What Are The Different Types Of Waste In Environment?

What are the different types of waste in environment?

Waste means anything that is no longer of any use or purpose and can be thrown away as it is no longer needed. There are several types of wastes that harm our environment. These may be industrial waste, agricultural waste, domestic waste, etc. We will look into the types of wastes below.

Types of Environmental Waste

The different types of wastes can be categorised into three types, which are- solid waste, wet waste and gaseous waste.

• Solid Waste

Solid wastes are any garbage that is in solid or semi-solids form. Theses wastes cannot be dry or wet.

• Wet Waste

Wastes in liquid form are considered wet waste which is generated from washing, juices, oils, etc.

• Gaseous Waste

Wastes released in gaseous form from automobiles, and factories due to burning of fossil fuels and release of chemicals causes events like global warming, smog and acid rain

Biodegradable waste

Biodegradable wastes are those which can be decomposed. It contains organic matter which mainly come from households, restaurants, hotels as well as from agricultural farms andanimal farms. Biodegradable wastes can be used as a form of manure. Examples are seeds, food and paper.

Non-biodegradable waste

Non-biodegradable wastes cannot be decomposed which is a major source of pollutant in the landfills. Examples are plastics, glasses, rubber, metals, etc. However, these wastes can be opted for recycling and reuse.

Sources of Environmental Waste

There are several sources of waste in environment, some of which are:

• Industrial Waste

Industrial wastes means waste from factories and industrial companies. Lots ofchemicals and hazardous wastes are released in the manufacturing of products which are directly disposed off into the land and water without prior treatment. This causes pollution of land and water. The toxic chemicals released leads to air pollution.

• Domestic Waste

Domestic waste means the household wastes from the daily human activities. The everyday wastes from our houses like home care, automotive care, and personal care products can be harmful as many products contain chemicals that negatively impacts the environment. The world population is increasing which means even the household waste is excessively increasing.

• Agricultural Waste

Agricultural wastes comes from farms like animal manure and crops. These wastes are dumped in the landfills without any prior treatment. This ends up polluting the land and harming the environment.

• Commercial Waste

Commercial wastes are wastes produced from schools, colleges, offices and so on. Instead of dumping these wastes, it should be recycled and reused, if possible.

• Hazardous Waste

Hazardous wastes are flammable, corrosive, and toxic chemicals that poses serious threat to the environment. These wastes can be in solid, gaseous or liquid form that are mainly freed from industries.

• Biomedical Waste

Wastes that is released from medical facilities like hospitals and medical colleges are know as biomedical waste. These wastes just like other wastes are harmful for the ecosystem and human health.

Precaution to Reduce Environmental Waste

Some ways of preventing waste in the environment are:

• Raising Awareness

Spreading awareness to people on how their unthought actions adversely affect the environment and the consequences it has on humans and the ecosystem. People should be educated on how their small wrong action can be dangerous for their own heath and other human beings.

• Reuse and Recycle

The more products are manufactured, more is the waste produced at the end. Nowadays, the demand for manufactured products is increasing than ever. Companies should opt to reuse the by-products instead of throwing it. This will reduce the garbage released and the resources will be used in an effective way.

• Use of Clean Energy Resources

Using solar, wind and geothermal energies greatly controls pollution of air. India along with many other countries are making the use of these resources for a cleaner and safer environment.