man” of india prof
rajagopalan vasudevan prof of chemistry at thiagarajar college of
engineering madurai.

plastic waste items that can be used for road construction include
plastic carrybags, plastic cups, plastic packaging for potato chips,
biscuits, chocolates, etc.

for making roads plastic waste material is first shredded to a particular

size using a shredding machine. then it is heated at 165 degree celsius
and transferred to mixing chamber and bitumen is heated to 160
degree to result in good binding.

the shredded plastic waste is then added to aggregate. then it is mixed

with hot bitumen and rsulting mix is used for road construction.

advantage of using waste plastic for road construction

 process is easy and does not need any new machinery

 for every kilo of construction material 50 g of bitumen is used
annd 1/10th of this is plastic waste
 plastic increases aggregate impact value and improves quality
of flexible pavements. wear and tear of the roads is also quite
low.
 road construction process is eco-friendly with no toxic gases
being released
 these roads have better resistance towards rain water and
cold weather