14.

2 Waste Management
Objectives
By the end of the subtopic, the learner should be able to:
 Recognise the potential consequence of the use of land-filling and incineration
(including the importance of temperature control and the possible release of dioxins)
for the disposal of solid waste.
 Outline the advantages and disadvantages of dumping waste at sea and in rivers
(including sewage and the problems associated with oil spillages).
 Recognise the problems associated with heavy metals in the environment, e.g. Lead,
mercury and chromium.
 Recognise the problems associated with the disposal of radioactive waste and mine
waste.

Introduction
 Waste – Any material that has been rendered worthless for their primary uses.
 Management – Is a process of controlling, analyzing and making decisions.
 Waste management – Is a process of minimizing, handling, controlling, and disposal of
materials rendered worthless for their primary uses.

Waste management procedure

i. Avoid
ii. Reduce
iii. Reuse
iv. Recycle
v. Disposal

1. Avoid waste Generation

 The best way to manage waste is to stop any chemical processing.
 When operations stop, no waste is generated.
 Unfortunately, it is impossible to stop chemical process industries because they are the
pinnacle of any operating economy.
 Therefore, it is important to minimize the waste generated by the processes using the
3Rs, reduce, reuse, and recycle.
2. Reduce
 Reduce is the concept of waste minimization that suggests the best way to conserve is
to use less.
 Cutting back on unnecessary purchases lowers the rate at which materials are used.
 One example of waste reduction methods implemented by the Zimbabwe government
is the introduction of grocery plastic bags fee, this shunned away customers from
unnecessary collection of plastics bags from stores even after purchasing a bubble gum.
 Use of more efficient processes in industries is another way of waste reduction.

3. Reuse
 Reuse means putting an item to the same or different use after it has fulfilled its primary
function e.g. the coca-cola bottle is bought back with deposit for repackaging, using a
stock margarine container as a lunch box or a cascade container as a bottle drink.
 The original product does not change its original form and this method does not harm
the environment in any way.

4. Recycle
 In recycling, the original product is turned into a completely new product after its
primary function to reduce waste of potentially harmful materials.
 One good example is when plastic bottles are recycled into plastic chairs.
 Combined use of reduce, reuse and recycle can only minimize waste but never
eliminate.
 The remaining waste must be disposed of in very environmentally friendly ways
depending on nature of the waste.

Waste disposal methods

 After implementing all waste minimisation techniques, the remaining waste need to be
disposed in very environmentally friendly ways at minimum possible toxicity.
  There are many waste management techniques including:
1. Ion exchange
2. Incineration
3. Land filling

Ion exchange

 Ion exchange is chemical process in which unwanted dissolved ions are exchanged with
other ions with of similar charge.
 Mainly used for water softening, demineralisation, dealkalisation, deionasation and
disinfection.
 Below is a typical ion exchange setup:

Figure 14.2.1: Typical ion exchange configuration

Incineration
 Incineration is a waste treatment technology that involves burning waste to very high
temperatures to recover heat energy.
 The volume of waste that end up in landfills is reduced by approximately 90%.
  Below is a simple block flow to show the basic steps in incineration:

Figure 14.2.2: The incineration process

 The first concern for incineration stands against its injurious effects over health due to
production of furans and dioxin emission.
 However, the emission is controlled by developing of modern plants and governmental
regulations
 Incineration plants are capable for producing energy and can substitute power
generation plants of other sort.
 The bottom ash after the process is completed is considered non-injurious that still is
capable for being land filled and recycled.
 Fine particles are removable by processing through filters and scrubbers.

Land filling
 A landfill is a professionally engineered structure designed into or on top of the ground in
which mostly solid waste is disposed in isolation from the environment (air, rain and
groundwater).
  The isolation is done through providing a bottom lining and a daily soil covering to keep
the waste isolated from the environment
 It is important not to confuse a landfill with a compost pit at the backyard of many
households (gomaba remarara harisi landfill, igodi lezibi kayisilo landfill).
 This pit is not professionally engineered and provided with the right material as lining to
avoid liquid and gas leachates into the ground and atmosphere
 A typical landfill is designed as follows:

Figure 14.2.3: Basic structure of a landfill.

Waste disposal into water bodies

 In landlocked countries waste can be dumped into rivers.
 In coastal countries, waste is dumped in rivers, seas or oceans.

 Coastal waters receive a variety of land-based water pollutants, ranging from petroleum
wastes to pesticides to excess sediments.

