Impacts of Waste On The Environment and Its Management in Cities

Seminar
Impacts of waste on the environment and

its management in cities
Guide: Prof. Prabhakar B. Bhagwat

Prof. Deepa Maheshwari
By: Parin Shah
LA 8808
Contents
Introduction to the study
Aims and objectives of the study
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Definition and constitutes of an environment
1.2 Earth as a sustainable ecosystem
1.3 Study of natural cycles of the environment
1.3.1 Hydrological cycle
1.3.2 Carbon cycle
1.3.3 Nitrogen cycle
1.3.4 Sulphur cycle
1.3.5 Phosphorus cycle
1.4 Stable ecosystem
1.5 Need to study impacts of waste on the environment 4
2. Sources and types of waste generated in cities 15

2.1 What is considered as waste
2.2 Sources and types of waste generated in cities
2.3 Solid waste
2.3.1 Residential solid waste
2.3.2 Commercial solid waste
2.3.3 Institutional solid waste
2.3.4 Construction and demolition debris
2.3.5 Municipal services
2.3.6 Industrial solid waste
a. Manufacturing industries
b. Entertainment industry
c. Hotel industry
d. Agriculture industry
e. Pharmaceutical industries
f. Milk industries
g. Fruit and vegetable industries
2.4 Electronic waste
2.5 Liquid waste
2.5.1 Sewage waste
2.5.2 Contaminated groundwater
2.5.3 Industrial liquid discharges
2.6 Sludge waste
2.7 Gaseous waste
2.8 Hazardous waste
2.8.1 Household hazardous waste
2.8.2 Industrial hazardous waste
2.8.3 Other sources
2.9 Hospital waste or bio medical waste, toxic waste
2.10 Nuclear (radioactive) waste
3. Impacts of waste on the environment 11

3.1 Factors affecting the environment
3.2 Impact on soil, water and air
3.2.1 Soil contamination
3.2.2 Water contamination
a. Surface water contamination
b. Ground water contamination
3.2.3 Air contamination
a. Greenhouse effect
b. Increase in Methane concentration
3.3 Depletion of ozone layer
3.4 Global Warming
3.5 Sea Level Rise
3.6 Impact of wrong method of waste disposal 22
3.6.1 Impacts of landfill
3.6.2 Impacts of incinerators
3.7 Impact on human health 15
4. Case studies - Impacts of improper waste disposal 17

4.1. Love Canal tragedy, New York
4.2 A Rainforest Chernobyl
4.3 Ganga Pollution
4.4 Threat because of landfill sites in Delhi
4.5 Conclusions
5. Case Studies - Successful ways to deal with 24

waste at different scales
5.1 The Industrial Symbiosis at Kalundborg, Denmark
5.2 Louisville Elementary School - Management of food waste
5.3 Towards a zero waste approach in Kovalam
5.4 Zero waste colony, Delhi
5.5 Conclusions
6. Methods to control adverse impacts generated by waste 30

6.1 What is waste management
6.1.1 Management of solid waste
6.1.2 Management of liquid waste
6.1.3 Management of gaseous waste
6.2 The waste disposal system
6.2.1 Control of waste at source – waste minimization,
re-use and recycle
6.2.2 Segregation of waste at source
6.2.3 Collection and transportation system
6.2.4 Final disposal
Bio chemical process
Chemical process
Incineration - Thermal process
6.3 Wastewater treatment 35
7.
Illustration credits
Bibliography
Impacts of waste on the environment and its management in cities Parin Shah LA 8808 1
1. Introduction
Biotic components Abiotic components 1.1 Definition and constituents of an environment

A system comprising of all living and non-living matter
Primary producers Energy (sunlight)
which occur naturally on Earth are referred as
Herbivores Water or moisture environment. An ecosystem is a biotic assemblage of
Carnivores Temperature plants, animals, and microbes, taken together with their
physico-chemical environment. In an ecosystem the
Omnivores Air
biological cycling of materials is maintained by three
Detrivores Precipitation groups: producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Soil, land, minerals
The producers are plants and some bacteria capable of
Table 1
producing their own food photo synthetically or by
chemical synthesis. The consumers are animals that obtain
their energy and protein directly by grazing, feeding on
other animals, or both. The decomposers are fungi and
bacteria that decompose the organic matter of producers
and consumers into inorganic substances that can be
reused as food by the producers; they are the "recyclers of
the biosphere".
1.2 Earth as a sustainable ecosystem

Nature is capable of sustaining the producer-consumer-
decomposer cycle indefinitely with the sun as the energy
source. All the other elements which are required for life
are contained within the nature and are limited resources.
Hence, life on Earth depends on the reclaiming of materials
for use over and over again.
Ecosystem of earth works in two ways:

1. Cycling of the materials
2. A continual input and continual outflow of energy
Fig. 1.1 Energy pyramid for an ecosystem where biotic and
A natural ecosystem maintains its overall stability and
abiotic components interact with each other.
balance by three main mechanisms:
1. Controlling the rate of energy flow through the
ecosystem.
2. Controlling the rate of chemical cycling within the
system.
3. Maintaining a diversity of species and food webs so
that the stability of the system is not seriously affected
by the loss of some species and food links.
Essential nutrient elements are recycled between living

and abiotic components of ecosystems in biogeochemical
cycles. When living things die, they return their chemical
elements to the non-living components of ecosystems as
they decompose. However, even while alive, organisms
contribute to nutrient cycling as they consume matter and
Fig. 1.2 Sustainable ecosystem excrete waste products into the environment.
It has taken thousands of years to perfectly adapt environmental cycles for a specific environment. These cycles are
already balanced and the slightest change can leave the environment unstable and possibly endanger ever biotic
creature in it.
1.3 Study of natural cycles of the environment

The most important cycles of ecosystems are the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the phosphorus cycle, and the water
cycle. These interacting biogeochemical cycles involve travel of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and water through living
things, air, water, soil, and rock.
2 Parin Shah LA 8808 Impacts of waste on the environment and its management in cities
1.3.1 Hydrological cycle
Water plays versatile role in the functioning of the biosphere. It is essential for plants, animals and human beings.
Biosphere draws its most abundant element hydrogen from water in the form of carbohydrates, which is very
important source of energy for all living matter.
Water that enters the ground water system may not re-
enter into the water cycle for few years. Water that is
taken by plants and animals will cycle through in days and
will return to the atmosphere through transpiration
(plants) and evaporation (elimination from animals).
Solar energy continues evaporation of oceans; winds

disperse the water vapour across. Water condenses over
the land and precipitates as snow, rain or fog.
Precipitation accumulates on land in streams, rivers,
lakes and evaporates back into the atmosphere, runs off
back to the ocean or saturates the soil. From the soil,
water can percolate into the groundwater system or be
taken up by biotic organisms.
1.3.2 Carbon cycle Fig. 1.3 Hydrological cycle

Carbon dioxide is returned to the atmosphere when
plants and animals die and decompose. The decomposers
release carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere where it
will be absorbed again by other plants during
photosynthesis. In this way the cycle of carbon dioxide
being absorbed from the atmosphere and being released
again is repeated over and over. In nature the amount of
carbon in the environment remains always the same.
Plants take in carbon which is fundamental element for

life as carbon dioxide through the process of
photosynthesis and convert it into sugars, starches and
other materials necessary for the plant's survival. From
the plants, carbon is passed up the food chain to all the
other organisms. This occurs when animals eat plants and
when animals eat other animals.
Both animals and plants release waste carbon dioxide.

This is due to a process called cell respiration where the
cells of an organism break down sugars to produce
energy for the functions they are required to perform.
The equation for cell respiration is as follows:
Fig. 1.4 Carbon cycle
Glucose + Oxygen --> Energy + Water + Carbon Dioxide
C6H12O6 + 602 --> Energy + 6H2O + 6CO2
1.3.3 Nitrogen cycle

Nitrogen is the major component of earth’s atmosphere
and an essential part of amino acids and DNA. It enters
the food chain by means of nitrogen fixing bacteria and
algae in the soil. This nitrogen which has been 'fixed' is
now available for plants to absorb. They form a symbiotic
relationship with legumes and enrich the soil by acting as
a natural fertilizer.
The nitrogen-fixing bacteria form nitrates out of the

atmospheric nitrogen which can be taken up and
dissolved in soil water by the roots of plants. Then, the
nitrates are incorporated by the plants to form proteins, Fig. 1.5 Nitrogen cycle
which can then be spread through the food chain. When
organisms excrete wastes, nitrogen is released into the
environment. Also, whenever an organism dies,
decomposers break down the corpse into nitrogen in the
form of ammonia. This nitrogen can then be used again
by nitrifying bacteria to fix nitrogen for the plants.
1.3.4 Sulphur cycle

Sulphur is produced naturally as a result of volcanic
eruptions and through emissions from hot springs. It
enters the atmosphere primarily in the form of sulphur
dioxide and remains in the atmosphere in the same form,
after reacting with water it forms sulphuric acid.
Fig. 1.6 Sulphur cycle Plants are depended upon chemoautotrophic bacteria,
which oxidize elemental sulphur to sulphates. Once in the
form of sulphate (2H2SO4), plants can then incorporate
the sulphur into proteins. Sulphur is carried back to
Earth's surface as acid deposition when it rains or snows.
2S + H2O + 3O2 ---> 2H2SO4
1.3.5 Phosphorus cycle

Phosphorus normally occurs in nature as part of a
phosphate ion, consisting of a phosphorus atom and
some number of oxygen atoms. Most phosphates are
found as salts in ocean sediments or in rocks.
Over time, geologic processes can bring ocean sediments

to land, and weathering will carry terrestrial phosphates
back to the ocean. Plants absorb phosphates from the
soil. The plants may then be consumed by herbivores that
in turn may be consumed by carnivores. After death, the
animal or plant decays, and the phosphates are returned
to the soil. Runoff may carry them back to the ocean or
Fig. 1.7 Phosphorus cycle
they may be reincorporated into rock.
1.4 Stable ecosystem

The process of one way flow of energy from the sun, through materials and living organism on the earth’s surface,
then into atmosphere, and eventually into space as low quality heat and recycling of chemicals through parts of
ecosphere play important role in sustaining life on earth.
Materials are transferred between the atmosphere,

hydrosphere, lithosphere and the biosphere. These
various "spheres" act as "reservoirs" that keep materials
for different amounts of time. Each cycle forms a
complicated system and the systems then interact with
each other to produce weather and climate as well as the
periodic fluctuations that maintain the dynamic balance
on Earth, including all life. These cycles have evolved to
the present rate over billions of years.
Various aspects such as the water cycle, state of the

oceans and the climate are all interrelated. The rate of
human activities disturbs the natural flows of materials
and energy. When the rates of the disruptions are larger
than the capacity of the entire system to bounce back,
the system begins to shift, affecting all levels of the
ecosystems through local and global changes.
Fig. 1.8 Interactions between material cycles, energy input &
transfers.
1.5 Need to study impacts of waste on the environment and its management
The amount of waste generated earlier in the history, by human population was insignificant mainly due to the low
population densities, along with the fact that there was very little exploitation of natural resources. Common waste
produced during the early ages was mainly ashes and biodegradable waste. This was released back into the ground
locally, with minimal environmental impact. Wood, stone and metal were widely used for various applications which
were reused and recovered.
Throughout the twentieth century, waste was treated as the terminus of industrial production. The principle of
disposing waste was to keep it out of sight.
Fig. 1.9 Closed nutrient cycle Fig. 1.10 Open nutrient cycle
The waste by-products disposed by atmosphere and hydrosphere are delivered to the biological and geochemical
receptors. In this sense, the anthroposystem - human made system is an open system.
For example, the disposal of human and animal digestive and excretory wastes are commonly not recycled within the
ecosystem where they are produced but are usually transported from one ecosystem to another and generally from a
terrestrial ecosystem to an aquatic ecosystem. All our sewage wastes are disposed into the water, on the basis that a
flowing stream takes these wastes out of our immediate environment, or, if we put a little bit of sewage into a big
body of water, it is diluted to the point that it is non-harmful. This displacement of materials from the terrestrial
Fig. 1.11 Natural ecosystem Fig. 1.12 Anthroposystem

ecosystem into the aquatic system disrupts the chemical cycling in each with resultant damage to both.
A rising quality of life, and high rates of resource consumption patterns have had a unintended and negative impact on
the urban environment - generation of wastes far beyond the handling capacities of urban governments and agencies.
Cities are now grappling with the problems of high volumes of waste, the costs involved, the disposal technologies and
methodologies, and the impact of wastes on the local and global environment. In 1947 cities and towns in India
generated an estimated 6 million tonnes of solid waste; in 1997 it was about 48 million tones.
India produce 300 to 400 gms. of solid waste per person per day in town of normal size. The figure is 500 to 800 gms.
per capita per day in cities like Delhi and Bombay. The problem in these cities is how to dispose such large mass of solid
waste daily and this poses a massive and expensive problem to the authorities.
In India, 94 percent of waste is disposed of unsafely, either burned in an uncontrolled manner, or dumped in untreated
landfills, where contaminants can leach into groundwater. Given the size of India’s population and the size of the
country itself, finding enough land that meets the state pollution board criteria and can hold 20 to 30 years worth of
waste is extremely difficult.
More than 25% of the municipal solid waste is not collected at all; 70% of the Indian cities lack adequate capacity to
transport it and there are no sanitary landfills to dispose of the waste. The existing landfills are neither well equipped
nor well managed and are not lined properly to protect against contamination of soil and groundwater.
India will have more than 40 per cent, over 400 million people, clustered in cities over the next thirty years (UN, 1995).
Modern urban living brings the problem of waste, which increases in quantity and changes in composition with the
change of time, posing threat to human health and environment.
Factors which are responsible to spread the awareness about the waste management are:
 Awareness of the pollution caused by the disposal of waste
 Climate change
 Resource depletion
Problems created by waste have also provided an opportunity for cities to find solutions - involving the community and
the private sector; involving innovative technologies and disposal methods; and involving behaviour changes and
awareness raising.
2. Sources and types of waste generated in cities
2.1 What is considered as waste
Unused, rejected, unwanted substances or objects in solid, semi solid or liquid form, which are disposed or are
intended to be disposed or are required to be disposed of, are referred as waste. Waste is a material that no longer
serves a purpose and so is thrown away. In some cases what one person discards may be re-used by somebody else. All
wastes are hazardous; if not carefully disposed of, it will have an impact on the environment, whether it is unsightly
litter in urban streets or contaminated air, soil or water.
Wastes may be generated during the extraction of raw

materials, the processing of raw materials into
intermediate and final products, the consumption of final
products, and other human activities.
For plants and nonhuman animals there is virtually no

waste. The wastes or dead bodies of one form of life are
food or nutrients for other forms of life. Sooner or later
everything is recycled through natural processes.
We need to recognize that most of what we call wastes are

really wasted resources. They are potential resources that
we are not recycling, reusing, or converting to useful raw
materials or products.
2.2 Sources and types of waste generated in cities

