CHAPTER 2:

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
 CONTENTS

 Definition of terms

 Solid waste management methods

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
 Land and soil can be polluted by two main types
of substance:
 Solid waste: Plastic, metal, paper and other man-
made substances
 Hazardous chemicals: Herbicides and pesticides,
crude oil and waste from the industrial processes

 Land pollution often leads to water pollution, as

chemicals are washed into rivers and lakes.
WHAT IS SOLID WASTE?
 Any movable solid material that is perceived to
be of no further use and that is permanently
discarded.

 Once in the environment, waste frequently cause

damage to ecosystem and/or human health and
therefore acts as pollutants.
SOURCES OF SOLID WASTES
 Solid waste may come from any of these sources:
 Domestic
 Offices/commerce
 Agricultural
 Mining
 Industrial
 Energy production

 The solid waste produced from domestic and

businesses are called municipal wastes.
TYPICAL MALAYSIAN MUNICIPAL WASTES
COMPONENTS PERCENTAGE
Vegetables and food which 36.5
cannot last long
Paper and paper products 27.0
Plastic 16.4
Wood products and waste 7.0
Textile and leather 3.1
Glass 3.1
Ferrous metals 3.0
Rubber products 2.0
Non-ferrous metals 0.9
Other non-combustible products, 0.4
ceramic
HOW MUCH WASTE?
 Every year, billions of tonnes of paper, plastics,
synthetic materials, metal and wood are thrown
away.

 On average, each UK household produces over 1

tonne of rubbish each year

 How could you estimate the amount of rubbish

you throw each year?
WHAT METHODS ARE THERE FOR
DISPOSING OF WASTE MATERIALS?
 Landfill is the cheapest solution, but sites
quickly become full and the waste contaminates
the surrounding air, soil and water.
 Incinerating waste reduces volume, but often
produces toxic chemicals.
 Recycling materials allow them to be useful
again, and reduces the need to use more raw
materials.
 Composting uses natural biological processes to
decompose organic materials, but cannot be used
to dispose of non-biodegradable waste.
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
 In-situ disposal
 Mining activity and agricultural activities usually
produce some kinds of waste.
 If the waste is not an environmental harm, these
wastes are usually dumped on site or disposed of by
burying underground at the site as it may be expensive
to transport the waste.
 Indiscriminate dumping
 Waste been discarded all over the place.
 Unused land, a drain or river, was used as a dumping
ground, which contaminates soil and water, causing
environmental pollution.
 A concern to public health since diseases (water-borne
such as thyphoid and dengue from the Aedes mosquito)
can spread easily.
 Sanitary landfill
 Can be referred to as a garbage graveyard in
which wastes are spread out in thin layers,
compacted, and covered daily with a fresh
layer of clay or plastic foam.
 The landfill should be sited at an area where it
is geologically suitable (i.e. not near
groundwater and far from residential
area).
 Consists of:
 Synthetic liner

 Earth cover

 Leachate collection system

 Methane venting
SANITARY LANDFILL
Water dissolves
Uses the methane
Designed to protect the pollutants out of the
produced in the
environment from garbage, forming a
landfill to generate
pollution. solution known as
electricity.
leachate.

To prevent leachate
When the landfill is Leachate is pumped up leaking into the
full, it is covered with from the bottom of the groundwater beneath,
clay, sand, gravel and landfill and stored in the landfill is lined by
topsoil. the tanks. clay and synthetic
polymers/geotextiles.

Vegetation is planted
Anaerobic bacteria in
to absorb most of the Methane is collected
the landfill decompose
rainfall that forms and fuels a turbine to
waste to produce
leachate and to reduce generate electricity.
methane.
erosion.
LEACHATE
 Rainwater contaminated as it passes through the
solid wastes.
 Since it contains solubilized chemicals, it will mix
with underground water or sources of drinking
water such as rivers.
 Thus, causing contamination of the water.

 Leachate pipes are constructed in a sanitary

landfill to prevent leakage of leachate into
underground water.
BENEFITS OF SANITARY LANDFILL
 Exclude open burning of garbage - no resulting
air pollution
 Odour released is minimized
 Rodents and insects cannot thrive
 Low operating costs
 Can handle huge amount of solid waste
 Once filled, the land can be graded, planted and
used as a park, or other recreational purposes
 Anaerobic decomposition of the garbage release
methane which can be tapped and stored
overground and serve as a cheap source of fuel
for electricity generation.
DRAWBACKS OF SANITARY LANDFILL
 While in operation they cause traffic, noise, and
dust and most also emit toxic gas.
 Decaying of paper and other biodegradable
wastes is slow in water- and oxygen- deficient
landfills.
 The quest for more land for development results
in landfills being unfavourable near urban areas.
 Landfills also deprive present and future
generation of valuable reusable and recyclable
resources.
 Incineration
● Burning wastes
 All germs and viruses are burnt at high temperatures.
● Air pollution
● No water pollution
 No leachate produced during incineration.
● Waste to energy
● Controlled incineration is a practice whereby the
garbage fed to an incineration will burn under
controlled conditions
● The incineration not only can provide energy but also
deduction of volume of waste to about ¼ of the
original because the garbage incinerator is equipment
with pollution control and energy recovery system
● Drawbacks:
 The garbage must be carefully separated from hazardous
materials such as batteries and plastics which otherwise
can interfere with the combustion and pollute the air.
 Incinerators are costly to build, operate and maintain.
GARBAGE INCINERATOR WITH POLLUTION
CONTROLS AND ENERGY RECOVERY SYSTEM
Furnace reduces 1 ton of garbage to about a quarter of a ton of ash
which is removed by conveyer and taken to landfill for burial

