Akanksha Soni, Academic Content Writer at Edumarz.
Introduction:-
- Waste can be defined as all the discarded solid materials generated from households, industrial, healthcare, construction, agricultural, commercial & institutional sources etc.
- These wastes are classified in two ways as biodegradable and non-biodegredable.
- Biodegredable wastes are those wastes which are easily broken down by biological process. For example: Vegetable waste and fruit wastes etc.
- Non-biodegradable wastes are those wastes which are not degraded by biological process. For example: PVC Pipe and Plastic etc.
- Non-biodegradable substances can be inert and persist in the environment for a long time. They cause environmental pollution.
- The famous 5 R’s: Reuse, reduce, Recycle, Refuse and Repair are various ways to control changes in the environment.
How to manage the waste we produce?
- On daily basis
- Use of dustbins should be followed in daily life.
- Reduce the use of plastic.
- Do not throw garbage in the public places or any other places.
- Recycling
- The solid waste materials like plastic, paper, and metals etc are recycled.
- For example:- Waste paper is sent to the paper industry, where it is recycled again to make new paper .
- Compost
- Biodegradable waste such as food, fruit peels, vegetable peels, and plant leaves etc. It can be turned into the compost by burying or digging it in the ground and used as a fertilizer.
- Incineration
- Incineration is the process of burning waste materials at a high temperatures (more than 1000 oC) to form ash. This method is used to destroy chemical waste and hospital waste etc.
- Landfill:-
- This method involves dumping the waste into the ground.
- Sewage treatment
- The polluted water containing urine and fecal matter that is carried from our homes by underground pipes. This is known as sewage.
- This sewage is treated by the sewage treatment plants. After treatment, the sewage produces clean water which is discharged into the river.