Waste is produced from the very beginning of the life cycle Fig. 2.1 Waste flow at different stages of product cycle
of a product and is generally regarded as an unavoidable
by-product of economic activity. It is generated from
inefficient production processes, low durability of goods or
unsustainable consumption patterns. It reflects a loss of
materials and energy, and imposes economic and
environmental costs on society for its collection, treatment
and disposal.
2.3 Solid waste
A solid waste does not flow like water or gas. It can be
hazardous or nonhazardous. Nonhazardous solid waste
includes litter and odours, leachate from the infiltration Table 2 Municipal solid waste generation of ten largest cities in
of water through the waste and off-gases resulting from India.
biodegradation.
Source Typical waste generators Types of solid wastes
2.3.1 Residential Single and multifamily dwellings Kitchen waste, food wastes, paper, cardboard, plastics,
solid waste textiles, leather, yard wastes, wood, glass, metals,
ashes, consumer electronics, batteries, oil, tires,
household hazardous wastes
2.3.2 Commercial Stores, hotels, restaurants, Paper, cardboard, plastics, wood, food wastes, glass,
solid waste markets, office buildings, metals, electronic waste, hazardous wastes
warehouses and other non-
manufacturing activities
2.3.3 Institutional Schools, hospitals, prisons, paper, cardboard, plastics, wood, food wastes, glass,
solid waste government centres, theatres metals, electronic waste, hazardous wastes
2.3.4 Construction Construction, repair and waste building materials, packaging and rubble, wood,
and demolition operations on steel, concrete, dirt, etc.
demolition pavements, houses, commercial
buildings, and other structures
2.3.5 Municipal Street cleaning, landscaping, Street sweepings; landscape and tree trimmings;
services parks, beaches, other general wastes from parks, beaches, and other
recreational areas, water and recreational areas; sludge
wastewater treatment plants
Table 3 Sources and types of solid waste
2.3.6 Industrial solid waste
Industrial solid waste consists of both organic and inorganic substances. Organic waste includes pesticide residues,
solvents – cleaning fluids, dissolved residues from fruits and vegetables, lignin from pulp and paper. Inorganic waste
includes brine salts and metals.
a. Manufacturing industries - Heavy and light manufacturing, refineries, chemical plants, power plants, mineral
extraction and processing; Industrial process wastes, scrap materials, off-specification products, slay, tailings.
 Food and beverages industry - meat, fats, oils, bones offal, vegetables, fruits, nuts and shells, cereals, chemical
preservations, cleaning waste, CFCs (refrigerants).
 Chemical industry - strong acids and bases,
radioactive waste, ignitable waste, discarded
commercial chemical products.
 Metal industry - metal scrap, sand, slag, cores,
coatings, solvents, paint wastes containing heavy
metals, strong acids and bases, cyanide wastes, sludge
containing heavy metals.
 Paper and printing industry - paper and fibre residues,
paper coatings, ink wastes, fasteners, solvents and
metals, photography waste with heavy metals,
ignitable and corrosive wastes, heavy metal
solutions.
 Construction industry - ignitable wastes, paint wastes,
spent solvents, strong acids and bases.
Fig. 2.2 Car scrap yard, Fig. 2.3 Waste paint cans  Furniture and wood industry - scrap wood, shavings,
saw dust, plastic, fibre, glue, sealer, adhesives,
ignitable wastes, spent solvents, paints wastes, resins,
glass, cloth and padding residues.
 Transportation equipments - metal scrap, glass, fibre,
wood, rubber, paint wastes, ignitable wastes, spend
solvents, acids and bases
 Cleaning and cosmetic - heavy metal dusts and
Fig. 2.4 Construction waste, Fig. 2.5 Packaging waste sludge, ignitable wastes, solvents, strong acids and
bases.
 Textile industry - cloth and fibre residues, tanning liquor and effluent treatment containing chromium, dye stuffs
and pigments containing dangerous substances
 Leather industry - scrap leather, thread, dyes, oil, processing and curing chemicals
 Electrical industry - metal scrap, carbon black, glass, plastic, resin, rubber
 Rubber and plastic industries - resin, waste of petrochemical products, waste from dye
 Stone, clay and glass industries - glass, cement, clay, ceramics, asbestos, stone, paper
b. Entertainment industries - Paper, wood, food waste,
plastic waste
c. Hotel industries - Old furniture, plastic, food waste,
paper waste, aluminium cans, glass bottles
d. Agriculture industry - Crops, orchards, vineyards,
dairies, feedlots, farms; Spoiled food wastes,
agricultural wastes
e. Milk industries - dissolved sugars and proteins, fats,
residues of additives, pathogens from contaminated
Fig. 2.6, 2.7 Food waste materials or production processes
f. Fruit and vegetable industries - Organic waste
2.4 Electronic waste
Electronic equipments / products which connects with power plug, batteries which have become obsolete due to
advancement in technology, changes in fashion, style and status, end of their useful life are referred as electronic
waste known as ‘e-waste’.
 E-waste includes range of obsolete electronic devices such as computers, servers, monitors, TVs & display devices,
telecommunication devices such as cellular phones & pagers, calculators, audio and video devices, printers,
scanners, copiers and fax machines besides refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, and microwave
ovens.
 It also covers recording devices such as DVDs, CDs,
floppies, tapes, printing cartridges, electronic
components such as chips, processors, mother
boards, printed circuit boards, industrial electronics
such as sensors, alarms, sirens, security devices,
automobile electronic devices.
Electronic waste or e-waste is one of the rapidly growing

environmental problems of the world. With extensively
using computers and electronic equipments and people
dumping old electronic goods for new ones, the amount
of E-Waste generated has been steadily increasing.
Fig. 2.8, 2.9 Electronic waste
2.5 Liquid waste
2.5.1 Sewage waste - water from washing clothes,
vessels and bath water, water used in the kitchen,
spilled water, rainwater, stagnant water, acids,
pesticides
2.5.2 Contaminated groundwater
2.5.3 Industrial liquid discharges
 Fruit and vegetable processing - waste water contains

high concentrations of dissolved organic matter and Fig. 2.10, 2.11
may be highly alkaline from the use of lye.
 Agriculture industries - run off from crops contain pesticides, fertilizer and sediment
 Petroleum refining - oil is mixed with water in the refining process to remove salts and other impurities
 Pulp and paper industry – release of dioxins into waterways
Liquid waste streams are generated by such activities as washing meat, fruit and vegetables; blanching fruit and
vegetables; pre-cooking meats, poultry and fish; wool scouring; dairy whey; grease traps; other cleaning and
processing operations; spent brewery wastes and wine making. These effluents contain sugars, starches and other
dissolved organic matter, but in a relatively dilute form.
2.6 Sludge waste

 Sludge contains various ratios of liquid and solid material. They generally result from industrial processes and
waste-treatment operations.
2.7 Gaseous waste

 Kitchen smokes, dust, smoke of vehicles
 Industrial processes associated with the fossil fuel industry frequently produce by-product gases as waste
products
2.8 Hazardous waste

 Hazardous wastes are by-products of human activities that could cause substantial harm to human health or the
environment if improperly managed.
 The hazardous waste has been classified in liquid, solid and gaseous discarded materials and emissions if they are
poisonous (toxic), flammable, oxidizing, corrosive, explosive, radioactive or chemically reactive at levels above
specified safety thresholds.
 It represents a major concern as it entails serious environmental risks if poorly managed: the impact on the
environment relates mainly to toxic contamination of soil, water and air.
2.8.1 Household hazardous waste

Household hazardous wastes are discarded products used in the home, which contain dangerous substances such as;
old batteries, shoe polish, paint tins, old medicines, medicine bottles, motor oil, drain cleaner, chemicals, bulbs, spray
cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers
2.8.2 Industrial hazardous waste

Four types of industry account for about 90% of industrial hazardous wastes generated in the world: chemical
manufacturing, primary metal production, metal fabrication and petroleum processing. Large chemical plants and
petroleum refineries and other large quantity generators produce more than 1,000 kg of hazardous wastes per month.
Other small scale industries produce 10% of the potentially harmful substances produced each year.
Pesticides are designed to kill pest insects, plants and other organisms that threaten agricultural crops, destroy
municipal –residential landscaping and carry human diseases. Most pesticides are dangerous chemicals themselves,
and their manufacture produces additional hazardous waste.
2.8.3 Other sources of hazardous wastes are associated with military bases, mines and small businesses.
 The chemicals used by auto garages, dry cleaners, construction companies, scientific labs, photo developers,
printers, large offices, and farmers are often toxic.
 Military bases have some of the most serious hazardous waste problems; facing problems of soil
and ground water pollution.
 Mining waste, a type of industrial waste, often
includes hazardous substances. Mining operations
commonly use hazardous chemicals, and sometimes
naturally toxic substances are released into the
environment during mining and the disposal of its
waste materials. Chemical separation of ore minerals
like lead, iron, and zinc from their host rocks creates
acid-mine drainage that contains both the toxic
chemicals used in the separation process like arsenic
and sulphuric acid and poisonous heavy metals like
lead and mercury.
Table 4 2.9 Hospital waste or bio medical waste, toxic waste

Hospital waste is generated during the diagnosis,
treatment, or immunization of human beings or animals
or in research activities in these fields or in the
production or testing of biological elements in hospitals,
clinics, nursing homes.
It include wastes like sharps, soiled waste, disposables,

anatomical waste, cultures, discarded medicines,
chemical wastes, etc. in the form of disposable syringes,
swabs, bandages, body fluids, human excreta, etc. This
waste is highly infectious and can be a serious threat to
human health if not managed in a scientific and
discriminate manner. It has been roughly estimated that
Table 5 Estimates of medical waste generation in some countries of the 4 kg of waste generated in a hospital at least 1 kg
would be infected.
2.10 Nuclear (radioactive) waste

Nuclear waste is generated at various stages of the
nuclear fuel cycle, uranium mining, fuel enrichment,
reactor operation, spent fuel reprocessing. It also arises
from decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear
facilities, and from other activities using isotopes, such as
scientific research and medical activities.
Fig. 2.12 Hospital waste, Fig. 2.13 Bio medical waste
Radioactive wastes emit particles or electromagnetic
radiation (e.g., alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays, and x rays). Radioactive wastes can be high level,
transuranic or low level.
High-level radioactive wastes are from spent or reprocessed nuclear reactor fuel. Transuranic wastes are from
isotopes above uranium in the periodic table. They are generally low in radioactivity, but have long half-lives. Low-
level wastes have little radioactivity and can often be handled with little or no shielding.
3.0 Impacts of the waste on the environment
Waste pollution is considered a serious threat. Some of the factors affecting air, waster and soil from the generation
and management of waste are as follow:
3.1 Factors affecting the environment

 Industrialization and economic growth has produced more amounts of waste, including hazardous and toxic
wastes. Pollution emitted in industrial areas represents a threat to human health and the surrounding natural
resources.
 Agricultural pesticides contaminate the groundwater that many of us drink and some of the food we eat.
 Production processes are not the only source of environmental damage; harmful production practices also have
long term effects.
 Closed units of industrial areas create threat of the remaining, abandoned and poorly stored waste. It represents a
bigger danger because it stands neglected as it degrades and leaks into the earth without any surveillance.
 Irradiated fuel and nuclear waste can take hundreds of thousands of years to decay into a harmless substance.
Until then, it is extremely dangerous to human health.
Fig. 3.1 Waste sources and their impact on the environment

3.2 Impact on soil, water and air
3.2.1 Soil Contamination
 Contaminants in the soil can harm plants when they
take up the contamination through their roots.
 Ingesting, inhaling, or touching contaminated soil, as
well as eating plants or animals that have
accumulated soil contaminants can adversely impact
the health of humans and animals.
3.2.2 Water Contamination

a). Surface Water Contamination
 Most of the wastes we dump into the water and land
eventually end up in the oceans. Oil slicks, floating
Fig. 3.2 Terrestrial exposure pathways of soil contamination
plastic debris, polluted estuaries and beaches,
contaminated fish and shellfish are visible signs of
water contamination due to waste pollution.
 It can damage the health of wetlands and impair their
ability to support healthy ecosystems, control
flooding, and filter pollutants from storm water
runoff.
 Aquatic organisms, like fish and shellfish, can
accumulate and concentrate contaminants in their
bodies. When other animals or humans ingest these
Fig. 3.3 Aquatic exposure pathways of water contamination
organisms, they receive a much higher dose of contaminant than they would have if they had been directly
exposed to the original contamination.
 Changes in the water chemistry due to surface water contamination can affect all levels of an ecosystem. It can
impact the health of lower food chain organisms and, consequently, the availability of food up through the food
chain. The health of animals and humans are affected when they drink or bathe in contaminated water.
b). Groundwater Contamination

