Incinerators for Every Waste

If you think on these lines, please wait until you read this blog fully to understand the implications and ramifications waste could have on humanity.

Human beings generate many unwanted bye-products which are called waste. These wastes are produced by house-hold, agricultural, industrial, commercial, healthcare, education, mining activities etc.

These can be broadly categorized as:

1. Municipal wastes

2. Industrial wastes

3. Biomedical wastes

4. Commercial wastes

5. Agricultural wastes

Some of these wastes are hazardous in nature, causing spreading of many diseases. These wastes are in different forms, viz. solid, liquid and gaseous.

Municipal Solid Waste – non-hazardous:

These consist of paper, plastic, clothes, metal, glass and other organic matter coming from residential houses, markets and streets collected and disposed by municipalities. Collectively these are called municipal solid wastes (MSW).

There could be other wastes such as:

• Garbage – from kitchen, slaughter houses, etc.

• Rubbish - garden waste such as leaves, grass and house-hold wastes like clothes, paper, etc.

• Street refuse: Dirt, litter, paper, plastic, etc.

• Dead animals – small animals like cats, dogs, poultry and large ones like cows, horses, etc.

• Construction: Wood, roofing and sheet scrap, rubble, plaster, etc.

• Sludge – solid components of sewage wastes.

Industrial Wastes:

Industrial wastes are released from chemical plants, paint manufacturers/users, cement factories, power plants, steel plants, mining, textile industries, food processing, petroleum industries and automobile manufacture. These industries produce different types of waste products.

Industrial solid wastes can be classified into two groups:

Industrial wastes – non-hazardous:

These wastes are produced from food processing plants, cotton mills, paper mills, sugar mills and textile industries.

Industrial wastes - hazardous:

Hazardous wastes are generated by nearly every industry. Metals, chemicals, drugs, leather, pulp, electroplating, dyes, rubber are some important examples. Liquid Industrial waste that runs into a stream from a factory can kill the aquatic fauna and also cause health problems for humans.

These hazardous types include:

• Medicines - with solvents and residues, heavy metals, etc.

• Paints - heavy metals, fluorides, cyanides, acids and alkalis

• Leather – heavy metals, solvents

• Oil & Petroleum – oils, phenols, heavy metals

• Pesticides - Chlorine and phosphate compounds

• Plastics - Chlorine compounds

• Textiles – Heavy metals, dyes, chlorine and solvents.

Agricultural Wastes:

Plant and animals wastes are produced in agriculture. Land and water pollution occurs when large quantities of fertilizer and pesticides are used. Some of the pesticides are absorbed by soil and cause crop contamination. Other wastes produced here are from sugar factories, tobacco processing, slaughter houses, livestock, poultry, etc.

Commercial Wastes:

Ever-increasing population, resulting in heavily populated modern cities and proliferation of industries, with more and more automobiles on the road, results in equally increased wastes from hotels, colleges, hostels, workshops, apartments, stores, etc. The increasing population also needs additional health care which produce their own medical and other hazardous wastes. Many disposables are also produced from these units and all these wastes are dumped in inhabited areas posing danger to human health and life and cause several types of infectious diseases.

With the advancement of larger cities, industries and automobiles, huge amount of wastes are generated daily from markets, roads, buildings, hotels, commercial complexes, hostels, auto workshops, printing presses, etc.

Mining:

The wastes generated by mining activities include overburden, tailings and harmful gases and these disturb the physical, chemical and biological features of the land and atmosphere.

Radioactive substances:

The functioning of nuclear reactors do release a measurable amount of radioactive waste material into the environment. There are also liquid and solid wastes containing radioactivity produced by the nuclear plants which are unsafe beyond a certain degree.

Bio-medical wastes:

Wastes, which are produced from hospitals, healthcare centres and nursing homes are called bio-medical wastes which are highly infectious and hence hazardous. Such wastes include used bandages, infected needles, animal remains, blood bags, catheters, cultures, amputated body parts, dead human fetuses, and waste from surgeries. These combine with expired and unused drugs from pharmacies; chemical wastes from laboratories, etc. are hazardous to the environment.

Wastes have their own individual character, some of which are listed below:

1. Ignitability:

Certain wastes easily catch fire and have a flash point of less than 60°C. These wastes pose danger of fire hazard, not to mention the unburnt particles flying around.

2. Corrosivity:

There are acidic or alkaline wastes that corrode other materials and these have to be stored in specific containers for disposal later. These should be kept away from other wastes.

3. Explosive:

There are wastes which are explosive or highly reactive. The reason for this is their ability to undergo violent chemical reactions and explode, generating toxic gases.

4. Toxicity:

There are wastes which release toxins or poisonous substances posing hazards to human health and the environment.

Effect of waste accumulation:

Improper waste disposal creates many problems, ecological and social, since they affect soil, air and water eco systems. Chemical, biological and explosive wastes pose threat to humans, plants and animals.

