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Seminar
On
Solid Waste
Management

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TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
What Is Solid Waste Management?
Solid Waste Management History
Objectives of Solid Waste Management
Functional Elements of the Waste Management System
Categories of Waste
Various Sources of Solid Waste
Effects of Poor Solid Waste Management
Methods of Solid Waste Management
Advantages
Conclusion
INTRODUCTION
Solid waste refers to the range of garbage materials—arising from animal and
human activities—that are discarded as unwanted and useless. Solid waste is
generated from industrial, residential, and commercial activities in a given area, and
may be handled in a variety of ways. As such, landfills are typically classified as
sanitary, municipal, construction and demolition, or industrial waste sites.
Waste can be categorized based on material, such as plastic, paper, glass, metal, and
organic waste. Categorization may also be based on hazard potential, including
radioactive, flammable, infectious, toxic, or non-toxic wastes. Categories may also
pertain to the origin of the waste, whether industrial, domestic, commercial,
institutional, or construction and demolition.
WHAT IS SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT?
Solid waste management is defined as the discipline
associated with control of generation, storage, collection,
transport or transfer, processing and disposal of solid waste
materials in a way that best addresses the range of public
health, conservation, economic, aesthetic, engineering, and
other environmental considerations.
In its scope, solid waste management includes planning,
administrative, financial, engineering, and legal functions.
Solutions might include complex inter-disciplinary relations
among fields such as public health, city and regional
planning, political science, geography, sociology,
economics, communication and conservation, demography,
engineering, and material sciences.
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
HISTORY
During the ancient times, waste materials were carelessly thrown into streets and rivers and
left to accumulate. The growing piles of waste soon became a threat to public health, causing
plagues and epidemics. In 320 BC, the city of Athens created the first known law that
prohibits such careless disposal. Soon, in ancient Rome, property owners were held
responsible for tidying up the streets in front of their properties. 
At the end of the 14th century, scavengers were tasked with carting away waste materials to
dump sites outside the European city walls. It was in America during the end of the 18th
century that crude municipal garbage collection began to take place, particularly in the cities
of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.
A true technological and systematic approach to solid waste management in the US was
developed at the end of the 19th century. Innovations such as watertight garbage cans,
compactor vehicles, garbage grinders, incinerators, and pneumatic collection systems began
to flourish.  
Around 1950, improper dumping and burning of solid waste began to cause environmental
problems and threatened to endanger public health.
OBJECTIVES OF WASTE
MANAGEMENT
The primary goal of solid waste management is reducing
and eliminating adverse impacts of waste materials on
human health and the environment to support economic
development and superior quality of life. 
This is to be done in the most efficient manner possible, to
keep costs low and prevent waste buildup.
FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF THE
WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
1. Waste generation: This encompasses any activities involved in identifying
materials that are no longer usable and are either gathered for systematic disposal
or thrown away.
2. Onsite handling, storage, and processing: This relates to activities at the point
of waste generation, which facilitate easier collection. For example, waste bins
are placed at sites that generate sufficient waste. 
3. Waste collection: A crucial phase of waste management, this includes activities
such as placing waste collection bins, collecting waste from those bins, and
accumulating trash in the location where the collection vehicles are emptied.
Although the collection phase involves transportation, this is typically not the
main stage of waste transportation.  
FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF
THE WASTE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM ………..
1. Waste transfer and transport: These are the activities involved in moving waste
from the local waste collection locations to the regional waste disposal site in
large waste transport vehicles.
2. Waste processing and recovery: This refers to the facilities, equipment, and
techniques employed to recover reusable or recyclable materials from the waste
stream and to improve the effectiveness of other functional elements of waste
management.
3. Disposal: The final stage of waste management. It involves the activities aimed at
the systematic disposal of waste materials in locations such as landfills or waste-
to-energy facilities. 
CATEGORIES OF WASTE
1. Organic waste: Kitchen waste, waste from food preparation, vegetables, flowers,
leaves, fruits, and market places.
2. Combustibles: Paper, wood, dried leaves, packaging for relief items etc. that are
highly organic and having low moisture content.
3. Non-combustibles: Metal, Tins, Cans, bottles, stones, etc.
4. Toxic waste: Old medicines, paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and
pesticide containers, batteries, shoe polish.
5. Recyclables: Paper, glass, metals, plastics.
CATEGORIES OF WASTE
6. Ashes or Dust: Residue from fires that are used for cooking.
7. Construction waste: Rubble, roofing, broken concrete etc.
8. Hazardous waste: Oil, battery acid, medical waste, industrial waste, hospital
waste.
