Waste management is all about collecting, transporting, processing, recycling and disposing waste materials. Proper waste disposal is always needed to make sure that their harmful effects to the human population or environment are reduced. There are different kinds of waste management procedures when handling solid, liquid, gas and radioactive wastes. Aside from that, different fields like agriculture, mining, and healthcare have strict regulations to follow for waste disposal.

There are studies conducted showing that about 90 percent of wastes disposed every year mainly come from industrialized countries, which is about 325-375 million tons of toxic and hazardous waste. Countries are expressing their concern about the rising number of wastes being disposed every year. According to the United Nations, there are 60 percent of countries worldwide expressing their waste concern in the 1992 Earth Summit.

Improper waste disposal can cause big problems to human health. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) states that there are about five million fatalities every year because of diseases related to improper waste disposal. For example, stagnant water and pile of wastes in the backyard could actually be a source of dengue, tetanus or vermin related disease like leptospirosis.

Not all management practices are the same, industrial waste management would of course be different from household waste disposal. Urban and rural waste management are also different. Which why there are people who are primarily employed as waste specialists officers and whose job is to ensure that wastes are properly disposed.

Every county would also have their own waste disposal method. There are government agencies and local government units that provide waste collection services, they would often have partnerships with private waste management companies. For example, in Australia, every curb would have three collection bins like one for the recyclables, general and garden wastes. Households are encouraged to start composting to reduce wastes. This is the same waste collection done in Canada. In Taipei, households and industries are charged for the volume of their wsastes produced.

In waste management there is something known as the waste hierarchy or the 3 Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. This 3 Rs remains to be the basis of waste management programs, technologies and strategies being developed. Government programs implemented are based on these principles, for example in the United States there are states that would implement regulations of non-collection of yard wastes to encourage households to recycle.

Another program implemented by the government would be the extended product responsibility or the EPR. This is a strategy that would ensure that manufacturers would be responsible for their products after they were disposed by the consumers. The method used in Taiwan is also known as the Polluter Pays Principle. The polluter would pay for the impact of their waste on the environment.

Some industries find waste management and environmental responsibility good business opportunity for their own businesses. They report increased efficiency, energy reduction costs and even getting local and national government incentives since the government offers tax rebates for industries that would use “green” technology.

Waste management is something that every household, business, education and medical institutions should learn or implement. In the United States, a study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that an American would produce about .75 tons of waste every year. About 90 % or 325-375 million tons of toxic wastes are being dumped by industrialized countries every year. United Nations received reports of waste management problems from about 60 % of countries in the 1992 Earth Summit.

It is not about just the environment that we would have to worry about. Wastes not properly disposed can cause huge health risks to people or communities surrounding the area where the wastes were disposed. The United Nations Development Programme estimates that there are five million fatalities every year because of not properly disposing wastes.

Improper waste disposal could increase dangers of increasing vermin and pests. They could spread in the community, a common disease called dengue brought by mosquito bites is very dangerous disease often times associated with stagnant water and piles of garden wastes. People could also be vulnerable to leptospirosis or infection that you could get from vermin urine and feces. Litters like broken glasses or scrap of metals can also cause tetanus.

Another danger about improper waste management, would be hazardous materials and poison which could affect the environment and the community. Medical or health care wastes can have radioactive isotopes which could get into water and result into polluted bodies of water where your kids swim. Aside from health care wastes, human wastes can also be very dangerous when disposed improperly, especially if they come from people who are suffering from certain diseases. This could also contaminate sources of water.

Unkempt yards and streets could also give an impression about the people who live in the area. It could affect the economy of the community, it is unlikely that entrepreneurs would like to invest in a community that does not invite security and safety.

Most people think that waste management is all about spending sizeable amount. Actually, it does not have to be like that. Not managing and dumping wastes irresponsibly tends to be more costly. Think about the loss of income from not trying to save on equipment and appliances.

Disposing hazardous wastes is another major problem. Hazardous wastes are actually very much present in our household. According to U.S. EPA, there are about 1.8 million tons of household hazardous waste being disposed every year. And most homeowners are not even conscious that they are storing hazardous chemicals in their cupboards.

