Paper Example on Effect of Municipal Solid Waste

Introduction

The problems connected with the solid waste management and the management has attracted considerable attention from environmentalists towards the end of the twentieth century as more communities around the world are beginning to acknowledge the hazards connected to waste. Materials which are not considered to be prime products are normally classified as waste(Hoornweg, Daniel, and Perinaz, 34-45)These type of materials are those which the user has the intention of disposing of off as they do not derive any more utilization from them in terms of change or consumption. According to Reddy (76-81), the generation of wastes is more prevalent in raw materials extraction, processing of raw materials, usage of finished products coupled with destructive human behavior. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a term used to refer to wastes that are generated from commercial and residential areas in a municipal in either solid or semi-solid forms. They also include household wastes, sanitation residue, construction and demolition debris and waste emanating from the streets. The garbage is from the places of residence and commercial establishments and consists of a variety of organic, inorganic, human solid waste as well as hazardous chemical materials.

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Groundwater forms a huge percentage of the natural water cycle. Globally, more than 98 percent of groundwater is freshwater present in the pores of the soil as well as rock fracturing (Tanskanen 108). A reduction in the quality of groundwater can be detrimental to the quality of surface water and hence the quality standards will be significantly lowered. This kind of reduction will greatly affect the water cycle and thus pose a lot of challenges. The protection of water sources from municipal waste contamination is therefore of paramount importance since it is impossible to rehabilitate polluted water. The risk of water contamination is continuously experiencing an upward trend as a result of waste material disposal and usage by industry of highly polluting chemical substances in the environment. As a consequence of rapid urbanization, the problem of municipal waste has been a nuisance in several countries around the world in the form of health hazards resulting from the quality of water being consumed by people. Due to the cost of waste management, a number of municipal establishments have adopted landfill practices as a way of disposing of their garbage. The untreated wastes dumped on the landfill gaps mainly consist of bio-degradable solid substances such as paper, vegetables, and metals. They also include inert materials such as plastics, glass as well as other materials which endangers in a great way the quality of groundwater. The contamination could occur through leakages which occur when rainwater infiltrates through the landfills consequently dissolving the solid components of the waste. The dissolved chemical and biochemical components will result in the imposition of their Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) on the groundwater (Hoornweg, Daniel, and Perinaz, 54-58). Recent studies have portrayed that COD and BOD of municipal wastes could be as high as 12,000mg/L and 700mg/L respectively with the amount of inorganic materials like iron, ammonia, and manganese showing variation depending on the hydrology of a given location in addition to physical and chemical conditions present (Reddy 112). It must then be noted that disposal of municipal waste substances can generate huge volumes of effluents with a high potential to degrade the water sources. For this reason, the management and location of sites where municipal wastes are dumped is crucial.

In many industrialized countries, waste management practices can be owed to the 1970's focus on reducing its impact on the environment (Tanskanen 112). Technically, recycling is the best solution to mitigating the effects of municipal waste in the modern society. This involves transforming wastes into useful products by way of industrial processing. It is an environmentally friendly method as it reduces the amount of garbage landing in the environment. Another method is the use of incineration which entails combustion of waste substances and converting them into other basic components. The contents acquired from the burnt waste can be used for purposes of heating, cooking and power supply to run turbines in industrial processes. In addition, waste can be managed by applying the method of composting. This involves keeping waste in a pit for a given period under certain conditions that allow decomposition. The compost can then be used as manure for crops and general soil fertility.

Also, in the recent times, changes in policies regarding waste management have shifted reliance on landfill method of waste management planning towards integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) approaches (Reddy 154). Renewed legislations are being passed for instance in the European Union and the United States regarding waste disposals and management with the issue of environmental protection at the Centre. Example include the 1993 United States Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) which made it a requirement for landfills to be impermeable and containing leachate and gas collection gadgets (Bovea ., et al 168). With these policies in place and properly enforced, many nations are able to implement waste classification, material recovery, prevention as well as proper use and location of landfills.

Work Cited

Bovea, M. D., et al. "Environmental assessment of alternative municipal solid waste management strategies. A Spanish case study." Waste Management 30.11 (2010): 2383-2395.

Hoornweg, Daniel, and Perinaz Bhada-Tata. "What a waste: a global review of solid waste management." (2012).

Reddy, P. Jayarama. "Municipal solid waste management." The Netherlands: CRC Press/Balkema. Retrieved October 9 (2011): 2012.

Tanskanen, Juha-Heikki. "Strategic planning of municipal solid waste management." Resources, conservation and recycling 30.2 (2000): 111-133.