Solid Waste Pollution Essay

INTRODUCTION

Pollutants enter our environment naturally or through human activities. Natural pollutants disperse in the environment breaking into non harmful particles by natural processes. Most serious pollution forms are due to human activities that occur in or near urbanized areas or industrial areas. The point source pollutants come from single identifiable sources, such as the drainpipe of a meat- packing plant or the chimney of a house. While non point source pollutants enter the soil, water, air from hard to locate sources. Two kinds of wastes are identified in the environment degradable wastes are easily degraded naturally by the act of nature and microorganisms and the non-degradable wastes persist in the environment for millions of years. The best way to deal with non-degradable pollutant is to reduce their use and reuse them and limit their dumping into the environment (G.T.Miller; 1995).

Municipal solid wastes are the largest waste type generated throughout the world which consists of inorganic and organic pollutants. The organic solid waste generated from municipal sources can further be dividing into 3 categories: liable, fermentable, and non-fermentable. Liable wastes include materials such as foodstuff that decompose fast. Fermentable wastes decompose rapidly,

In term of toxicity, few solid wastes are classified as hazardous which include pesticides, electric waste, herbicides, medical waste and paints are recommended to be discarded of in special ways and not to be mixed with general municipal waste. In developing countries solid waste characteristically has a high content of organic waste compared to that in developed countries, because in developed countries there are ways by which organic waste is utilized and less organic waste is generated. In developed countries there is more electronic waste and inorganic waste. (A. K. Ziraba et al.,