9. Dead animals: Carcasses of dead livestock or other animals.
10. Bulky waste: Tree branches, tires etc.
11. Soiled waste: Hospital waste such as cloth soiled with blood and other body
fluids.
VARIOUS SOURCES OF SOLID
WASTE
1. Residential
Residences and homes where people live are some of
the major sources of solid waste. The garbage from
these places includes food wastes, plastics, paper, glass,
leather, cardboard, metals, yard wastes, ashes and
special wastes like bulky household items such as
electronics, tires, batteries, old mattresses and used oil.
2. Industrial
Industries are known to be one of the biggest
contributors to solid waste. They include light and heavy
manufacturing industries, construction sites, fabrication
plants, canning plants, power and chemical plants.
3. Commercial
Commercial facilities and buildings are yet another source
of solid waste today. Commercial buildings and facilities, in
this case, refer to hotels, markets, restaurants, godowns,
stores and office buildings.
Some of the solid wastes generated from these places
include plastics, food wastes, metals, paper, glass, wood,
cardboard materials, special wastes and other hazardous
wastes.
4. Institutional
The institutional centers like schools, colleges, prisons,
military barracks and other government centers also
produce solid waste. Some of the common solid wastes
obtained from these places include glass, rubber waste,
plastics, food wastes, wood, paper, metals, cardboard
materials, electronics as well as various hazardous wastes.
5. Construction and Demolition Areas
Construction and demolition sites also contribute to
the solid waste problem. Construction sites include
new construction sites for buildings and roads, road
repair sites, building renovation sites and building
demolition sites.
6. Municipal Services
The urban centers also contribute immensely to the
solid waste crisis in most countries today. Some of
the solid waste brought about by the municipal
services include street cleaning, wastes from parks
and beaches, wastewater treatment plants,
landscaping wastes and wastes from recreational
areas, including sludge.
7. Treatment Plants and Sites
Heavy and light manufacturing plants also produce
solid waste. They include refineries, power plants,
processing plants, mineral extraction plants and
chemical plants.
Among the wastes produced by these plants, there
are industrial process wastes, unwanted
specification products, plastics, metal parts, just to
mention a few.
8. Agriculture
Crop farms, orchards, dairies, vineyards and
feedlots are also sources of solid wastes. Among
the wastes they produce are agricultural wastes,
spoiled food, pesticide containers and other
hazardous materials.
9. Biomedical
This refers to hospitals and biomedical equipment
and chemical manufacturing firms. In hospitals,
there are different types of solid wastes produced.
Some of these solid wastes include syringes,
bandages, used gloves, drugs, paper, plastics, food
wastes and chemicals. All these require proper
disposal or else they will cause a huge problem for
the environment and the people in these facilities.
EFFECTS OF POOR SOLID
WASTE MANAGEMENT
1. Litter Surroundings
Due to improper waste disposal systems, particularly by municipal waste
management teams, wastes heap up and become a menace. While people clean
their homes and places of work, they litter their surroundings, which affect the
environment and the community.
2. Impact on Human Health
Improper waste disposal can affect the health of the population living nearby the
polluted area or landfills. The health of waste disposal workers and other
employees involved with these landfill facilities are also at a greater risk.
Exposure to wastes that handled improperly can cause skin irritations, respiratory
problems, blood infections, growth problems, and even reproductive issues.
3. Disease-causing Pests
This type of dumping of waste materials forces biodegradable materials to rot and
decompose under improper, unhygienic and uncontrolled conditions.
After a few days of decomposition, a foul smell is produced, and it becomes a breeding
ground for different types of disease-causing insects as well as infectious organisms. On
top of that, it also spoils the aesthetic value of the area.
4. Environmental Problems
Solid wastes from industries are a source of toxic metals, hazardous wastes, and
chemicals. When released to the environment, the solid wastes can cause biological and
physicochemical problems to the environment that may affect or alter the productivity
of the soils in that particular area.
5. Soil and Groundwater Pollution
Toxic materials and chemicals may seep into the soil and pollute the
groundwater. During the process of collecting solid waste, hazardous wastes usually
mix with ordinary garbage and other flammable wastes making the disposal process
even harder and risky.
6. Emission of Toxic Gases
When hazardous wastes like pesticides, batteries containing lead, mercury or zinc,
cleaning solvents, radioactive materials, e-waste and plastics mixed up with paper
and other non-toxic scraps are burned they produce dioxins, furans, polychlorinated
biphenyls, and other gases. These toxic gases have the potential of causing various
diseases, including cancer.
