Environmental Impact of Waste Disposal

Are we living in a sustainable & healthy ecological system?

The vast majority can respond to these questions within seconds as “NO.” This is because immeasurable and uncontrollable tons of waste is being deposited into the landfills without anyone’s concern. Where does all this dumped waste go? All the thrown-away trash is being deposited into the grounds for years and spoils the stellar quality of the soil and land. 

The impact of waste disposal on society is directly related to its population, their income level, and the rate at which they can manage their household waste.

Is there no one to handle or stockpile all the waste? 

Municipal officers, many Non-government organizations (NGOs), in accordance with the Waste management act, private individuals, Industrialists, waste stack holders, recyclers, waste aggregators and traders, property holders or managers, and its the producer’s responsibility to manage the waste from the all the source points of waste generation. 

Jumping off point for illicit waste disposal :

Deceptive disposal of waste without prior knowledge is the ultimate cause of the dissemination of waste. Another effective cause of the waste that is not treated properly is the lack of a strong legislation act. These root factors are the cause for indecorous waste disposal.

Environmental effects caused by the improper waste disposal : 

Waste disposal has a negative impact on health, the economy, and the environment, leading to global warming. The negative impacts can be resolved by planning, implementing, and managing proper measures in waste management.

Environment is not a separate part of life. Together, we’re the environment. It’s our liability to maintain the planet with enough natural resources for the upcoming generation. 

Let’s not only utilize the energy; it’s time to preserve and recover all our lost resources to give back to the forthcoming development and utilization. Proper waste disposal is vital to bringing back the Earth’s mainstream wealth and assets. 

Waste management attains good awareness among society, but the best is yet to come. Even a small piece of waste thrown away causes a great problem to the circular economy. 

A basic tenet of Newtonian physics that every action will have an equal or opposite reaction. Likewise,  Every waste thrown on Earth will have an equal impact. 

Waste – a hitch or a resource 

Wastes are not really wastes; If it gets proper treatment or recycling measures, wastes can get converted into a new form of a product. Environmental pollution caused by waste also negatively impacts the economy of the country. 

Recycling wastes can eventually minimize the usage of major finite resources globally. Incinerating and dumping waste is not the end of the waste treatment; it only occupies the land space, and incineration causes air pollution. Incineration of waste results in both pros and cons; some of the pros of the incineration are, 

→Reduces the space occupied by the wastes,

→Electricity is generated using an incineration process, 

→ Ash produced in incineration is used for construction purposes and as a secondary raw material for many construction development products.   

What happens if waste is not maintained effectively? 

Waste is formerly used products that are useless at present. Maintaining waste is crucial in urban cities where the population is way higher. As the population increases, waste increases proportionally. Indecorous waste management leads to unstable living culture, thereby driving more usage of natural resources. 

Uncontrollable waste causes health and socioeconomic status affects the marine and coastal environment, and affects climatic conditions. As a result of improper waste disposal, temperature rises in the atmosphere and ocean. 

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are getting stored on the air’s upper surface, causing global warming. 

Steps to prevent the Environmental impacts of waste disposal 

Need to prevent overproduction and consumption. Production of waste should be eradicated at the first stage of its development is one of the smart waste management policies. 

Singe use or one-time used products should be eliminated from circulation. In this way, the product can be used for a long time, preventing waste from accumulating earlier.

Some of the norms and regulations of waste management

  • The environmental protection act was established in 1986 to regulate all forms of waste getting dumped into the landfills, 
  • Water prevention and pollution control act of 1981, 
  • Manufacturers storage and import act of hazardous materials 1989, 
  • Bio-medical waste and management act of 1998 and upgraded bio-medical waste management act of 2016, 
  • Recycling plastic manufacturers’ usage and management rules of 1999, 
  • Solid waste management rules of 2000, 
  • Batteries and laboratory equipment management rules of 2001,
  • Hazardous and other waste management and transboundary movement rules of 2016, 
  • Plastic waste management rules of 2016. 

A big step towards combating this issue is recycling, which involves taking a waste material and converting it back into materials or products with value. 

Let’s protect our planet by eliminating all forms of toxic waste generated and disposed of in our landfills. The only way to bring back our planet’s resources from a huge waste crisis is regeneration and recycling.