Waste Management And Remedial Measures Environmental Sciences Essay

ingest Management And Remedial Measures Environmental Sciences EssayWaste is beingness generated by the humankind from the beginning itself like that of the animals they hunted for, bones, timberland from trees and so forth.Its just that as the time passed, the composition and the amount of desolate generated has shown a drastic change. The progress of civilization takingsed in the generation of more complex temperament of gaga. The increasing industrialization and consumerism from the 19th century numbered in pollution of earth by the burgeoning generation of non-biodegradable looseness. The increasing population, then increasing demands, then increasing industrialisation is the cycle which is continuously adding to the non-biodegradable permissive waste in the environment.Classification of wasteAccording to the source of generation, the solid waste can classified asHo use of goods and serviceshold waste or the municipal wasteIndustrial waste or the hazardous wasteBiomedi cal waste or the infectious wasteMunicipal waste- The municipal waste includes the household waste, construction debris and waste from the streets. The municipal solid waste generated has grown from 6million tonnes (in 1947) to 48 million tonnes (in 1997) Shockingly, more than 1/4th of this waste is not collected at all and more than half of the cities in India do not have the adequate might to transport it and also more available landfills are not managed well and are also not inclined to safeguard the soil and groundwater from contamination. Also, some of the household waste can be hazardous like old batteries, paint tins, old medicines, and so forthA table showing the time taken by the waste to decompose fibre of wasteTime taken to decompose (approx.)Organic waste (Fruits, vegetables, etc.)1-2 weeksPaper10-30 daysWood10-15 yearsWoolen items1 yearMetals (aluminium, tin, etc.)100-500 yearscharge card bags10,00,000 yearsGlass bottlesNot yet determinedIndustrial waste- The industri al waste can be said to be hazardous since it can actually often contain toxic substances. Such waste can be highly inflammable or explosive and can also react on exposure to certain things. Around 7 million tonnes of hazardous waste is generated in India mainly in the cities Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.The waste generated by industries is primarily metals, chemicals, paper, pesticides, dyes, etc.Hospital waste- It refers to the waste generated during the diagnosis, treatment of human-beings or animals or that generated during the research activities undertaken in the field. This type of waste can be highly infectious and can result in serious damages to mankind if not managed properly in a scientific manner.Such waste can be soiled waste, anatomic waste, sharps, chemical waste, discarded medicines, etc.The government has enforced Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules,1998 for making the medical institutions to handle the waste properly.Regardin g the projectThough the educational institutes do not burden the environment with waste as compared to the waste generated by other organisations, still they generate a significant amount of waste which can snuff it difficult to manage without any expertise in the field. In fact, such waste can become even harmful if not handled properly. So, attention needfully to be paid towards this and therefore we are undertaking this research project to find out the system of managing solid waste in SVC, to find the loopholes, problems or inefficiencies in the processes (if any) and to try to provide remedial solutions to such bottlenecks.One of the main idea which seems apparent and emphasises the importance of this project is that the educational institutes seem to be generating waste primarily which is biodegradable in nature. Biodegradable waste is the waste which is of gear up or animal or natural origin and can be garbled down into simple compounds by microorganisms. It can be decomp osed by the microorganisms last. So it gets back into nature unlike the non-biodegradable waste which stays in the environment for an indecisive period of time (like plastic).MethodologyData CollectionPrimary SourcesSecondary SourcesStudent referencesPersonal observationsCampus administrators interviewWe will be relying primarily on indirect source of data for this project since this source is likely to provide us a very precise and accurate information saving our time and salute of collecting primary first-hand information. We will also be observing the practices in the campus for some first-hand information and patterns on waste generation and we will also interview a sample of students from the campus to gather primary data.Our source of secondary information is Mr. AT Sutar, Campus Administrator of SVC.So we will collect information from Mr. AT Sutar by a personal interview and then collect data and analyse it to reach a peculiar(prenominal) conclusion about the state of waste worry in the campus.Some of the questions posed to Mr. AT Sutar in the interview wereQ- What is the area of land occupied by the campus?Q- What kind of waste is generated in the campus?Q- How does the waste generated from opposite colleges differ in composition and volume?Q- What is the procedure of collection of waste?Q- How is the waste stored before it goes for its final treatment?Q- How is the waste disposed off ultimately?Q- Is there any waste which you think can be controlled?Q- Is there any problem presently being faced in waste precaution?Some important questions that we asked to the students wereQ- What is the waste that you throw in the college dustbins?Q- Is the waste generated by you constant or varies over time periods?Q- Are there any specific factors which you think results in unnecessary increase in waste generation in SVC?Q- What would be your views if the colleges take a decision to ban or curtail the use of non-biodegradable substances like polybags and thermocol