 Marine waters also receive wastes directly from offshore activities, such as ocean-based
dumping (e.g., from ships and offshore oil and gas operations).
Advantages

 It is a cheap and convenient way of disposing waste.

 No hardcore treatment is required before disposing into the sea/ocean.
 One advantage is planned dumping into the ocean, used cars are dumped into the sea
to provide reefs.

Disadvantages

 Waste dumped in oceans or rivers tend to have toxic substances that suck in oceanic
oxygen.
 This leads to depletion of oxygen in the water thus leading to mammal and other fishes
early deaths.
 Increased plastics on the surface of water bodies also reduce the amount of oxygen in
the ocean/river because plastics are non-biodegradable.
 Presence of hazardous waste disrupts flow of ecosystem and food chain in aquatic
beings thus reducing the reproductive systems of these aquatic beings.
 Human beings that consume fisheries that have accumulated harmful substances in
their tissues also face unwanted health complications.

Problems of heavy metals in the industry

 The term heavy metal refers to any metallic chemical element that has a relatively high
density and is toxic or poisonous at low concentrations.
 Examples: mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), thallium (Ti), and
lead (Pb).
 Heavy metals are not easily degraded and destroyed. To a small extent, they enter our
bodies via food, drinking water and air.
 As trace elements, some heavy metals (e.g. copper, selenium, zinc) are essential to
maintain the metabolism of the human body.
 However, at higher concentrations they can lead to poisoning. Heavy metal poisoning
could result, for instance, from drinking water contamination (e.g. lead pipes), high
ambient air concentrations near emission sources, or intake via the food chain.
 Heavy metals are dangerous because they tend to bio-accumulate.
 Bioaccumulation means an increase in the concentration of a chemical in a biological
organism over time, compared to the chemical's concentration in the environment.
 Heavy metals can enter a water supply by industrial and consumer waste, or even from
acidic rain breaking down soils and releasing heavy metals into streams, lakes, rivers,
and groundwater.

Oil spillage

 An oil spill is any activity that releases liquid hydrocarbons into the environment be it
land, marine or the atmosphere.
 Oil spills often result in both immediate and long-term environmental damage. Some of
the environmental damage caused by an oil spill can last for decades after the spill
occurs.
 Oil spills damage beaches, marshlands and fragile aquatic ecosystems.
 Damaged tankers, pipelines or offshore oilrigs coat everything it touches and becomes
an unwelcome but long-term part of every ecosystem it enters.
 Oil spills kill birds. Oil-covered birds are practically a universal symbol of the
environmental damage wreaked by oil spills.
 The oil sometimes clogs the blowholes of whales and dolphins, making it impossible for
the animals to breathe properly and disrupting their ability to communicate.
 Even when marine mammals escape the immediate effects, an oil spill can cause
damage by contaminating their food supply.
 The Exxon Valdez oil spill killed thousands of sea otters, hundreds of harbour seals,
roughly two dozen killer whales and a dozen or more river otters.
 Oil spills destroy wildlife habitat and breeding ground.

Sewage disposal
 There is a lot of sewage flowing around due to a poor drainage system especially in the
areas around Mukuvisi River.
 Sanitation is the worst problem facing the city, which needs to be addressed properly
and energetically, otherwise risk of outbreaks of water born diseases is imminent.
 While there have been excellent views on the indiscriminate spiting and urinating in the
public places, none has so far addressed the practical consequences for hygiene,
whether trends in increased infection justify continued silent on sewage in our city.
 When toxic substances enter a body of water, they are dissolved and become
suspended in water or are deposited on the bed of the water body.
 The resulting water pollution causes the quality of the water to deteriorate and affects
aquatic ecosystems. Pollutants can also seep down and effect groundwater deposits.
 Sewage and industrial wastes are discharged into the rivers. Because of this, pollutants
enter groundwater, rivers, and other water bodies.
 Such water, which ultimately ends up in our households, is often highly contaminated
and can carry disease-causing microbes.
 Domestic sewage contains a wide variety of dissolved and suspended impurities. It
amounts to a very small fraction of the sewage by weight, but it is large by volume and
contains impurities such as organic materials and plant nutrients that tend to rot.
 The main organic materials are food and vegetable wastes. Plant nutrients come from
chemical soaps, washing powders, etc.
 Domestic sewage is also very likely to contain disease-causing microbes.
 The various substances that we use for keeping our houses clean add to water pollution
because they contain harmful chemicals. Most detergents and washing powders contain
phosphates, which are used to soften the water, among other things.
 When sewage enters a lake or stream, microorganisms begin to decompose the organic
materials. Oxygen is consumed as microorganisms use it in their metabolism.
Ecological damage

 Sewage-contaminated water causes eutrophication, which is the increase in

concentration of chemical elements required for life.
  The nitrates, phosphates, and organic matter found in human waste serve as food for
algae and bacteria.
 This causes these organisms to overpopulate to the point where they use up most of the
dissolved oxygen that is naturally found in water, making it difficult for other organisms
in this aquatic environment to live.