Dumping of wastes affects human health. More than twenty diseases are associated with solid wastes. There is also proliferation of rodents and flies due to dumping of wastes in open places and they become carriers of organisms responsible for several dreaded diseases.

Pathogenic organisms are carried by flies, spreading diseases like dysentery, diarrhea, etc. It is estimated that 70,000 flies are produced in one cubic foot of solid waste, particularly garbage.

Impact of accumulation of wastes:

Dumping of solid wastes has many adverse effects on the eco system.

Landscape:

Plastic bags, paper, used clothes, containers, vegetables, fruit peels, cans, etc. are dumped in open spaces without realising the consequences. Improper disposal ruins the landscape and attracts insects, bacteria and animals. Some non-biodegradable wastes get buried deep into the soil on which buildings are built. Such buildings have a limited life span as the foundation starts sinking or tilting sooner or later.

Eco system:

Dumping of wastes also has serious environmental impacts:

1. Degradation of land

2. Pollution of drinking water

3. Destruction of aquatic life

4. Degradation of ground and surface water used for irrigation and industries

5. Soil, air and water pollution.

Health:

Human health is directly related to the quality of the environment. In the last few decades, due to advancement in industrialization and other activities, a lot of damage has been done to the environment. Deforestation, drastic climatic changes and pollutants in land, air and water are some of the undesirable consequences that harm human health.

A healthy individual, be it an adult or a child, is exposed every day to polluted air through breathing and to food and water through oral intake. The skin is also exposed to the chemicals and toxicity in the air, which lead to many health problems sooner or later.

Hazards due to air pollution:

1. Carbon monoxide reduces blood oxygen and formation of haemoglobin, causing damage to the heart and central nervous system.

2. Sulphur dioxide and sulphuric acid cause irritation in the respiratory tracts and lead to severe heart and lung diseases like bronchitis, asthma, etc.

3. Nitrogen oxide of high concentration affects respiratory organs, liver and kidneys.

4. Ozone affects pulmonary functions.

5. Lead causes injury to organs and the nervous system, especially of brain functions of new-born babies.

6. Pesticides and radiations are other toxic air pollutants which are very dangerous to human health.

7. Metal, dust, asbestos and hydrocarbons shorten life span and cause deterioration of nervous system with risk of cancer.

8. Silica and dust from mining cause pneumoconiosis (common disease in mine workers).

9. Mercury and cadmium are known to damage kidneys and brain.

Water becomes polluted when its quality or composition is changed either naturally or as a result of some activities. Majority of human diseases in developing countries are due to polluted water.

Pollutants of water:

1. Many industrial pollutants that come to the human body through water and food pose serious threat to life and health.

2. Chlorinated pesticides disposed in water enter the human body through aquatic food chains and causing serious infection.

3. Deficiency of iodine in water leads to goitre which has been found to be endemic in many parts of India.

4. Water borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, gastroenteritis and hepatitis are due to polluted water.

5. High fluorine in drinking water has resulted in bone and teeth diseases (fluorosis), the most severe disease being the KNOCK-KNEE syndrome.

Terrestrial Life:

1. Toxic chemicals, pesticides and agricultural wastes released into the environment are taken up by the plants from air, water and soil. The growth of such plants is severely affected by these toxic chemicals.

2. Injuries like chlorosis, discolouration and even the death of plants can happen.

3. Reduced productivity and yield from plants as well as decreased plant nutrients.

4. Sulphur dioxide is a known toxic pollutant which damages crops.

5. Biochemical and physiological changes are also observed in many mammals including man.

6. Too much accumulation of wastes disturbs the behaviour of wild and domestic animals and also causes health problems.

7. Some highly toxic chemicals lead to genetic disorders in animals.

8. Several domestic animals like cow, buffalo, goat, etc. often eat polythene and plastics bags along with food material which ultimately reach their alimentary canal causing many disorders and even death.

Impact of waste accumulation on fresh water:

Large amount of wastes of human society are disposed of in rivers, lakes, ponds and other aquatic bodies making the water unfit for drinking and other domestic purposes.

What are the solutions?

Regulatory bodies have enacted many rules like the Hazardous Waste Management Rules, Municipal Solid Waste Rules, Bio-medical Waste Rules, etc. which have brought about greater awareness among the generators of wastes. The rules are being implemented and monitored by regulatory bodies on a continuous basis. This has happened over the last 25 years.

What do we at Haat do?

We, at Haat, are fully aware of the implications caused by wastes and are committed to proper disposal of these, keeping in mind the safety of humans, present and future and the fragile environment. THIS IS THE REASON WE HAVE MADE WASTE DISPOSAL BY INCINERATION OUR BUSINESS.

Haat has more than 25 models of incinerators, thermal oxidisers and trash destructors along with multiple scrubbing systems in its range to handle and dispose of effectively, solid, liquid and gaseous wastes, hazardous and non-hazardous, from every conceivable industrial, commercial, municipal and biomedical source.

We consider this as our PRIME CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.