Groundwater is the major source of drinking water. Besides, it is an important source of water for the agricultural and
the industrial sector. Water utilization projections put the groundwater usage at about 50%. In many parts of the
world, groundwater is pumped out of the ground for drinking, bathing, other household, agricultural, and industrial
usage. Depending on the geology of the area, groundwater may rise to the surface through springs or seeps, flow
laterally into nearby rivers, streams, or ponds, or sink deeper into the earth.
 The demand for water has increased over the years
which has led to water scarcity in many parts of the
world. The situation is aggravated by the problem of
water pollution or contamination. Contaminated
groundwater can adversely affect animals, plants and
humans if it is removed from the ground by manmade
or natural processes.
 The pollution of air, water, and land has an affect on
the pollution and contamination of groundwater. The
solid, liquid, and the gaseous waste that is
generated, if not treated properly, results in pollution
of the environment; this affects groundwater too due
to the hydraulic connectivity in the hydrological cycle.
 Discharge of untreated waste water through bores
and leachate from unscientific disposal of solid wastes
also contaminates groundwater, thereby reducing the
quality of fresh water resources.
 Pesticides, industrial and municipal landfills and
Fig. 3.4 Impact of solid waste on different resources
settling ponds, several million underground storage
tanks for gasoline and other chemicals, abandoned
toxic waste dumps threaten groundwater.
3.2.3 Air Contamination

 Emission of carbon dioxide and other gases into the
atmosphere from fossil fuel burning and other human
activities may raise the average temperature, which
would disrupt food production and flood low lying
coastal cities and croplands.
 Air pollution can cause respiratory problems and
Fig. 3.5, 3.6 Ground water contamination due to landfill and other adverse health effects as contaminants are
storage tank absorbed from the lungs into other parts of the body.
 Certain air contaminants can harm animals and humans when they contact the skin.
 Plants rely on respiration for their growth and can also be affected by exposure to contaminants transported in the
air.
a). Greenhouse Effect

The earth's surface is surrounded by a blanket of gases in the atmosphere. The naturally-occurring greenhouse effect
is due to the fact that a number of gases in the atmosphere absorb infra-red radiation (heat) emitted from the Earth's
surface: instead of being radiated into space, this heat warms the atmosphere. These gases include water vapour,
carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and ozone (O3) .
It allows most of the light to pass through which then reaches the earth's surface and is absorbed and converted into
heat energy. This heat energy is re-emitted by the earth, but is trapped by gases in the atmosphere known as
greenhouse gases.
A number of human activities, processes and

consumptions produce waste gases that are harmful to
the environment such as fuel combustion, energy
industries, manufacturing industries and construction,
transport, fugitive emissions from fuels, solid fuels, oil
and natural gas, mineral products, chemical industry,
metal production, solvent and other product use, enteric
fermentation, manure management, rice cultivation,
agricultural soils, prescribed burning of savannas, field
burning of agricultural residues, solid waste disposal on
land, wastewater handling, waste incineration. Fig. 3.7 The enhanced greenhouse effect
Global warming, climate change, ozone depletion, sea level rise, biodiversity are all affected, directly or indirectly, by
harmful 'greenhouse' gases.
Unregulated dumping of old PCs and batteries is contaminating our soil, air and groundwater with highly toxic,
carcinogenic chemicals. With over 2 million old PCs ready for disposal in India, that means 14,427,000 kg of plastics,
3,962,700 kg of lead and 1,386 kg of mercury.
Large metros generate thousands of tones of solid waste every day, much of it not biodegradable. Delhi generates
about 4,000 tones of solid waste each day.
Industrialized countries generate more than 90 per cent of the world's annual total of 325-375 million tons of toxic
and hazardous waste, mostly from the chemical and petrochemical industries. (UNDP)
b). Increase in Methane concentration

Methane makes up just 0.00017% of the Earth's
atmosphere. However, it is an important greenhouse gas,
with a much greater warming potential than
CO2. Methane is generated through anaerobic decay of
organic material. The amount of methane in the
atmosphere is the result of a balance between
production on the surface and destruction in the
atmosphere. CH4 remains in the atmosphere for between
8 and 12 years.
 Man has contributed through domestication of

animals, increased production of rice, and leaks from
gas pipelines and petrol.
 Agriculture has played a significant role in this - up to Fig. 3.8 Emission of Methane from landfills in India
35% of anthropogenic CH4 comes from animals and
their wastes.
Dairy cows produce between 84 and 123kg of CH4 per year, per animal, as a result of rumen fermentation. More
methane is released from animal manure, either collected under animal housing or stored in heaps. These conditions
encourage the growth of methane-producing bacteria. Around 70% of the CH4 generated on pig and poultry farms
comes from manure.
3.3 Depletion of ozone layer

Chemicals we have been adding to the atmosphere are drifting into the upper atmosphere and depleting ozone gas,
which protects us and most other forms of life by filtering the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation.
3.4 Global Warming
Average global temperatures vary with time as a result of many processes interacting with each other. These
interactions and the resulting variation in temperature can occur on a variety of time scales ranging from yearly cycles
to cycles with times measured in millions of years.
Records for the past 100 years indicate that average global temperatures have increased by about 0.5 oC.
Because of the increase in greenhouse gases into the atmosphere the temperature will continue to increase at a rate
of about 0.3oC per decade. This will lead to average temperatures about 1 degree warmer by the year 2025 and about
3o C warmer by the year 2100.
Effects of Global warming

 A warmer atmosphere will lead to increased
evaporation from surface waters and result in higher
amounts of precipitation.
 Changes in vegetation patterns
 Changes in Ice patterns.
 Reduction of sea ice
 Thawing of frozen ground
 Rise of sea level - Warming the oceans results in
expansion of water and thus increases the volume of
water in the oceans. Along with melting of mountain
glaciers and reduction in sea ice, this will cause sea
level to rise and flood coastal zones, where much of
the world's population currently resides.
 Changes in the hydrologic cycle
 Decomposition of organic matter in soil - With
increasing temperatures of the atmosphere the rate
of decay of organic material in soils will be greatly
Fig. 3.9 Factors responsible for global warming accelerated. This will result in release of CO2 and
methane into the atmosphere and enhance the
greenhouse effect
3.5 Sea Level Rise
Sea level is rising along most of the coast zones around the world. In the last century, sea level rose 5 to 6 inches more
than the global average.
Higher temperatures are expected to further raise sea level by expanding ocean water, melting mountain glaciers and
small ice caps, and causing portions of Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets to melt.
The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that the global average sea level will rise between 0.6 and
2 feet (0.18 to 0.59 meters) in the next century (IPCC, 2007).
Rising sea levels will cause problems such as:

 Land Loss in coastal wetland ecosystems such as salt
marshes and mangroves are vulnerable to rising sea
level because they are generally within a few feet of
sea level. As the sea rises, the outer boundary of the
wetlands will erode, and new wetlands will form
inland as previously dry areas are flooded by the
higher water levels. The amount of newly created
wetlands, however, could be much smaller than the
lost area of wetlands - especially in developed areas
Fig. 3.10 Impacts of green house gases and global warming on protected with bulkheads, dikes, and other structures
sea level rise that keep new wetlands from forming inland.
 Increases the vulnerability of coastal areas to flooding during storms for several reasons.
 Increases coastal flooding from rainstorms, because low areas drain more slowly as sea level rises.
 Increases the salinity of both surface water and ground water through salt water intrusion. Salinity increases in
estuaries also can harm aquatic plants and animals that do not tolerate high salinity.
3.6 A wrong method of waste disposal, improper dumping of municipal solid waste mixed with other hazardous
waste without treatment raises serious environmental issues such as:
 Loss of renewable resources such as metals, plastic,

glass
 Loss of potential resources such as compost from
organic waste
 Loss of energy from burnable waste
 A need for the replacement of lost materials in the
terrestrial system
 A pollution of the aquatic ecosystem with a burden of
added nutrients, which is accompanied by the spread Fig. 3.11 Impact of a waste dump on the environment
of disease, O2 depletion resulting in death of the
aquatic organisms
 Overproduction of undesirable organisms affecting
the quality of life.
 Contamination of land and water bodies due to
discharge of leachate and other hazardous materials
 Air pollution due to emissions from burning and
release of methane from anaerobic decomposition
also remain as concerns
 Risks to human health (respiratory problems, skin and
other diseases, and longer term impacts due to
dioxins etc.) and spreading of disease by vectors in
areas near landfill sites are other critical issues. Fig. 3.12 Cumulative land requirement for municipal solid waste
(km2)
The flooding of Mumbai during the 2005 monsoons,

plastic bags were reported to have exacerbated the
floods by choking drains and gutters.
3.6.1 Impacts of landfill

 Landfill being major source of methane – one of the
principle green house gasses, contributing 20% to the
global warming.
 Solid waste enters soil and often ground water
systems by leaching process and contaminates them. Fig. 3.13 Impacts of landfill
 It becomes a significant source of the highly toxic
carcinogen, dioxins, principally through air dispersion
 There is increase in health problems such as -
elevated rates of cancer, birth defects, low birth
weights in households living close to landfills.
 Landfill of mercury waste covered with a tarpaulin
sheet will trap hazardous mercury vapours which are
undetectable by instruments.
3.6.2 Impacts of incinerators

 Emission of toxic gasses
 Sources of the release of volatile metals such as
mercury, cadmium and lead Fig. 3.14 Impacts of incinerators
A large incinerator produces the equivalent of 300 wheelie bins of exhaust gases from its chimneys every second. As
this happens, chemical reactions lead to the formation of hundreds of new compounds, some of which are extremely
toxic. The number of substances released from a waste incinerator may run into thousands. So far, scientists have
identified a few hundred substances as hazardous.
3.7 Impact on human health
 The number of children with cancer is increasing, as are the incidences of breast and prostate cancer in adults.
 Children suffer more today than ever before from birth defects, learning disabilities, attention- deficit disorders,
and asthma because of the contaminated soil, water and air.
 The waste effluents of industries contain heavy metals like mercury, lead and cadmium, which cause poisoning.
Mercury causes poisoning, which attacks the nervous system of patients. Lead causes mental retardation of
children.
 Oil spills from oil tankers on land surface (e.g. beaches) and from ships on surface of water reservoirs destroys the
habitats of aquatic animals and fish; create health problems for local residents and causes long term damage to
the environment.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that more than five million people die each year from diseases
related to inadequate waste disposal systems.
4.1 Case study - 1 Love Canal Tragedy, New York
Fig. 4.2 Love Canal, hazardous waste disposal site, Buffalo, NY,
showing 99th Street elementary school in center, two rings of
homes bordering the landfill and housing development.
Fig. 4.1 Love Canal emergency declaration area Fig. 4.3 Aerial photo showing canal in the center.
Site description:
 60 feet wide and 3,000 feet long Love Canal was built
in the 1800s in an attempt to connect the upper and
lower Niagara River; situated in a residential
neighbourhood in Niagara Falls, New York
 The project remained incomplete because of financial
issues, the abandoned canal was sold at public
auction, after which it was used as a municipal and
chemical dump site from 1920 until 1953.
Canal used as a dumping ground, landfill

 Between 1942 and 1953 Hooker Chemicals and
Plastics Corporation dumped almost 20,000 metric Fig. 4.4 Toxic barrels piled up in Love Canal
tons of highly toxic and cancer – causing chemical
wastes including pesticides such as lindane and DDT,
multiple solvents, PCBs, dioxin, and heavy metals in
steel drums, into an old Love Canal excavation.
Unhygienic covering of landfill

 In 1953 Hooker Chemical covered the dump site with
clay and top soil; and sold the site to Niagara Falls
School Board for one dollar. The deed specified that
the company would have no future liability for any
injury or property damage caused by dump’s
contents.
Institutional and residential construction around the

landfill site Fig. 4.5 Love Canal after the cleanup plan
 The board of education built an elementary school
near the perimeter of the canal in 1954.
 Residential development came up around the canal in the 1950s, and by 1978, there were approximately 800
single-family homes and 240 low-income apartments, with about 400 children attending the 99th Street School
next to the dump.
Indication of problems because of unhygienic landfill
 In 1977, residents of a suburb of Niagara Falls
discovered that hazardous industrial waste buried
decades earlier bubbled to the surface, found its
way on the ground water, and ended up in back
yards and basements.
 Men, women, and children suffered from many
conditions--cancer, miscarriages, stillbirths, birth
defects and urinary tract diseases.
 The media attention and subsequent inquiries by
residents prompted the New York State Department
of Health (NYSDOH) to undertake environmental
Fig. 4.6 Animal death due to contamination in Love Canal
testing in homes closest to the canal.
 A health study reveled that 56 percent of children
born between 1974 and 1978 suffered birth defects.
The miscarriage rate increased 300 percent among
women who had moved to Love Canal; urinary-tract
disease had increased 300 percent, with a great
number of children being affected.
Evacuation for cleanup plan

 In 1978, the NYSDOH declared a state of emergency at
Love Canal, ordering closure of the 99th Street School,
recommending evacuating the Love Canal for a
cleanup plan to be undertaken immediately.
Clean up plan
 A drainage trench was installed around the perimeter
of the canal to catch waste that was permeating
Fig. 4.7, 4.8,4.9,4.10 into the surrounding neighbourhood.
Residents of the Love Canal area in Niagara Falls were forced to  A clay cap was placed on top of the site to reduce
evacuate when hazardous wastes leaking from a former disposal water infiltration from rain or melting snow.
site threatened their health and homes.
 Sewer lines and the creek to the north of the canal
were cleaned up.
 However, the waste that had migrated throughout
the neighbourhood and into the homes remained.
 Eventually, the 239 homes closest to the canal
were demolished and the southern sections of the
neighbourhood declared unsuitable for residential
use.
Problem which still exists today

