Solid and Hazardous Waste Management & Recycling Importance

Waste (also known as rubbish, trash, refuse, garbage, junk, litter, and ort) is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea and sweat.

Waste breaks down in landfills to form methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Change in climate and destruction of ozone layer due to waste biodegradable. Littering, due to waste pollutions, illegal dumping, Leaching: is a process by which solid waste enter soil and ground water and contaminating them.

It is estimated that food wasted by the US and Europe could feed the world three times over. Food waste contributes to excess consumption of freshwater and fossil fuels which, along with methane and CO2 emissions from decomposing food, impacts global climate change. Every tonne of food waste prevented has the potential to save 4.2 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. If we all stop wasting food that could have been eaten, the CO2 impact would be the equivalent of taking one in four cars off the road.

Hazardous, or toxic, waste threatens human health or the environment because it is poisonous, dangerously chemically reactive, corrosive, or flammable. Examples include:

• • Industrial solvents.
  • Hospital medical waste.
  • Car batteries.
  • Household pesticide products.
  • Dry-cell batteries.
  • Ash from incinerators and coal-burning power plants.

 

Whether recycling makes economic sense depends on how we look at its economic and environmental benefits and costs. Critics of recycling programs argue that recycling is costly and adds to the taxpayer burden in communities where recycling is funded through taxation.

Biography

Essam Hassan has completed his Ph.D. (Doctor of Sciences) from (Department of Laser Applications in Environmental Metrology, Optical and Agricultural Chemistry) - Cairo University. He is Senior Researcher - Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency Presidency of the Council of Ministers & Environmental, food and water safety consultant, Gulf countries and the Middle East

 

Author(s): Dr. Essam Mohamed Hassan

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