Radioactive wasteFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Radioactive waste is a waste product containing radioactive material. It is usually the product of a nuclear

process such as nuclear fission, though industries not directly connected to the nuclear power industry may

also produce radioactive waste.

Radioactivity diminishes over time, so in principle the waste needs to be isolated for a period of time until it

no longer poses a hazard. This can mean hours to years for some common medical or industrial

radioactive wastes, or thousands of years for high-level wastes from nuclear power plants and nuclear

weapons reprocessing.

The majority of radioactive waste is "low-level waste", meaning it has low levels of radioactivity

per mass or volume.

The main approaches to managing radioactive waste to date have been segregation and storage for short-

lived wastes, near-surface disposal for low and some intermediate level wastes, and deep burial or

transmutation for the long-lived, high-level wastes.

A summary of the amounts of radioactive wastes and management approaches for most developed

countries are presented and reviewed periodically as part of the IAEA Joint Convention on Safety of Spent

Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management.[1]

Types of radioactive waste

Removal of very low-level waste

Although not significantly radioactive, uranium mill tailings are waste. They are byproduct material from the

rough processing of uranium-bearing ore. They are sometimes referred to as 11(e)2 wastes, from the

section of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act that defines them. Uranium mill tailings typically also contain

chemically hazardous heavy metals such as lead and arsenic. Vast mounds of uranium mill tailings are left

at many old mining sites, especially in Colorado, New Mexico, andUtah.

Low level waste (LLW) is generated from hospitals and industry, as well as the nuclear fuel cycle. It

comprises paper, rags, tools, clothing, filters, etc., which contain small amounts of mostly short-lived

radioactivity. Commonly, LLW is designated as such as a precautionary measure if it originated from any

region of an 'Active Area', which frequently includes offices with only a remote possibility of being

contaminated with radioactive materials. Such LLW typically exhibits no higher radioactivity than one would

expect from the same material disposed of in a non-active area, such as a normal office block. Some high

activity LLW requires shielding during handling and transport but most LLW is suitable for shallow land

burial. To reduce its volume, it is often compacted or incinerated before disposal. Low level waste is divided

into four classes, class A, B, C and GTCC, which means "Greater Than Class C".

Intermediate level waste (ILW) contains higher amounts of radioactivity and in some cases requires

shielding. ILW includes resins, chemicalsludge and metal reactor fuel cladding, as well as contaminated

materials from reactor decommissioning. It may be solidified in concrete or bitumen for disposal. As a

general rule, short-lived waste (mainly non-fuel materials from reactors) is buried in shallow repositories,

while long-lived waste (from fuel and fuel-reprocessing) is deposited in deep underground facilities. U.S.

regulations do not define this category of waste; the term is used in Europe and elsewhere.

Spent Fuel Flasks are transported by railway in the United Kingdom. Each flask is constructed of 14 in (360 mm) thick

solid steel and weighs in excess of 50 tons

High level waste (HLW) is produced by nuclear reactors. It contains fission

products andtransuranic elements generated in the reactor core. It is highly radioactive and often thermally

hot. HLW accounts for over 95% of the total radioactivity produced in the process of nuclear electricity

generation. The amount of HLW worldwide is currently increasing by about 12,000 metric tons every year,

which is the equivalent to about 100 double-decker buses or a two-story structure with a footprint the size

of a basketball court.[17] A 1000-MWe nuclear power plant produces about 27 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel

(unreprocessed) every year.[18]

Transuranic waste (TRUW) as defined by U.S. regulations is, without regard to form or origin, waste that is

contaminated with alpha-emitting transuranic radionuclides with half-lives greater than 20 years, and

concentrations greater than 100 nCi/g (3.7 MBq/kg), excluding High Level Waste. Elements that have

an atomic number greater than uranium are called transuranic ("beyond uranium"). Because of their long

half-lives, TRUW is disposed more cautiously than either low level or intermediate level waste. In the US it

arises mainly from weapons production, and consists of clothing, tools, rags, residues, debris and other

items contaminated with small amounts of radioactive elements (mainly plutonium).

