Environmental Impacts of Improper Solid Waste Management

    There is a belief saying "what goes around comes around.” Indeed, the consequences of someone’s decisions will, in fact, have to be dealt with at some stage. The world, which is meant to be a haven, has been subjected to many threats as a result of mankind's abuse and cruelty. These dangers have accelerated dramatically as a result of radical processes that lead to cause numerous issues. The issue of waste is one of the main environmental issues. The amount of waste generated around the world has been steadily rising. Indeed, the more resources used, the more waste produced. As a result, a waste issue emerges, posing a challenge on a micro to macro scale. Without a doubt, this is due to the poor management of the waste that humans produce on a daily basis. This type of behavior degrades the environment over time. As a result of this situation, the environmental consequences of poor solid waste management have become a reality.

   Based on environmental chemistry, the term "contamination" is basically synonymous with pollution, in which the main interest is to harm humans, other species on land or in the water, and the atmosphere on a large scale. Additionally, an environmental pollutant can be chemical, but it can also be a biological agent, such as pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or invasive organisms, or a physical agent (energy) (Andrews et al., 2009). With that being said, improper solid waste management is likely to have the following environmental consequences: soil contamination, water contamination, climate contamination, air contamination, and danger towards animal and marine life.

Soil contamination 

    Contamination occurs when toxic components leak and become buried in the soil (Metropolitan Transfer Station, 2017). Soil contamination is described as the accumulation in soils of persistent lethal compounds, salts, chemicals, disease-causing agents, or radioactive materials that have a negative impact on plant and animal growth and health (Okrent, 1999). Likewise, the presence of xenobiotic (man-made) mixtures or various changes in the natural soil climate leads to soil pollution. Agrarian synthetic chemicals, construction practices, and insufficient waste disposal are the main causes of soil contamination. Petroleum hydrocarbons, polynuclear fragrant hydrocarbons (such as naphthalene and benzo(a)pyrene), solvents, pesticides, lead, and other heavy metals are among the most well-known synthetic substances included (Shankar, 2017).

   Moreover, various types of natural wastes pose pollution risks. Domestic garbage, city sewage, and mechanical wastes, when piled high or improperly disposed of, have a significant impact on the health of humans, plants, and animals. Furthermore, natural wastes contain large amounts of borates, phosphates, and cleansers. On the off chance that it is untreated, it will affect the vegetative development of plants (Swartjes, 1999; Crane and Giddings, 2004). Soil contamination, according to Ghorbani, Hafezi Moghadas, and Kashi (2018), profoundly reduces environmental excellence and has an impact on human prosperity.

Water Contamination 

Indeed, water is an important natural resource used for drinking and other developmental purposes in our lives (Bibi et al., 2016; Alrumman, El-kott, & Keshk, 2016). Drinking safe water is crucial for human health all over the world. Water is a significant source of infection since it is a universal solvent (Bharathy, 2018). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), water-borne diseases account for 80% of all diseases (Khwaja & Aslam, 2018). Various countries' drinking water does not meet WHO requirements (Khan et al., 2013). 

    According to Pawari & Gawande (2015), 3.1 % of deaths are caused by unsanitary and low-quality water. Water, without a doubt, is particularly vulnerable to contamination. When hazardous substances—often chemicals or microorganisms—contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, the water quality deteriorates and the water becomes toxic to humans or the ecosystem (Denchak, 2018). Water contamination is caused by the discharge of household and commercial effluent wastes, leakage from water pipes, coastal disposal, hazardous waste, and atmospheric deposition. Discarded heavy metals and toxic waste can build up in lakes and rivers, posing a health risk to humans and animals. Immune suppression, reproductive failure, and acute poisoning are all caused by toxins found in industrial waste (Bharathy, 2018).

    Cholera, typhoid fever (Juneja & Chaudhary, 2013), and other diseases such as gastroenteritis, diarrhea, vomiting, skin, and kidney problems are spreading due to contaminated water (Khan & Ghouri, 2011). Direct harm to plant and animal nutrition has an effect on human health. Seaweeds, mollusks, marine birds, fish, crustaceans, and other sea creatures that provide food for humans are being killed by toxins in the water. The concentration of insecticides such as DDT is rising up the food chain. Humans are poisoned by these insecticides (Owa, 2013).

Climate Contamination

    Nature itself is as of now exceptionally delicate, and our careless mentality is presently obliterating an entire world of living life forms and also our own special home. Our energy creation, item utilization, and irresponsible waste management contribute legitimately to environmental change by adding carbon-based particles into the air, which are delivered during the consumption of oil-based goods. The outcome is hotter air, making a devastating greenhouse impact (Barbora, 2019). 

    Landfills have truly been viewed as a definitive answer for putting away waste at least expense (Krook, Svensson, & Eklund, 2012). However, it harms our environment. A landfill is a garbage removal site where dispensable materials are sent and which presents a great danger because of the gases made in this open waste landfill. High levels of methane gas and CO2 are created by waste decomposition (Barbora, 2019). Certainly, some waste will sooner or later decay, but not all, and in the process, it may smell, or produce methane gas, which is explosive and contributes to the greenhouse effect (Green Choices, 2020).

    Indeed, harmful greenhouse gases are created from decomposing waste. These escalate to the atmosphere and trap heat. This occurrence negatively causes extreme weather reactions in the form of storms and typhoons. Apart from the temperature being impacted, which is also drastically affected is the level of precipitation in the air. This also spreads out into other areas with regards to subdivisions such as thermal and radioactive pollution (Metropolitan Transfer Station, 2017). 