 In September 1988, the 200 homes in the northern
section of Love Canal were declared "habitable".
These homes are still contaminated, as are the yards
around the adjacent evacuated homes. The only
separation between them and those still considered
uninhabitable is a suburban street.
 Anyone can freely cross the street and walk through
the abandoned sections of the neighborhood.
 Children ride their bikes and play frequently among
the abandoned homes. 20,000 tons of waste still
remains in the dump.
Fig. 4.11, 4.12, 4.13 Clean up process in Love Canal

4.2 Case study - 2 A Rainforest Chernobyl
Site description
 Texaco, now ChevronTexaco, began its search for oil
in the pristine tropical rainforest in 1964.
 The indigenous inhabitants of this pristine rainforest,
including the Cofán, Siona, Secoya, Kichwa and
Huaorani, lived traditional lifestyles largely untouched
by modern civilization.
 The forests and rivers provided the physical and
cultural subsistence base for their daily survival.
Discovery of oil
 In 1967, Texaco made the first discovery of
commercial quantities of oil in the Oriente, or
northern Ecuadorian Amazon. In 1972, drilling
operations began. Between 1972 and 1992, Texaco
extracted more than 1.5 billion barrels of oil from the
Ecuadorian Amazon.
No environmental standard followed

 Texaco's oil extraction system in Ecuador was
designed, built and operated on the cheap
substandard technology from the outset; which led to
Fig. 4.14, 4.15 Texaco's
extreme, systematic pollution and exposure to former concession area in
toxins from multiple sources on a daily basis for Ecuador, spanning the
almost three decades. watersheds of the Aguarico
 At the height of Texaco's operations, the company and Napo rivers, and the
was dumping an estimated 4 million gallons of locations of oil fields within
formation waters per day, a practice outlawed in the concession area.
major US oil producing states like Louisiana, Texas,
and California decades before the company began
operations in Ecuador in 1967.
Dumping of toxic waste into open pits

 In order to save millions of dollars - an estimated $3
per barrel - Texaco simply dumped the toxic wastes
from its operations into the pristine rivers, forest
streams and wetlands, ignoring industry standards.
 In a rainforest area roughly three times the size of
Manhattan, Texaco carved out 350 oil wells, and upon Fig. 4.16 An open waste pit and flares in the Guanta oil field
leaving the country in 1992, left behind some 1,000 Fig. 4.17 Broken pipeline
open toxic waste pits.
 Texaco also dumped more than 18 billion gallons of
toxic and highly saline "formation waters," a
byproduct of the drilling process, into the rivers of
the Oriente.
Leaving the dumping site open

 In 1990, Texaco left a site with a shocking mess. The
company left behind more than 600 open waste pits
contaminated with heavy metals and some of the
most carcinogenic chemicals known to man, including:
Benzene, Toluene, Arsenic, Lead, Mercury and
Cadmium.
 Many of these pits leak into the water table or Fig. 4.18 An unlined waste pit filled with crude oil left by Texaco
overflow in heavy rains, polluting rivers and streams drilling operations years earlier lies in a forest clearing near the
that 30,000 people depend on for drinking, cooking, town of Sacha
bathing and fishing. Fig. 4.19 Old Texaco oil barrels left on the side of the Aguarico
River, near Lago Agrio
 The result is one of the most infamous environmental
and social disasters in the Amazon.
Sources of contamination
 18 billion gallons of wastewater, called "produced
water," dumped into surface streams.
 The construction of 916 open-air, unlined toxic waste
pits in the forest floor
Fig. 4.20, 4.21 Oil spill in the surface waterbodies  Release of contaminants through gas flaring, burning,
and spreading oil on roads
Environmental and health impacts because of the

unhygienic dumping of toxic waste
 Environmental degradation from Texaco's operations
has devastated a unique tropical forest ecosystem. As
a result of the company's operations, nearly 2.5 million
acres of rainforest were lost.
 Oil spills have contaminated the land and water
 The company dumped 20 billion gallons of highly toxic
wastewater into the waterways
 It has ruined a way of life, rendering it nearly
impossible for indigenous peoples to practice their
traditional modes of subsistence.
 As a result of the company's operations, 5 indigenous
nationalities are suffering an exploding health crisis.
Fig. 4.22, 4.23, 4.24 A family washes clothes and bathes in a Studies have attributed at least 1401 excess cancer
polluted river, children playing in contaminated areas deaths in the region to oil contamination, as well as an
elevated rate of pregnancies ending in miscarriage.
Clean up plan
 Texaco conducted a sham "clean-up" of less than 1%
of its former sites beginning in 1995, in most cases
merely by covering open pits with dirt or burning off
the crude by-products.
 TEXPET, the Texaco and Petroecuador consortium,
completed a limited cleanup of less than 1/3 of the
unlined waste pits through an agreement with the
Ecuadorian government in 1999.
 The "clean up" was very poorly done; waste pits were
so badly managed that they continue to contaminate
the soil and local water sources.
Fig. 4.25, 4.26, 4.27 Impact of health due to contamination in  In addition, Texaco did not clean up the streams,
land and water rivers, and/or wetlands. Texaco, now ChevronTexaco,
claims that it met its legal obligations and no longer is
responsible for social and ecological damage in the
Ecuadorian Amazon.
4.3 Case study - 3 Ganga Pollution
Decreased flow, increased pilgrimage
About the River Ganga

 The Ganges is a major river in the Indian subcontinent
flowing east through the plains of northern India into
Numerous hydel projects
Bangladesh. The 2,510 km (1,557 mi) river begins at Decreased environmental flow
the Gangotri Glacier in the Indian state of
Uttarakhand, in the central Himalayas, and drains into
Growing cities
the Bay of Bengal through its vast delta in the Polluting industries
Sunderbans. Growing pollution
Critical stretches of the river Ganga

In different stretches the holy river Ganga is posed
with different challenges.
 In the upper region numerous hydel projects threaten
the river ecosystem by depriving it off the Fig. 4.28 Critical stretches of River Ganga
environmental flows
 In the stretch beyond this till Patna the growing cities
and industrial clusters have increased the pollution
load discharged into the river. Loss of assimilative
capacity has worsened the pollution woes of the river.
 In the stretch beyond Patna, growing cities and lack of
assimilation is making the river dirtier
Factors causing pollution

Fig. 4.29, 4.30 Pilgrim prays in the Ganges
 Chemical waste disposal caused by industrial areas
 Sewage waste disposal from the surrounding areas
 Remains of human and animal corpses on the river
edge
 Waste generated by pilgrims
According to environmentalists, 90 per cent of pollution

into the river is caused by sewage generation while
about 5 to 6 percent pollution is caused by bathing and
other activities.
Fig. 4.31 Boats on the polluted Ganges river
Impacts of waste pollution Fig. 4.32 Pilgrims dropping a religious ornament into the river
 It poses major health risks to around 400 million
people living by its side and all others who benefit
from it.
 An estimated 2,000,000 persons ritually bathe daily in
the river, which is considered holy by Hindus. Polluted
water of Ganga carry major health risks by either
direct bathing in the dirty water and by drinking.
 Residents from nearby area suffer from various skin
ailments, among other health problems.
 In the nearby villages, farm harvests have plunged
and livestock like buffaloes produce half their normal
yield of milk.
 On the stretch of the river, families which were used Fig. 4.33 Quality of water in Ganga at different places
to make a living by fishing the Ganges barely get by
now.
According to The Economist, 10,000 children die

everyday in India because of pollution from the Ganges,
meaning that 3,650,000 children in India die every year
from the Ganges' alleged "pollution".
Fig. 4.34, 4.35 Pollution in the river and solid waste around
Clean up plan
 In 1986, Government of India announced a massive
Ganga Action Plan to clean up the river. The basic idea
was to intercept and treat pollution before it is
discharged into the Ganges. After spending about 50
crores rupees also pollution levels were as high as
ever because of the technical issues like erratic power
supply, faulty engineering and maintenance problems.
 There is a need to use an alternative cleaning system
which can work without power supply and to spread
awareness among citizens not to pollute the Ghats
and riverbeds.
Fig. 4.36 Graph of BOD levels along critical stretches recorded  Many NGO’s clean the different stretches of river
during 2003-2006 regularly of dead bodies, animal carcasses, solid waste
and visible trash such as clay idols, polybags, worship
materials and ensures their safe disposal.
4.4 Case study - 4 Threat because of landfill sites in
Delhi
Introduction
Unfortunately in India, most landfills are located along
the banks of rivers flowing through the cities.
Delhi is at present producing 6,500 tones of garbage

daily. In the next five years, garbage collection will
increase by 1,000 tones. The Regional Plan-2021 of the
National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) states
that the daily generation of solid waste will shoot up to
15,000 metric tones by 2021.
The total wastewater from Delhi and nearby areas

flowing into the 19 drains that connect to the Yamuna is Fig. 4.37 Landfill project sites in Delhi
around 3,296 million litres a day, of which 630 MLD is
untreated.
Landfill sites in Delhi

 There are about 12 large landfills which have been
packed with all sorts of non-biodegradable and toxic
wastes of Delhi since 1950.
 The area covered by landfills is at least 1 percent of
Delhi's total area.
 All the landfill sites except Tilak Nagar, Hastal and
Chattarpur are located close to the river Yamuna.
 These landfills are not engineered sanitary landfills
and the waste is dumped at open sites without proper
compaction.
Impacts of landfill in Delhi Fig. 4.38 Existing and proposed landfill sites along the river
 The existing Bhalswa - Jehangirpuri dumping ground
of waste has overflowed its capacity, posing a threat
to groundwater resources.
 The groundwater of landfill sites has been critically
contaminated with leachate generated from the site.
 Analysis of leachate from Bhalswa landfill site
revealed that TDS was higher by 2000 percent and the
hardness content was 533 percent in excess of the
limit.
 The presence of high chlorides 4100 mg per litres and
10995 mg per litres against the desirable limit of 250
mg per litres also indicates the critical condition of the
landfill site located in North Delhi.
 TDS at Okhla landfill site was 244 percent more than
the desirable limit. Fig. 4.39, 4.40, 4.41, 4.42 Status of solid waste landfill sites in
 A large portion of landfill leachate and runoff Delhi
produced by these landfill sites finally reaches the
Yamuna through ground water flow or surface water
flow through the drains, contributing to the river
pollution.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board 70% of

the pollution in the river is from untreated sewage while
the remaining 30% is from Industrial waste, Agricultural
waste and Domestic rubbish.
Fig. 4.43
4.5 Conclusions
The river will soon become the carrier of only city sewage, toxic industrial effluent and dumping ground for dead
bodies and all kinds of dirt, filth and trash, if urgent preventive and remedial measures are not taken.
Special campaigns are launched during various bathing festivals when people float worship materials and other
polluting materials in the river. Eco Friends has also adopted Massacre ghat in Kanpur to develop it as a model ghat.
The incident is a vivid reminder that we can never really throw anything away and wastes don’t stay put up;
preventing pollution is much safer and cheaper than cleaning it up.
Problems because of unhygienic landfill

Ground water contamination, Soil contamination,
Severe impact on health, Learnings,
 Most of the landfills in developing countries do not have any liner at the base, or a drainage layer or a proper top
cover, which results in the potential problem of groundwater/surface water contamination due to the leachate.
 It is essential to have an estimate of the amount of leachate and, more importantly, the composition and strength
of the leachate and variation of leachate contaminants with time as the landfill site develops to decide how it needs
to be treated.
 Since leachate contains high concentrations of organic and inorganic constituents, including heavy metals, liners
must be used at the landfills.
 The presence of bore wells at landfill sites to draw groundwater threatens to contaminate the groundwater, and
immediate remediation steps should be taken at all landfill sites that have groundwater bore wells.
5.1 Case study - 1 The Industrial Symbiosis at Kalundborg, Denmark
Case of spontaneous but slow evolution of the "industrial symbiosis" without initial planning of the overall network.
The area of Kalundborg was first settled in 1170 as a natural harbour along the bay. The city began to get more
urbanized during the nineteenth century and became a major industrial centre in the mid-twentieth century.
Kalundborg Municipality has approximately 20,000 inhabitants with the example of Industrial Symbiosis.
Initiative towards waste recycling and reusing

Industrial Symbiosis activities began in 1961 when a
project was developed and implemented to use surface
water from Lake Tisso for a new oil refinery in order to
save the limited supplies of ground water.
The City took the responsibility for building the pipeline

while the refinery financed it. Starting from this initial
collaboration, a number of other collaborative projects
were subsequently introduced. Originally, the motivation
was to reduce costs by seeking income-producing uses
for "waste" products.
By the end of the 1980s, the partners realised that they

had effectively "self-organised" into what is probably the
best-known example of Industrial Symbiosis.
The Asnaes Power Station became the hub of the

network of materials and energy by-product exchanges at
Kalundborg.
The material exchanges in the Kalundborg region

include Fig. 5.1 Kalundborg (map center) is west of Copenhagen and
 Conservation of natural and financial resources Holbæk, northwest of Slagelse on Zealand in Denmark.
 Reduction in production, material, energy, insurance
and treatment costs and liabilities
 Improved operating efficiency
 Quality control
 Improved health of the local population and public
image
 Realisation of potential income through the sale of by-
products and waste materials
The self-organized symbiosis co-operation today

comprises some 20 projects comprising of five core
partners:
 Asnæs Power Station - Denmark's largest power
Fig. 5.2
station, coal-fired, 1,500 megawatts capacity
 Statoil Refinery - Denmark's largest, with a capacity of
4.8 million tons/yr
 Gyproc - a plasterboard factory, making 14 million
square meters of gypsum wallboard annually (enough
to build all the houses in 6 towns the size of
Kalundborg)
 Novo Nordisk - an international biotechnological
company, with annual sales over $2 billion producing
pharmaceuticals including 40% of the world's supply
of insulin and industrial enzymes.
 The City of Kalundborg supplies district heating which
uses steam from the Asnaes power station replacing
the highly polluting oil burning heaters to the 20,000
Fig. 5.3
residents, and water to the homes and industries.
Fig. 5.4 Kalundborg industrial symbiosis - 1995 drawn by D.B. Holmes based on information from various sources
Benefits and savings from the waste recycling and reusing