Health risks

 A variety of organisms lives in the human gastrointestinal tract. These organisms

including bacteria, viruses, and parasites, end up in human waste.
 Many of these organisms can be transmitted to other humans and animals.
 Bathers are at increased risk of contracting illness due to bacteria and viruses present in
sewage effluent. Gastrointestinal disorders have been linked to sewage pollution, with
viruses implicated as the cause. Shellfish strain water through their gills to trap
microscopic plants and animals for food.
 If the water was contaminated with disease-causing bacteria, these could be consumed
as food by shellfish. When eaten raw or partially cooked, these shellfish can make
people sick.

Radioactive materials

 Usually, when nuclear waste is disposed of, it is put into storage containers made of
steel that is then placed inside a further cylinder made of concrete.
 These protective layers prevent the radiation from getting outside and harming the
atmosphere or generally surroundings of the nuclear waste.
 It is a relatively easy and inexpensive method of containing very hazardous materials
and actually does not need special transportation or storage.
Problems associated with disposal of radioactive waste
1. Long Half Life
 The products of nuclear fission have long half lives, which means that they will continue
to be radioactive – and therefore hazardous- for many thousands of years.
  This means that, if anything were to happen to the waste cylinders in which nuclear
waste is stored, this material can be extremely volatile and dangerous for many years to
come.

2. Storage
 Another problem with nuclear waste disposal that is still being discussed today is the
issue of storage.
 Many different storage methods have been discussed throughout history, with very few
being implemented because of the problematic nature of storing such hazardous
material that will remain radioactive for thousands of years.
 Amongst the suggestions that were considered as above ground storage, ejection into
space, ocean disposal and disposal into ice sheets.
 Of these only one was implemented– ocean disposal was actually used by thirteen
different countries and was the method of dumping radioactive waste into the oceans in
order to get rid of it.

3. Effects on Nature
 One of the biggest concerns that the world has with the disposal of nuclear waste is the
effect the hazardous materials could have on animals and plant life.
 Although most of the time the waste is well sealed inside huge drums of steel and
concrete, sometimes accidents can happen and leaks can occur.
 Nuclear waste can have drastically bad effects on life, causing cancerous growths, for
instance, or causing genetic problems for many generations of animal and plants. Not
disposing of nuclear waste properly can therefore have huge environmental
impacts that can harm many millions of animals and hundreds of animal species.
Mineral waste
 Some of the major environmental effects of mining and processing of mineral resources
are as follows:
1. Pollution
  Mining operations often pollute the atmosphere, surface waters and ground water.
 Rainwater seeping through spoil heaps may become heavily contaminated, acidic or
turbid, with potentially devastating effects on nearby streams and rivers.
 Trace elements (cadmium, cobalt, copper and others) when leached from mining wastes
and concentrated in water, soil or plants, may be toxic or may cause diseases in people
and other animals who consume contaminated water or plants, or who use the soil.

2. Destruction of Land
 Mining activity can cause a considerable loss of land because of chemical con-
tamination, destruction of productive layers of soil, and often permanent scarring of the
land surface.
 Large mining operations disturb the land by directly removing material in some areas
and by dumping waste in others.
 There can be a considerable loss of wildlife habitat.

3. Subsidence
 The presence of old, deep mines may cause the ground surface to subside in a vertical
or horizontal direction.
 This may severely damage buildings, roads and farmland, as well as alter the surface
drainage patterns.

4. Noise
 Blasting and transport cause noise disturbance to local residents and to wildlife.

5. Energy
 Extraction and transportation requires huge amounts of energy which adds to impacts
such as acid rain and global warming.
6. Impact on the biological environment
 Physical changes in the land, soil, water and air associated with mining directly and
indirectly affect the biological environment.
 Direct impacts include death of plants or animals caused by mining activity or contact
with toxic soil or water from mines.
 Indirect impacts include changes in nutrient cycling, total biomass, species diversity, and
ecosystem stability due to alterations in groundwater or surface water availability or
quality.