Waste management could actually be summed up in three simple words: reduce, reuse and recycle. In United Kingdom, the country’s recycling efforts was able to help reduce 10-15 million tonnes of CO2 emission every year. Homeowners and other institutions could start by segregating trash, monitoring quantities and kinds of wastes being disposed, and making sure that they are being transported out of your site properly.

Waste management training could be given to employees, workers and staff. Having a waste management plan and people committed in carrying it out, will make the plan successful.

Hazardous. The word seems to conjure a threatening feeling and is sometimes automatically associated with death. Even when using hazardous to describe waste, it is done so not with relative ease. The picture of poisonous chemical-waste materials then comes to mind, whose warnings—often represented by the proverbial skull and bones—are even more threatening. But the truth is, these kinds are not the only hazardous waste people have to deal with. There are, in fact, safe materials (such as household products) that, after use, can qualify as hazardous waste. Hazardous waste is anything that has potentially dangerous ingredients and properties, and that which may put to great risk public health and the environment if an effective hazardous waste management system is not in place.

With that description in mind, hazardous waste can be anything from the oil generated by factories and industries to the cleaning chemicals used at home and the pesticide used by gardeners. Generally, these are the products that are corrosive, flammable, radioactive, explosive, toxic, and reactive. As products, careful use is necessary, and as waste materials, proper storage and disposal is likewise important. Failure to establish hazardous waste management may result in health problems and, in some serious cases, death.

Managing hazardous wastes
Because of the associated risks, the government in general and households and companies in particular should institute appropriate hazardous waste management. And every effort should begin with distinguishing which products end up as hazardous waste. This is important to properly separate them from all the other waste materials and to have a secure place for storage. Hazardous waste is usually stored in containers—some use drums—and should be labeled. Pouring hazardous waste down the sink is not encouraged as doing so can contaminate the groundwater and may harm surface plants, animal life, and the water systems at large.

Businesses, especially those that are big hazardous waste generators, hire agencies and individuals to help them manage, transport, and dispose of their hazardous waste. Households, on the other hand, normally rely on the services and facilities established by local governments. In some cities, for instance, collection programs are enacted where hazardous waste materials are picked up door-to-door. The core principle here is that every entity, whether a household or a company, is responsible for its own waste and is taking every measure to properly manage and keep it from harming the environment and many lives.

Once collected and transported, hazardous waste materials would be then disposed of. One common method of disposing them is through incineration. Commonly done with medical waste, incineration involves burning the waste. Another method of hazardous waste disposal is waste injection, which means depositing the waste deep down the ground.

The success of hazardous waste management lies in the enactment of legislations, which gave way to the creation of facilities and agencies that would ensure proper hazardous waste management is taking place. Assuming individual responsibility also plays a big role. Although compliance is a major factor, concern for lives and the environment usually encourages accountability.

Everyday activities—down from the mundane to the complicated—play a major part in waste production. It is estimated that people produce 4.3 pounds of daily waste individually, and if taken together, they can account for the heaps and tons of produced waste materials each year around the world. In the United States alone, an estimate of 208 millions tons of solid waste is produced every year. That excludes the liquid, gaseous, and other forms of waste materials, which are also considerably high in amount. As the global population booms, waste production is expected to increase in speed and measure, and unless proper waste management is practiced in households, companies, universities, industries, and practically everywhere, Earth will eventually turn into one big garbage planet, where pollution and waste-induced diseases are widespread.

Waste management is essentially the systematic handling of garbage. It involves the proper way of collection, transportation, and disposal of waste materials. Waste management has been a significant issue addressed in the modern and industrialized generation largely owing to the fact that more waste materials are produced today than during the early generations, a critical increase resulting from population explosion and industrial revolution.

While it seems to be a modern response to waste production, waste management is not at all a new practice. Records from all over the world showed that early people had a way of managing and regulating their garbage. One of the common ways of waste management before was digging pits to contain solid wastes. As the civilization progressed, waste management practices became more regulated. As far back as 500 BC, for instance, there were existing policies in Athens Greece that required people to dispose of their waste materials in areas at least one mile from city limits. In 1388, the English Parliament in England banned waste disposal into the water systems. And in 1885, the United States built its first incinerator.