Water
 The companies have reduced the overall consumption by 25% by recycling the water and by letting it circulate
between the individual partners.
 A total of 1.9 million m3 of groundwater and 1 million m3 of surface water are saved on a yearly basis.
Oil
 The partners have reduced their oil consumption by 20,000 tons per year, corresponding to a 380 - tonne
reduction of sulphur dioxide emission on a yearly basis.
 The major reductions have been achieved by Novozymes A/S, Novo Nordisk A/S and Statoil that have used process
steam from the production at Asnæs Power Station.
Ash
 The combustion of coal and orimulsion (bitumen-
based fuel) at Asnæs Power Station results in
approximately 80,000 tons of ash, which are used in
the construction and cement industries for the
manufacturing of cement or the extraction of nickel
and vanadium.
Gypsum
 Every year BPB Gyproc A/S receives up to 200,000
tons of gypsum from Asnæs Power Station. The
gypsum substitutes the natural gypsum used in the
production of plasterboards.
Use of lime and commercial fertilizer by NovoGro

 NovoGro from Novozymes A/S substitutes the use of
lime and part of the commercial fertilizer on
approximately 20,000 hectares of farmland.
Fig. 5.5 Overview of Kalundborg with Novozymes in the fore-
ground
Wastewater
 The collaboration of Novozymes A/S, Asnæs Power Station and Kalundborg Municipality, in the area of wastewater
treatment, reduces the environmental impact on Jammerland Bugt considerably.
 The power plant uses salt water, from the fjord, for some of its cooling needs. By doing so, it reduces the
withdrawals of fresh water from Lake Tissø. The resulting by-product is hot salt water, a small portion of which is
supplied to the fish farm's 57 ponds.
Sludge
 The recycling of sludge stemming from the treatment plant brings about a reduction in production time at A/S Bio-
teknisk Jordrens Soilrem, synonymous with expenditure cuts and improved economy.
Other Waste
 On a yearly basis, Noveren I/S receives: 13,000 tons of newspaper / cardboard which after a quality check are sold
to cardboard and paper consuming industries in Denmark, Sweden and Germany producing new paper, new
cardboard, egg boxes and trays for e.g. the health sector.
 7,000 tons of rubble and concrete that are used for different surfaces after crushing and sorting.
 15,000 tons of garden / park refuse delivered as soil amelioration in the area.
 4,000 tons of bio waste from households and company canteens is used in the compost and biogas production.
 4,000 tons of iron and metal, which is resold after cleaning for recycling.
 1,800 tons of glass and bottles are sold to producers of new glass.
 Excess heat is used for fish farming, heating of nearby homes and greenhouse agriculture.
This web of recycling and reuse has generated new revenues and cost savings for the companies involved and reduced
pollution to air, water, and land in the region. In ecological terms, Kalundborg exhibits the characteristics of a simple
food web: organisms consume each other's waste materials and energy, thereby becoming interdependent with each
other. This pattern of inter-company reuse and recycling has conserved water and other resources, by generating new
revenue streams from the by - products exchanged.
Economic and environmental savings:

Economic
 Total investment of about US$60 million
 Annual revenues of about US$12 million
 Average payback time of 5 years
 Accumulated revenues as of 1993: over US$120
million
Environmental savings
 Oil - 45,000 tons/year
 Coal - 15,000 tons/year
 Water - 600,000 m3/year
Reduced emissions Fig. 5.6 Treatment plants at Novozymes

 Carbon dioxide (CO2) - 175,000 tons/year
 Sulphur dioxide (SO2) - 10,200 tons/year
Reuse of waste products

 130,000 tons of fly ash/year
 4500 tons of sulphur/year
 90,000 tons of gypsum/year
 800,000 tons of nitrogen in sludge/year
Fig. 5.7 City using district supply heating from the streams of
Asnaes power station replacing the highly polluting oil burning
heaters.
5.2 Case Study - 2 Louisville Elementary School - Management of food waste
Project description
Project was an initiative process, developed by a teacher and students to compost food waste generated in school and
dealing with the food waste which was attracting flies, foul odour and other nuisances.
Method
 School developed a comprehensive program for
keeping food waste separate from recyclables and
vegetable waste from the meat and dairy.
 Feeding the - Vegetable waste to red worms - Meat
and dairy waste to pigs - Waste shredded paper
collected from the classrooms to use as bedding.
 The worms turned the bedding and vegetable waste
into dark, earthy, nutrient-rich material which they
could use to fertilize their gardens.
Reduce, reuse and recycle are major economic corollaries

of Vermicomposting. The organism central to the
biological technology of vermicomposting is the
earthworm. Earthworms are exceptionally valuable to the
environment, without their constant burrowing, the soil
Fig. 5.8 The large wooden worm bin next to the shed used pa- would lack good drainage and aeration, and their nutrient
per for bedding and added much of the vegetative waste from -rich castings would not be mixed into its upper layer.
the garden.
Results
Economical
 During the first year of mid-scale vermicomposting,
the school district saved $6,000 in dumpster fees by
reducing the amount of paper and food waste
collected in commercial dumpsters that eventually
went to the landfill.
Environmental savings
 Earthworms did help to reduce the use of both
pesticides and natural resources.
 Reduced use of commercial fertilizer
 Because the schools relied on worms on-site instead
of using gasoline-powered trucks for transportation to
a recycling plant miles away to process paper wastes,
Fig. 5.9 A mass of red worms sorted out they actually reduced fossil fuel use.
 Reducing the use of local landfills, water and fossil
fuels
 Mechanical garbage disposal in a kitchen sink requires
eight gallons (30 liters) of water to dilute one pound
of food waste. Because Laytonville schools no longer
wash food waste down the drain and, in addition,
reuse rinse dishwater to swish out empty milk cartons
before transporting them to the recycling center, they
used 103,680 fewer gallons (394,000 liters) of water a
year after beginning the program than they consumed
the previous year.
Enriching soil
 Avoiding the use of pesticides gave possibility of
nutrient-rich of maintaining the quality of soil
 Using vermicompost as a soil amendment helps
improve the tilth, nitrogen and pH of the soil.
Fig. 5.10 Organic garden from vermicompost soil provides vege-
tables for the school kids  The improved tilth causes less leaching of
nutrients out of the soil and contributes to a healthier soil full of microorganisms, including earthworms, that help
increase the yield of crops grown in our school garden.
 Soil and crops that are healthy are less likely to be attacked by insects and disease.
Overall
 Vermicomposting reduces solid waste at its source
 Some of the vegetables grown are used for the cafeteria to feed the kids and staff
 Long term effects of the pesticides on kids could be avoided, there was a decrease in number of students having
headaches and experiencing nosebleeds.
 Besides helping reduce the flow of food waste to landfills, mid - scale vermicomposting provides schools with
unique study opportunities. A vermicomposting bin is an alive and extremely complicated system.
Interdependence, flexibility, diversity, cooperation and sustainability are all represented in a vermicomposting bin.
The inhabitants are so interrelated that to study the system in separate parts is impossible.
 Provided an opportunity of small scale business practise from worm workshops and selling of worms and
vermicompost to the community.
During the first ten month’s period of these process, Laytonville:

 Vermi-composted 3,600 pounds of cafeteria food waste
 Fed 9,360 pounds of protein food waste to chickens and pigs
 Recycled 567 pounds of milk cartons and 654 pounds of tin cans
 More than seven tons of solid waste were effectively diverted from one local landfill.
5.3 Case Study - 3 Towards a zero waste approach in Kovalam
Kovalam is a small fishing village on the coast of the

Arabian Sea. It is located 12 kms to the south of Kerala’s
capital city, Thiruvananthapuram. A series of four
crescent shaped beaches, calm - safe waters and a
pleasant climate attract people to this place from all over
the country and the world.
Causes of waste pollution

 Tourism in Kovalam gave rise to heaps of garbage,
stinking corners and smoke filled skyline.
 Dangerous practice of burning this waste, the draining
of untreated liquid waste directly into the open drains
and the beach caused serious threat to the land and
health of its people - grave enough to affect the
business of tourism in Kovalam.
 The inefficient control or guidance over the activities
along the coast of Kovalam tourist destination in its
Fig.. 5.11 Location of Kovalam earlier phase of development left no space, time or
resources for handling the waste generated in the
region.
 The normal practice of waste disposal in the region
was collection of waste from the shops and dumping
them in neighbouring village during the nights.
 Because of the uncontrolled growth of tourist
infrastructure for water and sanitation wetlands and
ponds were filled up and built upon.
 Selling of bottled drinking water increased the
amount of plastic waste.
Table 6 Other discards like Cardboard boxes, cotton waste,
cloth waste, cut hair waste, used oil etc were also in relatively  Restaurants and hotels installed septic tanks for their
significant quantities. The survey process was completed in the sewage which led to extensive groundwater
month of October 2001. contamination particularly in the foothills and low-
lying areas.
Problems because of waste generation

 By the late 1990s more than 30 tons of trash was
being generated each day - an impossible 7.5 kgs of
trash for every man, woman, child, tourist and
migrant worker - in Kovalam.
 Kuthira Kulam, a freshwater pond, had to be
abandoned because of contamination. Around the
same time, open wells were being abandoned or
restricted for purposes other than drinking.
 Within years, the smaller ponds and the numerous
streams were converted into cesspools of plastic
trash, particularly PET bottles.
 The Tourism Department was paying the Vizhinjam
Panchayat Rs. 25 lakhs ($58,000) annually for waste
related expenses with nothing to show for it.
 Collection and removal of garbage was ad hoc, and
the collected garbage ended up on the roadsides en
route Kovalam, or in the field of some unsuspecting
farmer.
Table 7
 Foreign tourist visitations began to decline.
A survey done in 2001 found that more than 6.7 tonnes of biodegradable discards were generated daily during peak
season, of which 4 tonnes were from 100 hotels and restaurants. About 54 percent of the establishments were found
to have land to manage their own waste.
When people’s opposition became strong, the people compelled the local Panchayath and Department of Tourism to
provide facilities for waste disposal in the region.
Initiative towards waste management and zero waste program works on following concepts:
a). Resource Recovery - backbone of discards management in the Kovalam tourism area.
 Decentralized resource recovery facilities have been designed for making discards handling easy and effective.
Two approaches are followed for implementing

resource recovery
Resource Recovery Facility at Individual or

Institutional level:
 Targeted for homes/institutions who have some
space to spare and their own in-house discards to be
handled.
 As a model the Institute of Hotel Management and Fig. 5.12, 5.13 Resource Recovery Facility at IHMCT - Sale of
Catering Technology (IHMCT), the premier institute of Discards, Resource Recovery Facility at IHMCT - Sold Discards
hotel management in India located at Kovalam was being transported by Discards Resellers
the first to set up such a facility. A Resource Recovery
Facility consisting of a 15 cu.m. biogas plant, a
Resource Recovery Room, Compost pit and Drying
yard. The Biogas plant converts 250 kg of
biodegradable discards from their kitchens and
canteens into biogas every day. The institute is saving
nearly Rs. 5000 on cooking gas every month. In
addition the facility during 2003-2004 (one year)
diverted 5 tonnes of non-biodegradable discards and
earned about Rs.12,000 in this account. It is estimated
that on an average the hotel will save nearly Rs.1.5
lakhs annually. Inspired by these model initiatives,
many households and hotels are building their own
biogas plants.
Fig. 5.14 Biogas Plant at the Light House Beach - A
Cluster Level Resource Recovery: Biodegradable Discards recovery system for hotels
 Designed as a decentralised but common facility for a
cluster of individuals/ institutions.
 The first of such a cluster facility was set up by the
Kovalam Unit of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant
Association (KHRA) jointly with Kerala Tourism. This
25 cu. m. biogas plant can take 500 kg biodegradable
discards per day. Waste from 15 restaurants on the
Light House Beach area is used to feed this biogas
plant. The biogas is used to run a 2.5KVA diesel
generator to produce electricity for street lighting in
the beach. A Non-Biodegradable discards collection is
also being done, by collecting the segregated discards. Fig. 5.15, 5.16 Kovalam Cleanup - periodically done to improve
A local secondary materials dealer gains about Rs. 600 current conditions
every month.
Periodical Cleanups:
 Periodical Cleanups organised by Panchayath, the
Indian Coast Guards, students of IHMCT, Greenpeace
gradually remove the dumped waste in the area.
 A major clean up drive was organised again in January
- February and in March 2004 to remove pet bottles
dumped in and around. A total of about 72,000 PET
bottles were collected and sent for recycling.
Fig. 5.17, 5.18 Cleaning up of streets with people’s participation
under guidance.
b). Material Substitution:
 Envisaging people from the locality producing materials that are eco-friendly like coconut shell, used paper, cloth
etc to manufacture various utility and craft items that are to phase out the toxics like plastics.
 Aiming at total elimination of plastic discards and other toxic materials and coming up with locally available and
environment friendly materials to replace these toxic substances.
c) Poison free farming:

 Focuses on regaining the environment stewardship in agriculture which will help in building a toxic free world.
 Promoting poison free farming by giving technical assistance to local farmers and applying community wisdom and
traditional knowledge for a toxic free agriculture.
 Restoring the homestead farming culture of the land, to sustain diversity and provide food, fuel and other needs.
 Training to farmers on organic farming, vermicomposting, marketing of farm products for poison free farming.
 Introducing the concept of Organic Bazaar to support the small, marginal and landless organic farmers of the area.
d) Water Conservation:
 Involving local communities in reclaiming the water resources through water conservation projects.
 Water is the prime life support resource and is a community property. The villages around Kovalam have severe
water shortage. Private business lobbies started exploiting the opportunity by setting up private water supply
services and exploiting common resources. Lack of safe drinking water resulted in accumulation of PET bottles at
Kovalam.
 The Vellayani Kayal, a fresh water lake bordering the Venganoor Panchayath is a major source of water for the
villages as well as the hotels in the destination, both directly and as a source replenishing the ground water. This is
a highly polluted source of water especially due to the intensity of pesticide and chemical fertilizer use in the area.
 The streams and ponds in the destination area are also in an extremely bad condition and an integral part of the
programme is to revive these sources of water.
e) Training, Education and Environmental Awareness:

