Waste

Management
 Waste management is the
collection, transport, processing,
recycling or disposal of waste
materials. Waste Management
program helps manage hazardous
chemical, radioactive, medical and
other wastes safely and legally
 Waste includes all items that
people no longer have any use
for, which they either intend to
get rid of or have already
discarded.
Many items can be considered as waste
like household rubbish, sewage sludge,
wastes from manufacturing activities,
packaging items, discarded cars, old
televisions, garden waste, old paint
containers and others. Thus all our daily
activities can give rise to a large variety
of different wastes arising from
different sources.
 Solid waste is defined as any waste
that is dry in form and is discarded as
unwanted. It can describe the solid
waste from general housekeeping as
residential waste, refuse, household
waste or domestic waste.
Examples are plastics, styrofoam
containers, bottles, cans, papers,
scrap iron, and other trashes.
 Liquid waste includes human waste,
runoff (storm water or flood water),
sullage, industrial wastewater and
other forms of wastewater from
different sources.
Examples are chemicals, oils,
waste water from ponds.
Biodegradable wastes are those that
can be broken down (decomposed)
into their constituent elements by
bacteria and other microorganisms.
The term can be applied to both
liquid and solid waste.
Examples are Human and animal
wastes, food waste, paper, and
agricultural wastes.
 Non-biodegradable trash is any
discarded item that cannot be broken
down by living organisms. Non-
biodegradable trash accumulates in
the environment because it cannot
return to its origins.
Examples are plastics, bottles, old
machines, containers and others.
 are unsafe substances used
commercially, industrially,
agriculturally, or economically.
Examples are paint, motor oil,
pesticide, drain opener, prescription
drugs, air fresheners, batteries.
 are safe substances used
commercially, industrially,
agriculturally, or economically.
Examples are papers, cardboard,
linings, wrappings, paper packaging
materials or absorbents.
 The process flow refers to the 3 (or
4) Rs of reduce, reuse, recycle, and
recover which classify waste
management strategies according to
their desirability. The Rs are meant to
be a hierarchy, in order of importance.
However, the waste hierarchy has 5
steps: reduce, reuse, recycle, recovery,
and disposal.
Reduce - to buy less and use
less.
Reuse - elements of the
discarded item are
used again.
Recycle - discards are separated
into materials that may be
incorporated into new
products.
Recover - capturing useful
material for waste to energy
programs.
 Disaster Preparedness and
Management aims to reduce, or
avoid the potential losses from
hazards, assure prompt and
appropriate assistance to victims of
disaster, and achieve rapid and
effective recovery.
 Mitigation - Minimizing the
effects of disaster.
Examples: building codes and
zoning; vulnerability analyses;
public education.
Preparedness - Planning how to
respond. Examples:
preparedness plans; emergency
exercises/training; warning
systems.
 Response - Efforts to
minimize the hazards created
by a disaster. Examples: search
and rescue; emergency relief.
 Recovery - Returning the
community to normal.
Examples: temporary housing;
grants; medical care.