in the campus (SVC)?FindingsBy the interview with Mr. AT Sutar the students and our observation, we found the following information about the waste generated and its management procedure in SVC flake of waste generatedBeing an educational institute, the main type of waste generated is stationery which includes papers, pens, pencils etc. The quantity of such waste is the highest from Symbiosis Institute of Design (which is slightly 7-10 times the waste generated by any other institute) due to the nature of the subjects taught.Food waste is also generated in a significant quantity from the campus cafeteria, succus centre and mess.Further, the campus medical centre generates bio-medical waste which requires special treatment due to its harmful nature. Since the advanced medical treatments are not performed here, the bio-medical wastes composition is limited to sharps, bandages etc. which is relatively east to handle vis--vis the waste of other medical institutions like hosp itals.But the amount of sharps and related waste also increases tremendously during the health check-up of the students at the campus which requires attention.Other waste includes plastic, thermocole, glass, tin and also the decoration material and allied waste which is observed during the institutions fests and extra-curricular activities and competitions.Our interviews with the students revealed the following additional informationWhile eating in the mess, students initially take a good amount of viands in their plates and sometimes a lot of this goes waste when they do not like its taste perception or when they become full. This results in food wastage.Students also said the reason for increase in non-biodegradable waste in campus during college fests can be due to the use of decoration materials like thermacole and upon questioning whether they would be able to substitute them with the biodegradable substances, their reply was in positive which implies that there was non-aware ness among them about the issue and they can be able to reduce non-biodegradable during fests if motivated to do so.Sources of waste generationCollegesEating outletsMedical centreOther general wasteSIDSCMS-UGSIMCSISMessCafetariasuccus centresStationery, glass, tin, thermacole etc.Food waste like unused food, leftover food, spoilt fruits and vegetables etc.Sharps, bandages etc.Campus cleaning, Xerox centre wasteType of waste generatedWaste CollectionThe waste is collected through 3 big dustbins kept at each floor of every institution in the campus.The cleaning round has the responsibility of segregating the waste after it is collected in the dustbins.Then this waste is accumulated in the basement after segregation for sending it to its place of presidential term or treatment.Waste TreatmentThe biodegradable waste like food waste is sent to the biogas plant and the other waste which cannot be treated by the campus is sent with the PMC waste disposal truck which takes a round in Vima n Nagar daily.The biogas plant was established in the campus in 2005 with a cost of around 10 lakhs and is currently being operated by 3 specialist employees.The capacity of the biogas plant is much more than is being utilised and the energy generated by the plant is being utilised for boiling the water which in turn is used for cleaning the utensils of the colleges mess and cafeteria.The pressure generated of the biogas is very little which further creates less power/electricity. This implies that the biogas plant in the campus is being underutilised.Problems identifiedThe problems identified by us areExcessive wastage of food by the students.Significant increase in the generation of non-biodegradable waste during college fests extra-curricular activities.Underutilisation of biogas plants capacity.We also didnt recognize any cycle activity in the campus.RecommendationsThe wastage of food by the students can be reduced by inducing them to take food in little amounts and to take i t again if they want rather than putting it altogether in one go in their plates.Posters can also be put up regarding this in the colleges mess so that the students are reminded of it every time they are putting food in their plates.During the college fests, students can be back up to reduce the use of non-biodegradable substances as far as possible.Other substances like polybags and thermacole can be banned in the campus and fines can be imposed on any student found using them to strictly discourage their use.Also, the biogas plant in the campus is being underutilised to a great extent. The plant gets input (biodegradable waste) to its full capacity occasionally during the college fests when the amount of waste generated is 3-4 times the waste generated during the normal college days. So the plant has an idle capacity of about half its full capacity during the upper limit period of the year.Further, we feel that the investment made in the plant is not yielding sufficient returns a s the amount of power being generated is very less apparently due to the low capacity utilisation of the plant.So, for tackling this issue, it is take that the plant is made to operate on its full capacity. Now this cannot be done by asking students to unnecessarily generate more waste within the campus but it can be solved by tying up with PMC and getting the required biodegradable waste from the PMC garbage truck which further reduces PMCs waste processing load too.Once the biogas plant starts operating on its full capacity, it will result in the generation of more power which can further be used in the college and save funds on electricity bills.Further, to encourage recycling in the campus, students can be induced to form up clubs for the purpose of taking up the recycling activity (even if its on a small scale) and touch on their creativity to generate the best creations out of the waste.Also, the three Rs ideology can be of great help in guiding the waste management in SVC.R educeRecycleReuseImprovement in waste managementAmount of waste generated