 Regular awareness programmes for the local community for a toxic free town
 Orientation programmes for policy makers and private institutions regarding proper discard handling methods and
zero waste.
Benefits and results

 The biogas plant diverts nearly 300 kg of biodegradables daily. For IHMCT, that has meant savings of Rs. 5000
($120) per month. Separately, the non-biodegradables sorted and stored at the Resource Recovery Park yielded
more than Rs. 12,000 in the first year of its operations.
 Biogas generated from the plant of IHMCT is supplied
to the main kitchen in the institute and also to the
students hostel. This measure alone has helped the
institute reduce its weekly consumption of natural gas
by around six cylinders while also enabling it to
manage its waste in a responsible manner. The
savings in natural gas will be around Rs 90,000 a year.
Fig. 5.19, 5.20 Before and after restoration of community drink- The sale of non-biodegradable material will generate
ing water pond by community of Kovalam about Rs 12,000. The IHMCT will be able to generate
additional funds of around Rs 1 lakh every year.
 Considering the fact that the total investment in this project has so far been around Rs 3 lakh, the IHMCT will be
able to look at generating a profit in three-four years.
5.4 Case Study - 4 Zero waste colony, Delhi
A middle-income residential settlement in South Delhi. The stench from garbage heaps lying on the streets was
getting unbearable. Toxics Links ran a training programme for 230 households in D-block of Sarita Vihar for over six
months. Waste collectors, domestic servants, housewives, municipal staff and residents were trained in source
segregation and composting techniques.
Initiatives
 Representatives of various interest groups like
resident members of Mahila Mandal, Kitchen Garden
Association and Senior Citizens' Council, general
residents; local councillor; site and zonal level
municipal staff of both sanitation and horticulture
Fig. 5.21, 5.22 Cyclic flow chamber with gunny sacks used as
departments, waste contractors; private waste filter. Charcoal in gunny sacks providing remediation, wood coal
collectors and domestic helpers were encouraged to from neem and eucalyptus. Cascade flow and last stage tank
participate in the programme.
 Regular capacity-building workshops were organised
in this regard to make all the stakeholders aware of
their role and responsibilities in contributing towards
the city's cleanliness programme.
 Wastewater Recycling Plant created on banks of
urban-drain which carries domestic sewage from
nearby areas.
 Average wastewater flow in drain is >150 Kl per day. If
all water taken up for process and reuse, it could
irrigate 100,000 Sq mt area (@ 1sqm/day needs 1.5 -
2.0 litres)
 At present the waste water recycling plant daily
sources 40 kl & reuses 35 kl water which also has
nutrients. It operates with adequate BOD reduction,
Fig. 5.23 View of Filtration Bed (7 path), 1m x 15m, 7 lanes with
removal of pathogen & irrigates total area of 20,000 gravel, stones, boulders, plants
Sq mt of garden.
 Plant designed on concept- DEWATS Concept (Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems) which provides:
Primary treatment in sedimentation ponds, septic tanks - Secondary anaerobic treatment in fixed bed filters or
baffled septic tanks (baffled filter reactors) - Tertiary aerobic treatment in constructed wetlands, biophyto-
remediation and ponds
Approach to the problem

 Economic and environmental consequences of each alternative were discussed and then source segregation and
on-site composting was considered as the best alternative towards addressing the growing problem of land filling
of municipal waste.
Steps towards waste management and minimization on a trial base

 Door-to-door mobilisation amongst 230 households, by explaining importance of source segregation a month
before the actual implementation.
 Continuous assistance to the residents to overcome difficulties involved in source segregation.
 Selection of land for on-site composting with common consensus of the residents and equal participation from site
level municipal staff.
 Permission horticulture department to dig up two natural pits of size 12x5x2.5 ft for neighbourhood park to
undertake aerobic composting. Barrels of 250 lt. have been also placed to promote barrel composting as well. The
site was fenced in order to avoid stray animal nuisance.
 On a trial basis, the programme started with collecting segregated waste from each household by the private
waste collector in two separate bins.
 After covering the total households, the private waste collector brings the collected waste to the composting site.
 After the secondary segregation, he weighs the total amount of organic waste generated for the day, records the
amount and spreads it in the pit; sprinkles cow dung slurry along with EM (effective micro-organisms) and covers it
with jute sheets.
 The municipal sanitary staff, after finishing daily chores, turn the pit every alternate day for better aeration.
Continuing the same practise after trial period
 After one month's trial period and managing approximately 2,000 kg of organic waste in the neighbourhood pits,
the residents wished to continue with the project and set an example for other residential complexes for replicat-
ing the same.
 Seeing the success MCD placed a few bins around the colony to facilitate passersby to dispose off their recyclable
waste, thus discouraging littering.
5.5 Conclusions
1. Schools top the list of sources for discarded paper and food waste. Mid-scale vermicomposting provides a simple,
effective, and inexpensive method for processing paper and food wastes that requires no transportation to a cen-
tral location for further processing.
2. It is not a difficult process to initiate waste management at a smaller scale, one can then build up the programme
in a large context and quantity.
3. Schools and institutions can involve parents, community members and group of students in the process teaching
them about the importance of the management of waste
4. It saves the cost of waste disposal and reduces generation of waste.
5. Purchase the materials and have students assemble bins with staff or volunteers.
6. It helps in creating awareness about impacts on the eco system and health because of the improper disposal of
waste.
7. Compost created by method can be used for growing vegetables in the campus garden and nourishing plants to
beautify the school grounds.
Learnings - several conditions that are desirable for a similar web of exchanges to develop:
 Industries must be different and yet must fit each other
 Arrangements must be commercially sound and profitable
 Development should be voluntary, in close collaboration with regulatory agencies
 A short physical distance between the partners is necessary for economy of transportation (with heat and some
materials)
A clean city is not an accident but is a concerted effort of the citizens, the state, the city managers and the civil soci-
ety. The mode of the decision-making process -- how to manage solid waste in urban areas -- has seen a paradigm
shift from the "decide-announce-defend' premise of local authorities to a more involved public participation in the
solid waste management strategy. To economically and efficiently operate a waste management program requires
significant cooperation from generators, regardless of the strategies chosen. Public involvement is expected not only
in policy formulation but also in being actively involved in waste management and disposal.
6. Methods to control adverse impacts generated by waste
6.1 Waste management

Waste management is the collection, transport,
processing, recycling or disposal and monitoring of waste
materials to reduce their negative effects on
environment and society.
Waste management practices differ for developed and

developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for
residential, industrial, and commercial producers. Waste
management for non-hazardous residential and
institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the
responsibility of local government authorities, while
management for non-hazardous commercial and
industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the
generator.
Efficient waste management involves, consideration

of
 Amount of waste being disposed of
 Type of waste being disposed of
Fig - 6.1 Disposal, recycling, processing and minimization of
 Different methods and fields of expertise waste for better management in future
According to a 2008 report by The World Bank, if an efficient system were in place, roughly 15 percent of India’s waste
materials such as paper, plastic, metal and glass could be recovered and recycled. If the 35 to 55 percent that is
organic waste could also be recovered, that would leave only 30 to 50 percent to be sent to landfills.
6.1.1 Management of Solid Wastes

 The dominant methods of Solid Waste disposal are to place it into landfills or on open rubbish tips. These disposal
methods have low initial costs but contribute to serious local air and water pollution; produce obnoxious odors;
look unsightly and release methane, which is an explosive gas with a high global warming potential. Waste to
energy projects can alleviate such disposal problems and utilize an otherwise neglected resource to partly offset
the costs of disposal.
 Recycling process should be done for paper, aluminium, steel cans, glass, plastics and some hazardous materials,
such as batteries (lead acid) and hydrocarbon products which will gradually reduced the amount of solid waste
going to landfill sites.
 Commercial and industrial waste is bulk rubbish collected through local government or private contractors, usually
in large bins, which can be loaded onto trucks. It also includes manure from farms, crop residues and other ‘green’
wastes from agricultural and forestry processes.
 Food and fiber processing industries produce many types of residues and by-products that can be used as biomass
energy sources.
 Building and demolition waste is bulk rubbish collected in large bins from construction / demolition sites and
usually disposed of in landfills or burnt in the open air.
6.1.2 Management of Liquid Wastes

 Liquid by-products of effluents of industrial processes and sewage treatment usually have high water content,
hence it is known as waste water.
 The potential use for the industrial wastes is anaerobic digestion to produce biogas, or fermentation to produce
ethanol. There are alternative methods also of land treatment by irrigating the effluent onto growing crops.
 Liquid waste in the form of recycled frying oils collected from restaurants and other oleophilic wastes, such as low-
grade beef tallow, can be used to produce diesel fuel, called biodiesel. Biodiesel is largely produced from crops
such as rapeseed and canola, which can be supplemented with triglyceride wastes.
6.1.3 Management of Gaseous Wastes

 Methane is often released to the environment during the extraction of coal. This coal seam methane which
presents a serious safety threat to the environment can be used for local power generation as a resource for coal
and petroleum industry.
6.2 The waste disposal system has four aspects
6.2.1 Control of waste at source – waste minimization,
Re-use and recycle
6.2.2 Segregation of waste at source
6.2.3 Collection and transportation system
6.2.4 Final disposal
6.2.1 Control of Waste at Source - Waste minimization,

re-use and recycle
 Waste minimisation is a methodology used to achieve
waste reduction, primarily through reduction at
Fig. 6.2 Priorities for reducing the risks from harmful wastes and source, but also including recycling and re-use of
contaminants (Environment Protection Agency) materials.
 Controlling waste means eliminating or reducing the
Most preferred quantity of waste which is produced in the first place
option and hence reducing the quantity of waste which must
be managed.
 Prevention can take the form of reducing the
quantities of materials used in a process or reducing
the quantity of harmful materials which may be
contained in a product. It is the most desirable waste
management option as it eliminates the need for
handling, transporting, recycling or disposal of waste.
 Minimization includes any process or activity that
avoids, reduces or eliminates waste at its source or
Least preferred results in re-use or recycling.
option  The avoidance for waste production includes using
the second-hand product and repairing the products
which have broken instead of buying new products
and cutting down use of disposable things.
Fig. 6.3 Waste hierarchy  Solid waste containing organic waste can be compost
and converted in to soil manure.
 The inorganic waste once fully segregated at the final disposal site can be recycled for different purpose using
proper technologies.
 Paper, wood, cardboards should be recycled and reused for raw material to produce other products.
a). At Industrial Level

 At industrial level if they use effective processes for manufacturing products with enhanced materials it is likely to
reduce waste production.
 Using again the scrap material – reuse of waste material as soon as it is produced.
 Exchanging Waste in which the waste product, which comes out of a process, becomes a raw material for another
process.
b). At household level

 To reduce the household waste home composting should be done by using organic waste in garden.
6.2.2 Segregation of Waste at Source

 Waste should be segregated properly in organic and inorganic waste while disposing.
 At source Municipalities should create a bank or a dumping point where inorganic waste can be sent by a simple
and effective collection system.
 Municipal waste collectors should visit each street after every fortnight to collect such wastes from each house.
6.2.3 Collection and Transportation of waste involves following activities:

 The primary collection of the waste from each street by municipality
 Dumping of waste at transit dump site
 Collection of waste from transit dump sites
 Transport to the final disposal site
 Ceremonial systems for collection of waste for less populated and less developed area
 Segregation of waste into recyclable, organic waste, inorganic waste, plastic waste, hazardous waste
6.2.4 The Final Disposal of waste is done in three ways
a. Biochemical process – Composting, landfills
b. Chemical process
c. Incineration – Thermal process
a. Bio-chemical conversion process

 Digestion is a bio-chemical process by which organic
waste is broken down by the action of bacteria into
simple molecules, either aerobically (with oxygen) or
anaerobically (without oxygen).
 Aerobic digestion takes place where the waste is
aerated, such as in the early stages of decomposition
of municipal solid waste (MSW) and during
composting. Fig. 6.4 Final disposal of waste by different ways, by which
 Anaerobic digestion takes place where the waste has waste can be converted to energy or energy related products
restricted aeration, such as in the later stages of the
decomposition of MSW or in the digestion of sludge
or wastewater in enclosed digestion vessels.
 Aerobic digestion produces carbon dioxide and water whereas anaerobic digestion produces methane and water,
and also some carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. The gas produced by anaerobic digestion can therefore be
combusted and used, either to produce electricity or heat, thereby converting the methane gas to carbon dioxide.
 Liquid and solid wastes or green crops can be digested to produce biogas, a mixture of methane and carbon
dioxide, which are both greenhouse gases.
 The process can be encouraged by placing the organic material in large airtight tanks known as digesters, and the
biogas produced is captured for use. As a result, odours are removed and the pollution potential of the waste is
reduced.
 Biogas can be burnt directly in thermal applications displacing natural gas in cooking and space heating, or used as
fuel in internal combustion engines to generate electricity.
Composting
 Organic waste such as plants, kitchen waste, vegetables, fruits, leaves, paper products can be treated through
biological reprocessing.
 The composting period is 6 to 8 months. Therefore, the size of the composting pits has to be sufficient to contain
solid waste volume accumulated over a period of six months. The disposal site should be surrounded by a row of
trees to prevent air pollution from fugitive emissions.
 The decomposition of organic waste is carried out by anaerobic micro-organisms; gases like methane and carbon-
dioxide may be produced during the process of decomposition.
 The composted waste is sent to agriculture fields for manure.
 Additionally, the waste gas, which is collected from the process, can be used for the production of electricity.
Sanitary Land Fills

