Solid Waste Definition

2.0LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. DEFINITION OF WASTE

Wastes are substance or objects which are disposed of under the requirement or the provision of a law.

Waste handling practices have dramatically evolved over time and many habits perceived to be acceptable in earlier times have turned out to be unsuitable from today’s perspective, (Roche, 2013).Waste may take different forms. Below are the types of waste;

• Hazardous waste from the industries

• Municipal waste from households

• Biomedical waste from clinics

• Radioactive waste.

Hazardous waste: It is waste that is dangerous or potentially harmful to our health and environment. It includes most paints, chemicals, tires, batteries, light bulbs, electrical appliances, fluorescent lamps, aerosol spray

Solid waste includes; waste tires, septage, scrap metal, latex paints, furniture and toys, garbage, appliances and vehicles, oil and anti-freeze, empty aerosol cans, paint cans and compressed gas cylinders, construction and demolition debris, asbestos. Some of these waste can burn, some cannot. Some can be recycled, some cannot. Therefore a detailed understanding of the composition of solid waste will indicate the management methods that will be used. Having understood the concept of the types and components of solid waste, this leads to the discussion of solid waste management in the next section.

2.1.2Solid –waste management

Municipalities, usually responsible for waste management in the cities, have the challenge to provide an effective and efficient system to the inhabitants. However, they often face problems beyond the ability of the municipal authority to tackle (Sujauddin et al., 2008) mainly due to lack of organization, financial resources, complexity and system multi dimensionality ( Burntley, 2007).

For the past years the most commonly recognized methods for the final disposal of solid waste have been:

• Dumping on land, canyons and mining pits

• Dumping in

( Mensah and Larbi (2005) ) .Improper disposal of municipal waste can cause a lot of unsanitary conditions, and these conditions can lead to extreme pollution of the environment and outbreaks of diseases. Therefore the reasons for solid waste management is to collect, treat, and dispose of solid materials that are discarded in an environmentally sustainable manner. Tchobanoglous et al (1993:7) defines solid waste management as “…that discipline associated with the control of generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing and disposal of solid waste in a manner that is in accord with the best principles of public health, economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetics and other environmental considerations and that is also responsive to public attitudes.” Therefore, if solid waste management is to be accomplished in an efficient and orderly manner, the fundamental aspects and relationships involved must be identified and understood clearly. On the basis of this solid waste management takes into consideration the following: source separation, storage, collection, transportation and disposal of solid waste in an environmentally sustainable manner. (Puopeil, F.