Waste management methods and procedures have improved since then, with emphasis on their relevance to modernity and quantity of produced waste. Incineration, for instance, is still a common process of waste disposal. With the use of incinerators, waste materials are combusted and are converted to energy. This waste-to-energy benefit is proven helpful to many industries, although there have been environmental and health concerns over the creation and emission of dangerous pollutants and chemicals during the burning process.

Using landfills is also a common method of waste disposal. Landfills are basically a big piece of lot where truckloads of waste are gathered and buried. In some countries, using landfills is the most common way of waste disposal primarily because they are relatively cheap and don’t require intricate machineries. Since landfills can potentially attract vermin and emit dangerous landfill gas, landfills have to be well-designed and credibly managed.

Waste management is also targeting to minimize waste, an effort that eventually gave way to the global campaign to recycle. Recycling means reprocessing some or all parts of an item to make a new or completely different product. Scrap metals and papers are two of the most recycled materials today. To date, several people and organizations are committed to recycling, whose collaborated efforts are contributing to proper waste management.

By definition, solid waste is a waste material that is composed of less than 70% water. It can be anything from kitchen waste to electrical waste. A huge part of produced waste is made up of solid waste. In fact, according to statistics, each person produces around four pounds of solid waste everyday. This enormous production has greatly concerned a lot of people primarily because if not managed well, solid waste will worsen pollution, spread diseases, and cause danger to human health and other living species. For this reason, the call to practice solid waste management has become more persistent over the years.

Solid waste management is the proper monitoring, sorting, transportation, and disposal of solid waste. In modern society, solid waste management efforts are backed up by different legislations and campaigns. For instance, collection programs, in which waste management companies pick up solid waste from households, are instituted by local governments and carried out in different communities. In places where there are no collection programs, residents are required to drop off their solid waste at locally established waste facilities.

But because a considerable percentage of solid waste comes from other sources than households, trash bins are scattered in areas with high passerby traffic such as parks and streets, to name a few. Industrial waste, on the other hand, is usually managed by the generators themselves. They usually have their own facilities for treatment and disposal of waste.

Once collected, a great bulk of solid waste goes to incinerators and landfills. These disposal methods, however, have negative impact on the environment, thus a significant percentage of solid waste is turned over to different treatment facilities. Recyclable solid waste, which often includes scrap metals, papers, glass, and bottles, undergo certain processes to make new products. To encourage people to recycle, recycle bins are usually made available in many parts of communities. Biodegradable or organic waste materials, on the other hand, are made into compost. Composting in some areas is mandated by legislation and in such communities, compost bins are provided to residents. Hazardous waste, or that which is potentially dangerous when disposed of like battery and fluorescent light, is also usually recycled.

Modernity paved the way to the massive production of solid waste. And this has become one of the many gripping environmental issues faced by the world today, especially because the problem in solid waste transcends the “now” generation. Whatever is done, or not done, to solve the problem affects the heritage of the next generation. In developed countries, solid waste management has become a priority and certain systems are fully operational. Same is true with some developing countries. However, many other countries need to catch up.

Truth be told, hardly anyone thinks of garbage. Once something graduates from its intended use, it is immediately considered trash, thrown off, and then forgotten. But solid waste management is everyone’s responsibility. It is not solely for governments to practice. Not only for businesses. And not for a few individuals.

Everyone makes waste and it is only necessary that everyone takes part in properly handling solid waste.

Today’s waste management has developed several ways of waste disposal methods in trying to contain the ever-growing size of civilization’s refuse materials. Waste management through minimization of waste materials shows great promise.

This is because in waste minimization, control and management would go back to the waste producers themselves (individual persons, companies, manufacturers, factories) and not only on the waste materials.

Minimization

Traditionally, waste management processes the waste material after it had been created. From there, other waste management systems take place: re-use, recycling, composting, incineration, energy conversion, etc.

Waste minimization takes the process one step further back. It actually is one system that includes the process itself and the policy of simply reducing the amount of waste generated to the barest minimum by the primary producer itself – a single person or a company.

