Waste in an indispensable element, be it in a household or in an industrial setup. Did you know that the amount of waste that is generated in the Americas alone every year is a whopping 220 million tons? The big question here is that how can we deal with the problem of ever-mounting waste disposal? The answer is through effective waste management.

What is waste management? 

Water management refers to the process of treating and effectively disposing of solid waste. It also offers several solutions for recycling items that don’t belong to trash. It is mostly concerned with converting garbage and waste materials into a useful resource. Waste management involves all those activities involved in managing waste right from the stage that they are generated to its final disposal. The activities involved include collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal of waste along with monitoring and regulation of waste disposal. It also encompasses the regulatory and legal framework that relates to waste management and recycling.

Types of waste management

There are several methods available for waste disposal. Here’s a look at some of the commonly used techniques:

Incineration/combustion

This is a technique of waste management wherein municipal solid wastes are burnt at high temperatures. This converts the materials into gaseous products and residues. The alternate name of this technique is thermal treatment, where solid waste materials are converted by incinerators into heat, gas, steam, and ash. One of the biggest perks of this method of waste management is that it reduces the volume of solid waste by 20-30 percent of the original volume. Furthermore, it minimizes the space taken up by waste and consequently reduces the stress on landfills.

Plasma gasification

Plasma refers to an electrically charged or a highly ionized gas. In this method, a vessel uses characteristic plasma torches which creates a gasification zone for the conversion of solid or liquid waste into syngas. In this process, the molecular bonds of the waste are broken down as a result of the intense heat in the vessels and the elemental components.

Composting

Composting is one of the simplest and most commonly used natural bio-degradation techniques for waste disposal. It takes organic wastes such as kitchen waste and turns it into nutrient-rich food for the plants. This is commonly used as a form of organic farming, which allows organic materials to be in one place for months until the microbes finally decompose them. One major drawback of this method is that it is a slow process and consumes a considerable amount of space.

Recovery and recycling

Recovery of resources is the process of taking useful discarded items and using them later. These items are processed into energy in the form of usable electricity, heat, or fuel. Recycling, on the other hand, involves transforming waste products into renewed products to prevent energy usage and the consumption of fresh raw materials.

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