    A great deal of these negative impacts could be improved if people slightly corrected their conduct. By overseeing waste such that it keeps away from landfills and lessening consumption by reusing items, we avoid the making of unnecessary waste. Nevertheless, by isolating and reusing the waste we do make, we could lessen the measure of waste winding up in a landfill. The waste that remains would be burned to make energy, which means less waste or nothing at all is shipped off landfill (Green Sail, 2019). 

Air Contamination

    We cannot deny the fact that air is surrounding us, yet we cannot see it. According to Dunn (1989), the air is a combination of various gases. The air in Earth's atmosphere is comprised of roughly 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen (Anderson, Graham, & Williams, 2015). Air additionally has small quantities of bunches of different gases as well, for example, carbon dioxide, neon, and hydrogen (NASA, 2016). While air is generally gas, it additionally holds loads of small particles. These particles are called aerosols (Kada, 2013). A few aerosols—like residue and dust—are gotten normally when the breeze blows. However, the air can likewise convey particles that cause air contamination, for example, ash, smoke, and different toxins from vehicle fumes and force plants. When there is an excessive number of particles in the air, it tends to be hard for plants and creatures to breathe (NASA, 2016).

    Air contamination is characterized by Vallero (2014) as all ruinous impacts of any sources which add to the contamination of the environment or potentially weakening of the biological system. Air contamination is brought about by both human interventions and/or natural phenomena. It is comprised of numerous sorts of contaminations including materials in solid, liquid, and gas phases. Additionally, it is considered as the major environmental risk factor in the rate and movement of certain illnesses, for example, asthma, cellular breakdown in the lungs, ventricular hypertrophy, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, mental complexities, chemical imbalance, retinopathy, fetal development, and low birth weight (Ghorani-Azam, Riahi-Zanjani, & Balali-Mood, 2016). 

    Some examples of air contamination include the incinerating of fossil fuels such as oil, gas, or coal, the exhaust fumes from a vehicle, the detrimental fragrance or off-gassing from plastic production, nuclear accidents or radiation spills, and the mishandled of landfill waste caused by garbage pollution (Waste4Change, 2017). Concerning the above-mentioned examples, these are all due to the constant existence of the waste problem. At the community level, likewise, air contamination is caused by the improper sold waste management of human beings and their anthropogenic activities, waste collectors, and waste removal contractors. The effects of this type of contamination are the spread of harmful bacteria in the surroundings, as well as obnoxious odors which will also end up as air pollution.

Danger to Animal and Marine life

    According to the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA (2020), garbage can travel throughout the world's waterways and seas, collecting on seashores and inside gyres. Likewise, this trash ills the physical territories transports synthetic pollutants, weakens aquatic life, and interferes with human uses of stream, marine, and waterfront environments. However, of all garbage, plastic waste has the best potential to damage the environment, wildlife, and people. It tends to be discovered drifting at the surface, suspended in the water section, or on the lower part of practically all bodies of water. It is moved by streams to the sea, where it moves with the tides, and is frequently eaten by feathered creatures and fish, absorbing poisonous synthetic compounds in their tissues, and filling their stomachs, making them starve. Plastic aquatic remains are considerably more than a simple stylish issue.

    Plastics are one of the most generally utilized materials on the planet; they are extensively coordinated into the present way of life and make a significant commitment to practically all product areas. The common attributes that render them so valuable relate essentially to the way that they are both durable and flexible. These qualities are valuable when plastics are utilized in regular day-to-day existence. However, when plastics are disposed of in the environment, they can survive for significant periods. This is due to their almost indestructible morphology and the poisons they contain. Undeniably, plastics can extremely affect ecosystems (UNEP 2005; cited by Hammer, Kraak, & Parsons, 2012).

    Due to the concern for plastic waste, it can be mistakenly assumed by animals as food. Animals can starve when they ingest an excessive amount of plastic that they cannot process. At the point when animals ingest plastic waste, it can obstruct their digestive areas. As an outcome, they starve. Hazardous synthetic compounds in plastic can harm animals’ well-being—and individuals can ingest these synthetics as they make their way up the food chain (Environment America). 

    Based on a published article of Parker (2016), scientists have long recognized that plastics in the ocean is consumed for the reason that it looks like food. For instance, ocean turtles readily ingest plastic bags and other floating remains that seem like their similar to their coagulated prey, jellyfish. Other marine creatures, including fish, eat pieces of rice-sized miniature plastics separated by daylight and wave activity since they take after the little particles they typically eat.

    On one hand, other predatory creatures, for example, fur seals, may indirectly intake plastics through feeding of ocean fish and other prey that have eaten plastic particles mistaken for food. For a fish or turtle, it is simple for them to mistake a small piece of plastic for food—particularly when there are a large number of bits of plastic skimming in our streams and at our seas. On the other hand, according to Tanaka et al (2019), the consumption of plastics by seabirds has been found to lessen body mass, impede fat deposition, and reduce reproductive capacity. Furthermore, given the way that seabirds feed over wide ranges and are at an upper-trophic level, they go about as early signs of contaminants, for example, plastics in the marine environment. Certainly, in the sea, plastic garbage harms and kills fish, seabirds, and other warm-blooded vertebrate animals. Since constant natural contaminations in the marine environment join to the surface of plastic garbage, plastics that are floating in the seas have been discovered to collect toxins and transport them through sea flows (Bryce & Hart, 2020).

Conclusion

    Indeed, discarding things wastes resources. Thus, it wastes raw materials and energy utilized in creating the things and it wastes money. Dumping waste has huge ecological effects and can cause significant problems. If people could only lessen the waste they are generating, there might have less ecological impact, fewer resources, and energy utilized which could save money.

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