Waste sources

The main sources of waste vary from country to country. In developed countries in Europe, most waste comes from the manufacturing industry, agriculture, construction and demolition industries. In developing or under-developed countries, a big part of waste comes from the households and society at large.

Waste minimization processes

The following are some of the waste minimization processes at work these days.

• Both waste minimization and resource maximization of products can begin at the design stage. A product’s number of components can be reduced to make it easier to take apart for repairs or recycling. At the design stage, a product may be steered away from using toxic materials, or reduce its volume.

• Minimization of waste and maximization of resources again go hand-in-hand in optimizing the use of raw materials. Patterns for a dress can be cut in such a way that there is a minimum of unused portions in the clothing materials.

• Another way is the reuse of scrapped materials back into the production process. In industries like paper manufacture, damaged rolls and other scraps are returned and incorporated again to the paper-making process. In plastics manufacture, cut-offs and other scraps are re-incorporated into new products.

• This is for products specifically designed for its intended use. Packaging materials will be a waste if for reasons of, say cost-cutting, the quality is reduced and the food it is intended to protect is spoiled instead.

• Through improved quality control and monitoring, the number of product rejects is kept to a minimum. Increasing inspection frequency and the number of inspection points via automated and continuous monitoring equipments is now integrated into existing systems.

• Shipping raw materials directly to the places of manufacture reduces accidents, less protective wrappings and enclosures and other safety measures and devices designed for long circuitous handling and shipment.


Benefits and other considerations

Waste minimization is related to the efforts of minimizing the use of resources and energy by way of fewer materials and efficient designs, for instance.

This also entails thorough knowledge of the production process, continuous tracking of the material’s life cycle from cradle (extraction/creation) to grave (waste). This is feasible in large manufacturing industries starting from the plants to the stores all the way to the consumer.

Today, waste management is employing waste minimization as yet another reliable ammunition in the fight against pollution and environmental hazards in the complex business of waste disposal and management.

In businesses, waste management is believed to be at the lowest part of the priority list, if at all it is a priority. But if you want your business to make an impact on the society and on the environment specifically, waste management should be part of your business priorities. In its own capacity, waste management system in businesses boosts profile, integrity, and profits.

Benefits of waste management system
Aside from having an orderly working environment, an active waste management system generates other benefits. One: Your business will promote environmental and social responsiveness and will therefore create a better image. Some companies are more interested working with businesses that are environmental advocates, and such businesses are generally offered various opportunities. Two: A waste management system boosts your employees’ morale.

It is given that employment benefits up the employees’ mood and morale, but environmental and social awareness does so even more. In an employee’s mind, environmental and social responsiveness speaks of the company’s integrity. Three: There will be savings and profits from establishing a waste management system. You can save and generate income by selling your old office tools or have the broken items repaired instead of throwing them away and buying new ones. Also, by having waste management policies, you are decreasing your chances of incurring law violations and therefore fines.

Waste reduction: A practical way of managing wastes
Businesses are generally huge waste generators, but you can contribute to waste management on a larger scale by incorporating waste reduction in your waste management policies. In essence, waste reduction efforts focus on the prevention of creating new waste by reusing and recycling materials. There are several ways to reduce waste in the office setting, and here are some of them:

1. Reduce the use of paper. If, for instance, you issue double invoice, you can probably try to settle with just one. You can also ask everyone in the office to print and write on the two sides of papers. Businesses use a lot of papers in a day, and if they are reused, there will be a considerable decrease in the amount of papers that are sent to landfills or incinerators. You can also cut down on your paper expenses.

2. Find new use for potential waste materials. The plastic water bottle can probably work as a vase. The cardboard can probably be some form of a décor. The thing is, before you label something as a trash, consider first if there is another use for it.

3. Repair office equipment, tool, or appliance. If a certain item, however, is beyond repair, you can dismantle it and get the parts that you can still use, recycle, or sell.

As you look around your office, you can come up with more ideas in waste management. For them to be more relevant, you can involve your staff and ask for their own ideas. After all, waste management system in businesses is not the sole endeavor of the employer; it should be a team effort.