 It is the most common and oldest method of discarding waste around the world.
 The method involves burying off the waste in deserted and vacant locations around the cities.
 Once the waste is deposited the compactors compact the waste.
 The loader before going out of the boundaries of the
landfill has to go through a location where their
wheels are washed. Sometimes they are taken back to
weighbridge to have the weight noted for the truck
without the weight of waste. This weighing procedure
helps in noting and calculating the incoming tonnage
of waste per day.
 The compacted waste at the landfill is covered with
soil every day. Some other materials, which need
processing, are covered temporarily with cover-in
foams and blankets. These covers are removable and
can be removed for further processing of the waste
material. Fig. 6.5
 Poorly designed landfills or borrow pits can cause
damage to the environmental and health. Along with this, wind-blown debris and generation of liquid causes
production of hazardous gas, which also causes foul
odour, killing of surface vegetation and greenhouse
effects.
Power generation from Landfill Gas

 Landfill gas is an adventitious fuel that is a by-product
of current land filling practices which occurs after
MSW has been disposed of in a totally non-
sustainable way.
 The anaerobic digestion of the buried solid organic
waste produces the landfill gas naturally, as the
bacterial decomposition of the organic matter
continues over time.
 The methane produced in landfill sites normally
escapes into the atmosphere, unless the landfill gas is
Fig. 6.6 Gases produced by a typical landfill site captured and extracted by inserting perforated pipes
into the landfill.
 Development of hybrid technologies such as Solid
Waste to Energy Recycling processes, has given a way
of producing energy rich-gas at a higher efficiency.
This energy-rich gas can then be combined with the
landfill gas prior to the generation of electricity.
Fermentation
 Organic wastes can be converted to ethanol, the
alcohol found in beverages, through bacterial
fermentation, which converts carbohydrates in the
feedstock to ethanol.
b. Chemical conversation process – esterification

 Biodiesel can be produced from vegetable oil, animal
Fig. 6.7 Power generation from landfill gas and solid waste to
oil/fats and tallow wastes.
energy recycling
Enersludge
 An alternative to incineration or anaerobic digestion
of sewage sludge (or dumping it out at sea, which is
still often used as the disposal method, is the
Enersludge process, which converts the sludge into
useful bio-oil.
 The Enersludge process produces gas, char and oil in
addition to the Pyrolysis process. The gas and char are
used to heat the plant, leaving the bio-oil for revenue
earning activities – either for direct sale or for use on
site in an internal combustion engine to produce
electricity and offset purchases.
 Dry pallets are produced from the raw sludge. The
pellets have a fertilizer and soil conditioning value and
Fig. 6.8 Enersludge process flow diagram, (Source: Environ-
are free of pathogens.
mental Solutions Ltd)  After being macerated, the raw primary sludge is
mixed with active sludge that is in excess when being
circulated through the treatment plant so is taken off and thickened by air diffusion.
 The blend then leaves the mixer tanks and enters the dewatering centrifuges. Polymers are added to help settle
out the solids and results in a “sticky cake” material.
 The dilute concentrated fraction is separated off and returned to the treatment plant and then eventually
discharged out to sea.
 The pellets are graded by size using a shaker table - returning the too large and too fine portions for reprocessing
through the dryer.
 The Enersludge process converts these pellets into fuel, some of which is used for drying heat. From 1 ton of
pellets, around 300 litres of bio-oil is produced. In the longer term, it is hoped to produce this bio-oil to a sufficient
standard in order to run the plant diesel engine/genset and provide a portion of the site’s power demand.
 The ash generated from the process contains heavy metals which can be either landfilled or used in a concrete mix
to make terracotta bricks. The bio-oil is stored in tanks ready for collection and the ash in a hopper.
c. Thermo-chemical Conversion
 A dumping off method, which involves combustion for waste materials; it is also known as thermal treatment. This
method is utilized to convert waste materials in to gas, heat, ash and steam.
 Incineration is conducted on both individual and industrial scale. This generally is the most recognized practical
method for disposing off perilous material.
 It causes lot of air pollution and release poisonous chemicals into the atmosphere.
 Reduces the weight of the waste by two thirds and its volume by 90%
 A controlled burning of waste at high temperatures can reduce its volume and energy can be gained from
combustion. Two widely used terms, which are facilitating burning of waste material in furnace and boiler for
generation of heat, electricity and steam, are (Waste-to-energy) WtW and (energy-from-waste) EfW.
Three options for recovering energy from solid refuse:

1) Direct Combustion and incineration
2) Refused derived fuel (RDF)
3) By the development of new approaches involving the
recovery of chemicals such as plastic monomers
combined with gasification or Pyrolysis.
1). Direct Combustion and Incineration

 Direct combustion is the burning of waste to produce
heat for cooking, space heating, industrial processes
or for electricity generation.
 Ash from the incineration process can also be sold to Fig. 6.9 Options for recovering energy
the construction and road building industry to further MSW
reduce the amount of material to be ultimately
Food and Fruit
disposed.
 Dry wastes and dried sludge from wastewater are Press mud
required for direct combustion.
MLW
Pulp and paper,
2). Refuse derived fuel (RDF) dairy, tannery
 Refuse derived fuel is separation of combustible
Distilleries
materials from solid waste to be used for fuel
purposes. Fig. 6.10 Energy recovery potential of different wastes
 The MSW, after removal of non-combustibles, is
commuted by a flail mill. A magnetic separator then
removes ferrous materials before screening out the
larger particles. The remainder is shredded into small
particles to make the RDF.
 Waste with high organic (carbon) content is suitable
for briquetting and palletizing after non-combustible
and recyclable materials have been separated.
 These processes involve the compaction of the waste
at high temperatures and very high pressures. The
organic matter is compressed in a die to produce
briquettes or pellets. Fig. 6.11 http://www.arc21.org.uk/opencontent/?
 These products have significantly smaller volume than itemid=27&section=Residual+Waste+Project
the original waste having a higher Volumetric Energy
Density (VED) and hence making them a more compact
source of energy. They are also easier to transport and
store than other forms of waste derived energy.
 The briquettes and pellets can be used directly on a
large scale as direct combustion feed, or on a small
scale in domestic stoves or wood heaters. They can also
be used in charcoal production. RDF pellets have a heat
value of around 60% of coal. Fig. 6.12 RDF manufacturing process outline. The product is
then compacted or briquetted for use
 Roughly 25-30% of household waste is suitable for conversion into RDF.
3). Gasification
 This process of partial incineration with restricted air supply to create an air-deficient environment, can be used to
convert biomass and plastic wastes into synthesis gas with a heating value 10-15% that of natural gas. The
synthesis gas (CO + H) in turn can be converted to methanol, synthetic gasoline, or used directly as a natural gas
substitute and even blended with it in a gas supply line.
 In principle, gasification is the thermal decomposition of organic matter in an oxygen deficient atmosphere
producing a gas composition containing combustible gases, liquids and tars, charcoal, and air, or inert fluidising
gases.
 Small scale gasifier can be used to dispose of special wastes such as clinical waste by mixing it with other biomass
sources such as cotton waste using an entrained flow, down draft gasifier.
 The product is synthesis gas for which the potential use could be power generation, say in a combined cycle power
plant, large scale cogeneration, or chemical synthesis of a new polymer.
Pyrolysis
 Pyrolysis is defined as incineration under anaerobic
conditions and is another option for waste-to-energy.
Potentially Pyrolysis methods for plastic wastes and
for mixed municipal solid waste have very high-energy
efficiencies.
 The solid is converted in to liquid state and liquid is
converted in to gas. These products of treatment can
then be used for the production of energy. The
Fig. 6.13 Pyrolysis Outline residue that is left behind is generally known as
“char”, which is further treated for the production of
more usable products.
6.3 Wastewater treatment
The general principle in wastewater treatment is to remove pollutants from the water by getting them either to settle
or to float, and then removing this material. Some pollutants are easily removable. Others must be converted to a
settled form before they can be removed. Treatment facilities are designed in stages. Each stage either removes
articles from the wastewater or changes dissolved and suspended material to a form that can be removed.
6.3.1 A wastewater treatment plant include following stages:

a. Influent
b. Primary treatment
c. Secondary treatment
d. Tertiary treatment
e. Disinfection and effluent discharge
a. Influent
Influent is the raw material that has been collected
and conveyed to the plant for treatment. It includes
all the water and debris that entered the collection
system.
b. Primary Treatment
 To prevent damage to pumps and clogging of pipes,
raw wastewater passes through mechanically raked
bar screens to remove large debris, such as rags,
plastics, sticks, and cans.
 Smaller inorganic material, such as sand and gravel, is
removed by a grit removal system.
 The lighter organic solids remain suspended in the
water and flow into large tanks, called primary
Fig. 6.14
clarifiers.
 The heavier organic solids settle by gravity. These settled solids, called primary sludge, are removed along with
floating scum and grease and pumped to anaerobic digesters for further treatment.
 By primary treatment, BOD can be brought down to 5,000-10,000 ppm, which is still too high for disposal
compared to the standard of 100 ppm for land and 30 ppm for water.
c. Secondary Treatment
 The primary effluent is transferred to the biological or secondary stage. Here, the wastewater is mixed with a
controlled population of bacteria and an ample supply of oxygen. The microorganisms digest the fine suspended
and soluble organic materials, thereby removing them from the wastewater.
 The effluent is then transferred to secondary clarifiers, where the biological solids or sludge are settled by gravity.
 As with the primary clarifier, this sludge is pumped to anaerobic digesters, and the clear secondary effluent may
flow directly to the receiving environment or to a disinfection facility prior to release.
 Several variations of secondary treatment are:
 Activated sludge
 Trickling filtration
 Rotating biological contactors (RBC)
 Lagoons and ponds
d. Tertiary Treatment
 Tertiary wastewater treatment is the term applied to additional treatment that is needed to remove suspended
and dissolved substances remaining after conventional secondary treatment.
 It is accomplished by using a variety of physical, chemical, or biological treatment processes to remove the
targeted pollutants.
 Advanced treatment may be used to remove such things as color, metals, organic chemicals, and nutrients such as
phosphorus and nitrogen.
e. Disinfection
 Before the final effluent is released into the receiving waters, it may be disinfected to reduce the disease-causing
microorganisms that remain in it.
 The most common processes use chlorine gas or a chlorine-based disinfectant such as sodium hypochlorite. To
avoid excess chlorine escaping to the environment, the effluent may be dechlorinated prior to discharge.
 Other disinfection options include ultraviolet light and ozone.
6.3.2 Land application of wastewater

Land application of waste water is done by spray irrigation, ridge and furrow, absorption pond or hauling and
application by truck methods
1. Aerated Lagoons
 Aerated lagoons are a commonly used method of
wastewater treatment for dairies that directly
discharge to surface water.
 These systems are several large ponds connected in
series with floating surface aerators or submerged air
diffusers.
2. Activated Sludge
 Activated sludge plants encompass a variety of
mechanisms and processes that use dissolved oxygen
Fig. 6.15
to promote the growth of biological flock that
substantially removes organic material.
 The process traps particulate material and under ideal
conditions it can convert ammonia to nitrite and
ultimately to nitrogen gas.
3. Sequencing Batch Reactors (SBR)

 Essentially an activated sludge batch process which
operates in cycles. One cycle involves shutting off
aeration to the wastewater treatment vessel long
enough for the sludge to settle. The clean treated
effluent is then decanted off and if necessary, sludge
is wasted before the aeration system is restarted.
4. Biological Tower
 Wastewater is trickled down over a wood or plastic Fig. 6.16
media covered with biological growth. The biological growth uses the organic waste of the wastewater as food and
eventually sloughs off for collection in a clarifier.
 A biological tower is generally used as an initial treatment unit in a full treatment process and it may be used for
pre-treatment.
5. Spray Irrigation
 The wastewater should be pre-treated to approximately 100 mg/l BOD prior to storage in a lagoon to use for spray
irrigation, to control odours that would develop from storing an un-aerated, untreated waste. It is applied to fields
by irrigation methods.
7. Absorption Ponds
 Absorption ponds need to meet environmental requirement before disposing the waste water into these ponds.
 It needs pre-treatment to meet around water standards for nitrate and chlorides.
8. Hauling and Land Application

 When other options are not available or the strength of the wastewater is very high, then hauling and land
application is generally the only viable option.
 In this type of operation a truck is used to transport the waste from the factory to a suitable land spreading site. All
sites must meet specific criteria to provide groundwater and surface water protection.
6.3.3 Effluent Treatment Plant

The Effluent Treatment Plant is designed to treat waste water generated in the industries to a standard acceptable by
the EPA for discharge. The plant provides three basic treatment steps:
1. Flow Equalization
2. Biological Treatment
3. Polishing
1. Flow Equalization
The waste water is collected in a Flow Equalization Tank which enables flow rate peaks and high pollutant peaks to
be smoothed out prior to the biological process.
2. Biological
The waste water is treated biologically to remove the organic pollutants. In the biological process, special
organisms are grown which absorb and remove the organic pollutants from the waste water. The biological
treatment process is in three tanks in series:
Biological treatment of effluents

 Lignin degradation can be used for treatment of substances like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxin.
 Enzymatic detoxification can be used to breakdown substances such as cyanides and also the by-products from
synthesis of S-triazine herbicides.
 Microbial transformation of biarylethers, cyclic biarylketones, halogenated bibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans is
used to avoid the problem of release of effluents with pollutants.
 Microbial degradation of monochloro-dichloro and trichloromethanes and carbon tetrachloride is also used to deal
with the problem.
Reducing Heavy Metal’s Pollution caused by Industrial Effluents by phytoremediation method

 The property of some species of bacteria and algae, to extract metals from their surrounding, can be utilized to
purify industrial effluents.
 Metal extracting forms (mainly algae) can be grown in ponds, where factory effluents (rich in heavy metals) are
discharged. The microbes will extract the heavy metals and sequester them inside their cell-membranes. The metal
can be subsequently recovered from these microbes.
Removal of Spilled Oil and Grease Deposits

