What is Solid Waste Management?
‘Solid waste management’ is a term we hear a lot these days but to fully understand it, we must first understand what ‘solid waste’ means. Solid waste is a range of garbage that comes from offices, homes, industries, and agricultural or other commercial activities that are deemed unwanted or no longer useful.
The term ‘solid waste management’ is used to refer to the process of collecting, transporting, treating, and disposing of solid waste materials, in a way that best addresses economic and environmental considerations, among many others. The purpose of solid waste management is to reduce and eliminate the impact that solid wastes can have on our health and the environment, to provide a better quality of life and support economic development.
Major Sources of Solid Waste
Landfills receive tons of solid waste every day. Waste comes from different places. These are some of the primary sources of solid waste:
Residential: food wastes, plastics, metals, yard wastes, ashes, paper, glass, household items like tires, electronics, batteries, etc.- Industrial: industries such as construction sites, fabrication planets, power, and chemical plants produce food, packaging and housekeeping wastes, medical and other hazardous wastes.
- Commercial: this includes hotels, restaurants, markets, stores, office buildings, etc. Their waste is mainly composed of plastics, food wastes, cardboard materials, paper, glass, special wastes, and hazardous materials.
- Institutional: schools, colleges, government centers, and prisons produce waste, too, such as glass, food waste, wood, cardboard materials, paper, electronics, and more.
- Municipal Services: street cleaning, landscaping wastes, waste from parks, beaches and recreational areas, wastewater treatment plants, and more.
- Other solid waste sources: construction and demolition areas, treatment plants and sites, biomedical industry and agriculture, are also part of the primary causes of solid waste.
Poor waste management affects us all. It changes the environment and the community. Unmanaged biodegradable waste can promote the development of different types of disease. Toxic waste can cause biological problems to the environment and pollute the ground and water, and poisonous gases are coming from hazardous wastes that can harm our health. Properly disposing and treating solid waste is incredibly important. Sunrise Sanitation has been in the business of residential and commercial solid waste management and recycling services for years. Let’s collaborate in protecting our environment! Give us a call for more information.