Smoke flows through scrubber and an electrostatic precipitator (or

a filter) that remove toxic and particulate pollutants

The ash from the pollution control devices must be treated as toxic
waste

Heat from furnace is used to boil water

The steam is usually used to heat buildings directly or used to

power a steam turbine that generates electricity
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR TESTING AND MATERIALS (ASTM)
 ASTM has developed a scheme for classifying solid waste destined
for combustion

RDF-1 Unprocessed MSW

RDF-2 Shredded MSW (but no separation of materials)

RDF-3 Organic fraction of shredded MSW (usually produced in a MRF or

from source-separated organics, such as newsprint)

RDF-4 Organic waste produced by MRF that has been further shredded into
a fine, almost powder form sometimes called “fluff”

RDF-5 Organic waste produced by MRF that has been densified by a

pelletizer or a similar device that can often be fired with coal in
existing furnaces

RDF-6 Organic fraction of the waste that has been further processed into a
liquid fuel, such as oil

RDF-7 Organic waste processed into a gaseous fuel

 Recycling
● Reuse of waste materials and reduce the
need to use more raw materials.

● Conversion of materials is an important

consideration in recycling

● For recycling of materials to make sense and

effective, the household and business trash
should separate the recycle and reuse materials
from those that economically feasible
 Refillable drink bottle, used 10 times

Recycled glass drink bottle

Recycled aluminum can

Glass drink bottle used once

Recycled steel can

Steel can used once

Aluminum can used once

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Energy (thousands of kilocalories)

● Easily isolated from other wastes

● Large quantities (60-80% of wastes)
RECYCLING ALUMINIUM, WASTEPAPER
AND PLASTICS

● 40% of aluminum recycled in US

● Recycled aluminum uses over 90% fewer

resources

● 10% or less of plastic recycled in US

● Plastics can be very difficult to recycle

MODES OF RECYCLING
 There are three modes of recycling:
 Direct recycling to produce similar goods
 Indirect recycling to produce different or inferior
products
 Reuse of products

 Recycling of products like newspaper into

newspaper, aluminium cans into aluminium
cans, and so on is referred to as direct or primary
or closed-loop recycling.
 Primary recycling reduces the amount of
materials used in making a product by 20-90%.
 When products are recycled to produce non-
similar products e.g. mixed paper to form
cardboard, this is referred to as indirect or
secondary or open-loop recycling.

 Compared to direct recycling, indirect recycling

can reduce the use of the materials by 25% at
most.
COMMUNITY COMPOSTING

 Municipal waste contains waste which are among

the biodegradable wastes.
 They include solid waste from slaughter houses
and food processing plants, kitchen and yard
waste, manure from animal feedlots, paper too
contaminated to be recycled, wood and municipal
sludge.
 Composting such material can take place in
backyards, or in centralized community facilities
WHAT IS COMPOST?

 Compost is a sweet-smelling,
dark-brown humuslike
material that is rich in
organic matter and soil nutrients.

 It is produced when microorganisms (mostly

fungi and aerobic bacteria) in soil break down
organic matter such as leaves, food wastes,
paper, and wood, in the presence of oxygen.
 Large-scale composting is widely used in many
European countries.
 To compost such waste, first they mixed with soil
and put into a container or pile.
 The mixture is stirred occasionally
to ensure that the temperature is
high enough to kill pathogens and
weed, but not hot enough to kill the
decomposting microbes.
 The mixture is left to rot for several months
(odour control is important, too).
 The resulting compost can be used as an organic
fertillizer or conditioner, as topsoil, as landfill
cover and so on.
 Reuse
● A form of waste reduction.
● Aims:
 To keep high quality matter resources from being
reduced to low quality matter waste
 Extends resource supplies
 Reduces energy use and even more than recycling

● Two practical examples are refillable containers

and reusable bags.
● Refillable containers commonly used are glass
beverage bottles and polyethylene terephthelate
(PET) plastic.
PLASTIC BAGS AND PAPER BAGS
 Although plastic bags and paper bags can be
recycled, both are environmentally harmful.
 Plastic bags take less energy to make and
transport than paper bags, but they are non-
biodegradable and require landfill space.
 Paper bags recycling uses more advanced
technology, so high cost involved.
 The wood used in making the bags should have
been used for other important products.
 So, bring your own reusable canvas or gunny bag
when you shop for groceries or other items!
OTHER SOLUTIONS???
 Decrease consumption
 Redesign manufacturing process and products to
use less material
 Design products that produce less pollution and
waste fewer resources when used
 Use less hazardous and usually cheaper cleaning
product
 Green design and life-cycle assessment can be
used to develop products that last longer and that
are easy to repair, reuse, remanufacture, compost
or recycle
 Products can be designed to last longer
 Eliminate unnecessary packaging