7. Impact on Land and Aquatic Animals 
Our carelessness with our waste and garbage also
affects animals, and they suffer the effects of
pollution caused by improperly disposed of wastes
and rubbish.
Consuming styrofoam and cigarette butts have been
known to cause deaths in marine animals. Animals
are also at risk of poisoning while consuming
grasses near contaminated areas or landfills as the
toxins seep into the soil.
METHODS OF SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT
1. Sanitary Landfill
This is the most popular solid waste disposal method used today. Garbage is
basically spread out in thin layers, compressed and covered with soil or plastic
foam. 
Modern landfills are designed in such a way that the bottom of the landfill is covered
with an impervious liner, which is usually made of several layers of thick plastic and
sand. This liner protects the groundwater from being contaminated because of
leaching or percolation.
Advantage: If landfills are managed efficiently, it is an ensured sanitary waste
disposal method.
Constraint: It requires a reasonably large area.
2. Incineration
This method involves the burning of solid wastes at high
temperatures until the wastes are turned into ashes. Incinerators
are made in such a way that they do not give off extreme amounts
of heat when burning solid wastes. 
This method of solid waste management can be done by
individuals, municipalities and even institutions. The good thing
about this method is the fact that it reduces the volume of waste up
to 20 or 30% of the original volume.
Advantage: The volume of combustible waste is reduced
considerably by burning waste. In the case of off-site pits, it is an
appropriate method to minimize scavenging.
Constraint: It can cause smoke or fire hazard and also emits
gaseous pollutants.
3. Recovery and Recycling
Recycling or recovery of resources is the process of taking useful but discarded items
for the next use. Plastic bags, tins, glass and containers are often recycled automatically
since, in many situations, they are likely to be scarce commodities.
Traditionally, these items are processed and cleaned before they are recycled. The
process aims at reducing energy loss, consumption of new material and reduction of
landfills. The most developed countries follow a strong tradition of recycling to lower
volumes of waste.
Advantage: Recycling is environmentally friendly.
Constraint: It is expensive to set up, and in most emergencies, there is limited
potential.
4. Composting
Due to a lack of adequate space for landfills, biodegradable yard waste is allowed to
decompose in a medium designed for the purpose. Only biodegradable waste materials are
used in composting. 
It is a biological process in which micro-organisms, specifically fungi and bacteria, convert
degradable organic waste into substances like humus. This finished product, which looks like
soil, is high in carbon and nitrogen. Good quality environmentally friendly manure is formed
from the compost that is an excellent medium for growing plants and can be used for
agricultural purposes.
Advantage: Composting is environmentally friendly as well as beneficial for crops.
Constraint: It requires intensive management and experienced personnel for large scale
operation.
5. Pyrolysis
This is a method of solid waste management whereby solid wastes are chemically
decomposed by heat without the presence of oxygen. It usually occurs under
pressure and at temperatures of up to 430 degrees Celsius. The solid wastes are
changed into gasses, solid residue of carbon and ash and small quantities of liquid.
Advantage: This will keep the environment clean and reduce health and settlement
problems.
Constraint: The systems that destroy chlorinated organic molecules by heat may
create incomplete combustion products, including dioxins and furans. These
compounds are highly toxic in the parts per trillion ranges. The residue it generates
may be hazardous wastes, requiring proper treatment, storage, and disposal.
WHY SHOULD WE RECYCLE?
• Reduces reliance on landfills and incinerators.
• Recycling protects our health and environment
when harmful substances are
removed from the waste stream.
• Recycling conserves our natural resources
because it reduces the need for raw materials.
ADVANTAGES OF SOLID
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Effective solid waste management reduces pollution considerably. The green house gases
like methane and carbon di oxide that is emitted from waste accumulated also reduces in
the process.
Effective solid waste management keeps the environment clean as not much waste will
be accumulated in the surroundings. There will be considerable reduction in the landfills.
The process of solid waste management creates wide job opportunities. This is mainly
because of the different processes that are involved in waste management.
Effective solid waste management protects the biodiversity thus protecting the mother
earth. This process conserves energy since most of the processes involve the aspect of
recycling. For example, many trees are cut for making paper but if old paper is recycled,
new paper can be made. Deforestation will be reduces considerably.
CONCLUSION
As long as there is human activity, solid waste will be a part of us. But the good
thing is that by exercising a sense of responsibility and following sensible
regulations, we can definitely live a better and cleaner life even with solid waste
around.
ACT Enviro is your partner in safe, compliant solid waste management. To know
more about our services, contact our team today.