 Microbiological method can be used for degradation of oil to remove oil spill and grease deposits from shallow
waters
 The method allows slow removal of oil from the environment; toxic sites can be reclaimed by this method.
 Application of oleophilic (oil loving) fertilizers as food for oil utilizing microbes can also be considered, this would
allow rapid growth and multiplication of indigenous microbes, and hence speeding up the biodegradation process
for removal of oil.
 A mixture of bacterial strains has also been used to clean oil contaminated water reservoirs (due to oil spills from
ships) and water supplies. The technique may also prove useful for cleaning deposits of grease in pipes and vessels
of a variety of industries.
Suspended Carrier Tank

Organisms are grown on the inside of special plastic rings. This tank performs most of the treatment. The
organisms appear as a thin brown film on the rings.
Activated Sludge Tank

In the second tank organisms which are suspended in the tank perform the rest of the treatment. The organisms
are very small and appear as a fine brown sludge (called Activated Sludge) in the tank.
Secondary Clarifier
The third tank is a clarifier in which the suspended organisms are separated from the treated effluent by settling.
The settled organisms are pumped back to the second tank to keep them in the system.
3. Polishing
The treated effluent from the clarifier is further treated by flocculation with chemicals followed by Dissolved Air
Flotation. This step polishes the effluent before discharge to the river.
Illustration credits
Chapter 1
Fig. 1.1 http://vikings.shadowfix.com/4th/home_4th.html
Fig. 1.2 http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/contexts/icy_ecosystems/sci_media/images/
simple_ecosystem_diagram
Fig. 1.3 http://www.rpdp.net/sciencetips_v2/E12C3.htm
Fig. 1.4 http://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/cycles6.htm
Fig. 1.5 http://faculty.southwest.tn.edu/rburkett/ES%20-%20%20understanding_the_environment.htm
Fig. 1.6 http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/journal/v6/n6/fig_tab/nrmicro1892_F1.html
Fig. 1.7 http://www.gsi.ir/Images/MedicalGeology/phosphorus.jpg
Fig. 1.8
Fig. 1.9 http://www.concordma.com/magazine/autumn08/closedlg.jpg
Fig. 1.10 http://www.concordma.com/magazine/autumn08/brokenlg.jpg
Fig. 1.11 http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80841e/80841E04.GIF
Fig. 1.12 http://capita.wustl.edu/CAPITA/CapitaReports/Metaphors/unb1b.gif
Table 1
Chapter 2
Fig. 2.1 http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3545/3857098042_7b31c099e5.jpg
Fig. 2.2 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/12/1493902/39108
Fig. 2.3 http://www.nysefc.org/home/index.asp?page=683
Fig. 2.4 http://www.tophazardouswaste.com/constructionwaste.php
Fig. 2.5
Fig. 2.6 http://steverawson.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/waste-uncovering-the-global-food-scandal/
Fig. 2.7 http://www.greenprophet.com/2008/05/10/431/the-shook-doesnt-compost/
Fig. 2.8 http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_q4SweSfGKKM/SlPFUPXvlOI/AAAAAAAAA58/76yx-7VQc7E/s1600-h/e-
waste1.jpg
Fig. 2.9 http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/mitigating_ewaste.php
Fig. 2.10
Fig. 2.11
Fig. 2.12 http://postconflict.unep.ch/sudanreport/sudan_website/doccatcher/data/Photographs%20Figures%
20and%20Captions%20by%20Chapter/Ch6/Chapter%20photos/CS6.4b%20Medical%20DSC_0052.JPG
Fig. 2.13 http://postconflict.unep.ch/sudanreport/sudan_website/doccatcher/data/Photographs%20Figures%
20and%20Captions%20by%20Chapter/Ch6/Chapter%20photos/CS6.4c%20Abbatoir%20DSC_0044.JPG
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
Table 5
Chapter 3
Fig. 3.1 http://www.grida.no/publications/vg/waste/page/2856.aspx
Fig. 3.2, 3.3 http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/techdocs/3795e01.htm
Fig. 3.4 Solid waste management, characterization and its evaluation for potential methane generation: a case
study, http://www.123eng.com/projects/Solid%20Waste%20Management.pdf
Fig. 3.5, 3.6
Fig. 3.7 http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/Resources/Teaching_Packs/Key_Stage_4/Climate_Change/01p.html
Fig. 3.8
Fig. 3.9 http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v451/n7176/fig_tab/nature06592_F3.html
Fig. 3.10 http://www.epa.gov/climate/climatechange/effects/coastal/slrmaps_cost_of_holding.html
Fig. 3.11 http://www.methanetomarketsindia.com/1/landfill-technology.htm
Fig. 3.12
Fig. 3.13,3.14 http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/techdocs/3795e01.htm
Chapter 4
Fig. 4.1 http://www.ehponline.org/members/2009/0800153/fig1.jpg
Fig. 4.2 http://www.driskogroup.com/files/drisko/LoveCanal-middle500px.jpg
Fig. 4.3 http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/archives/vol38/vol38n42/articles/UBTS-NilsOlsen.html
1
Fig. 4.4 http://www.pacificspirit.org/news/uploaded_images/ave_of_barrels-732435.jpg
Fig. 4.5 http://www.driskogroup.com/files/drisko/LoveCanal-after500px.jpg
Fig. 4.6 http://www.flickr.com/photos/motionblur/449096854/
Fig. 4.7 http://www.nathantallman.org/images/lovecanal/lc7.jpg
Fig. 4.8 http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0105/0105lovecanal.htm
Fig. 4.9
Fig. 4.10 http://www.rapingmothernature.com/wp-content/gallery/lovecanal/LoveCanal004.jpg
Fig. 4.11
Fig. 4.12 http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/11/dayintech_1121#
Fig. 4.13 http://www.epa.gov/region2/cleanup/
Fig. 4.14,4.15 http://chevrontoxico.com/news-and-multimedia/2002/0202-map-texaco-concession.html
Fig. 4.16 http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2009/05/05/chevron-gets-reamed-on-60-minutes-over-it’s-toxic-legacy-
in-ecuador/
Fig. 4.17 http://abdem.mforos.com/1413785/9025913-petroleo-para-nosotros-crudo-para-ellos/
Fig. 4.18,4.20 http://chevrontoxico.com/assets/galleries/86/
4.22,4.25,
4.26,4.27
Fig. 4.19 http://www.texacotoxico.org/eng/node/271
Fig. 4.21 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2769176
Fig. 4.23 http://theneweraofresponsibility.com/dirty-oil-in-ecuador/
Fig. 4.24 http://www.organiclightsculptures.com/NNP/files/7698d86da52450d96763c9754c7901aa-118.php
Fig. 4.28,4.33 http://www.cseindia.org/misc/ganga/state_pollution.pdf
4.36
Fig. 4.29,4.30 http://www.rapingmothernature.com/2008/07/29/ganges-river-pollution/
4.31, 4.32
4.34, 4.35
Fig. 4.37 http://www.ilfswasteexchange.com/html/delhi.htm
Fig. 4.38 http://uat.emeraldinsight.com/fig/0830150604002.png
Fig. 4.39 http://advocacynet.org/blogs/media/users/paul/dog.jpg
Fig. 4.40,4.41 http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?237664
4.42
Fig. 4.43 http://www.visibleworld.co.uk/Sem_2_Source/sem2source_page5_htm.htm
Chapter - 5
Fig. 5.1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_Denmark_CIA_extended.gif
Fig. 5.2
Fig. 5.3
Fig. 5.4 http://greenjobs.itcilo.org/pilot-training-1/distance-learning-package-a901360/case-histories/
kalundborg
Fig. 5.5 http://wwwnovonordisk.com/jobs/working_at_novo_nordisk/novo_nordisk_geographical_sites/
kalundborg_uk.asp
Fig. 5.6
Fig. 5.7 http://www.asknature.org/product/b08979c20b2d379a8af64fa83826db34#changeTab
Fig. 5.8 http://www.wormwoman.com/acatalog/2004-fall-tour/2004-fall-tour-08.html
Fig. 5.9 http://www.wormwoman.com/acatalog/2004-fall-tour/2004-fall-tour-12.html
Fig. 5.10
Fig. 5.11,5.12 http://thanaluser.web.aplus.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/zwk_employment.pdf
5.13, 5.14
5.15, 5.16
Fig. 5.17,5.18 http://www.neerexnora.com/images/
5.19, 5.20
Fig. 5.21,5.22 http://www.worldwaterweek.org/documents/WWW_PDF/2009/wednesday/K23/Ai
5.23 jit_Seshadri_VVF_pres_www_Garima.pdf
Table 6
Table 7
Chapter - 6
Fig. 6.1 http://www.gdrc.org/uem/waste/continuum/continuum.html
Fig. 6.2
2
Fig. 6.3 http://www.surreywaste.info/communities/action/minimisation
Fig. 6.4, 6.6 http://www.rise.org.au/info/Tech/waste/index.html
6.7, 6.8, 6.12
6.13
Fig. 6.5 http://runcoenv.com/landfill.htm
Fig. 6.9, 6.10 http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/paper/Tr_114/chapter2.htm
Fig. 6.11 http://www.arc21.org.uk/opencontent/?itemid=27&section=Residual+Waste+Project
Fig. 6.14 http://leeds2.emeraldinsight.com/fig/0240200504001.png
Fig. 6.15 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Surface-Aerated_Basin.png
Fig. 6.16 http://www.unitechwater.net/image/STP-Activated_Sludge_1(schematic).png
3
References
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/waste/waste-gases.html
http://www.gdrc.org/uem/waste/swm-glossary.html
http://www.indiahabitat.org/wastemanege.htm
http://green.autoblog.com/2006/10/31/subaru-zero-waste-factory-wins-epa-award/
http://green.autoblog.com/2006/08/27/raw-materials-go-in-subarus-and-nothing-else-come-out-of-ze/
http://green.autoblog.com/2007/07/03/subaru-sells-100-000-pzevs-and-sends-nothing-to-the-dump-for-thr/
http://wasteage.com/Recycling_And_Processing/hard_zero_subaru/
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/124147/article.html
http://www.caledoniawealthmanagement.com/blog/?p=394
http://www.caledoniawealthmanagement.com/blog/?c5EpYxkU
http://www.answers.com/topic/sewage-treatment
http://www.rowenvironmental.com/gallery-1.htm
http://www.toxicslink.org/art-view.php?id=43
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/04/04/stories/2004040407570400.htm
Chapter 4
Case study - 2
http://www.texacotoxico.org/eng/node/271
http://chevrontoxico.com/
Case study - 4
http://www.ilfswasteexchange.com/html/delhimap.pdf
Chapter - 5
Case study - 1
http://www.indigodev.com/Kal.html
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Kalundborg,_Denmark
Case study - 2
http://www.wormwoman.com/
Case study - 3
http://www.zerowastekovalam.org/
http://thanaluser.web.aplus.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/zwk_employment.pdf
Case study - 4
http://www.toxicslink.org/art-view.php?id=43
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/wealth-from-waste/265808/
http://www.worldwaterweek.org/documents/WWW_PDF/2009/wednesday/K23/
Aijit_Seshadri_VVF_pres_www_Garima.pdf
4
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Impacts of Waste On The Environment and Its Management in Cities

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Impacts of Waste On The Environment and Its Management in Cities

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Seminar

Impacts of waste on the environment and

Guide: Prof. Prabhakar B. Bhagwat

2. Sources and types of waste generated in cities 15

3. Impacts of waste on the environment 11

4. Case studies - Impacts of improper waste disposal 17

5. Case Studies - Successful ways to deal with 24

6. Methods to control adverse impacts generated by waste 30

Biotic components Abiotic components 1.1 Definition and constituents of an environment

1.2 Earth as a sustainable ecosystem

Ecosystem of earth works in two ways:

Essential nutrient elements are recycled between living

1.3 Study of natural cycles of the environment

Solar energy continues evaporation of oceans; winds

1.3.2 Carbon cycle Fig. 1.3 Hydrological cycle

Plants take in carbon which is fundamental element for

Both animals and plants release waste carbon dioxide.

1.3.3 Nitrogen cycle

The nitrogen-fixing bacteria form nitrates out of the

1.3.4 Sulphur cycle

1.3.5 Phosphorus cycle

Over time, geologic processes can bring ocean sediments

1.4 Stable ecosystem

Materials are transferred between the atmosphere,

Various aspects such as the water cycle, state of the

Fig. 1.11 Natural ecosystem Fig. 1.12 Anthroposystem

Wastes may be generated during the extraction of raw

For plants and nonhuman animals there is virtually no

We need to recognize that most of what we call wastes are

2.2 Sources and types of waste generated in cities

Electronic waste or e-waste is one of the rapidly growing

 Fruit and vegetable processing - waste water contains

2.6 Sludge waste

2.7 Gaseous waste

2.8 Hazardous waste

2.8.1 Household hazardous waste

2.8.2 Industrial hazardous waste

Table 4 2.9 Hospital waste or bio medical waste, toxic waste

It include wastes like sharps, soiled waste, disposables,

2.10 Nuclear (radioactive) waste

3.1 Factors affecting the environment

Fig. 3.1 Waste sources and their impact on the environment

3.2.2 Water Contamination

b). Groundwater Contamination

3.2.3 Air Contamination

a). Greenhouse Effect

A number of human activities, processes and

b). Increase in Methane concentration

 Man has contributed through domestication of

3.3 Depletion of ozone layer

Effects of Global warming

Rising sea levels will cause problems such as:

 Loss of renewable resources such as metals, plastic,

The flooding of Mumbai during the 2005 monsoons,

3.6.1 Impacts of landfill

3.6.2 Impacts of incinerators

Canal used as a dumping ground, landfill

Unhygienic covering of landfill

Institutional and residential construction around the

Evacuation for cleanup plan

Problem which still exists today

Fig. 4.11, 4.12, 4.13 Clean up process in Love Canal