Under US law, transuranic waste is further categorized into "contact-handled" (CH) and "remote-handled"

(RH) on the basis of radiation dose measured at the surface of the waste container. CH TRUW has a

surface dose rate not greater than 200 mrem per hour (2 mSv/h), whereas RH TRUW has a surface dose

rate of 200 mrem per hour (2 mSv/h) or greater. CH TRUW does not have the very high radioactivity of

high level waste, nor its high heat generation, but RH TRUW can be highly radioactive, with surface dose

rates up to 1000000 mrem per hour (10000 mSv/h). The US currently permanently disposes of TRUW

generated from nuclear power plants and military facilities at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.[19]

[edit]Management of waste

Modern medium to high level transport container for nuclear waste.

See also: High-level radioactive waste management, List of nuclear waste treatment

technologies, and Environmental effects of nuclear power

Of particular concern in nuclear waste management are two long-lived fission products, Tc-99 (half-life

220,000 years) and I-129 (half-life 17 million years), which dominate spent fuel radioactivity after a few

thousand years. The most troublesome transuranic elements in spent fuel are Np-237 (half-life two million

years) and Pu-239 (half life 24,000 years).[20] Nuclear waste requires sophisticated treatment and

management to successfully isolate it from interacting with thebiosphere. This usually necessitates

treatment, followed by a long-term management strategy involving storage, disposal or transformation of

the waste into a non-toxic form.[21] Governments around the world are considering a range of waste

management and disposal options, though there has been limited progress toward long-term waste

management solutions.[22]

Here is your hazardous waste

A hazardous waste is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environmentThere are four factors that determine whether or not a substance is hazardous:

ignitability (i.e., flammable) reactivity corrosivity toxicity

U.S. environmental laws (see Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) additionally describe a "hazardous waste" as a waste (usually a solid waste) that has the potential to:

cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality (death) or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible illness; or

pose a substantial (present or potential) hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed.

These wastes may be found in different physical states such as gaseous, liquids, or solids. Furthermore, a hazardous waste is a special type of waste because it cannot be disposed of by common means like other by-products of our everyday lives. Depending on the physical state of the waste, treatment and solidification processes might be available. In other cases, however, there is not much that can be done to prevent harm.

In addition to releasing gases and particles into the atmosphere, humans produce waste that is dumped on the environment.  Often, this waste is hazardous and dangerous to both nature and human life.

The levels of dangerous wastes continue to grow.  Industries and individuals continue to be largely unaware of this major environmental problem. As a result, many people and industries are failing to prevent the creation of hazardous waste or to limit the negative effects it produces. Individuals often throw out goods without realizing that they are headed for a landfill and could be dangerous for the environment.  No matter where people put these hazardous waste materials, there is always a chance that they could find their way into the ground, and eventually into our bodies. Corporations usually want to avoid the costs associated with having to limit creation of hazardous waste.  Consequently, they build landfills on site and fill them with waste, or sometimes pay to have their waste removed.  Often, hazardous materials are transported to areas that accept money to take the waste. It may prove very difficult to reduce hazardous waste in the future.  Unlike many other environmental problems, waste creation is something people do not often think about.

In the future, people may have to reduce not only their generation of hazardous waste, but also their consumption of many products that end up in landfills.

Hazardous waste is produced both on a huge scale by major industries and on a relatively tiny scale by individuals.  No matter where it comes from, waste can be dangerous.

One of the main causes of the abundance of hazardous waste is that people do not realize how large a problem it is.  Because it can be simply removed and sent to a landfill, it is often assumed that the problem ends there. Industries have often displayed an unwillingness to find ways to deal with hazardous waste because of the expenses associated with it.

Many industries and governments create crude landfills to store waste, and often just dump waste chemicals into nearby bodies of water. Chemicals used for industrial processes often create dangerous forms of waste.  The amount of these chemicals has risen heavily in the past, as more areas of the world industrialize and new products are produced. Over 80,000 different chemicals are used in industries worldwide.  Often, it is difficult and expensive to get rid of these chemicals and to store them in a way that does not endanger human life or the environment.  Obviously, not all of these chemicals are dangerous, but many are and they do create serious problems.

Around the world, hundreds of millions of tons of hazardous waste are produced annually.  Rather than cleaning up or storing waste more carefully, one method of reducing the hazardous waste problem may be to simply stop producing so much of it.

As with air pollution and many other environmental problems, hazardous waste can be controlled through input and output controls. The government can increase regulations on the disposal of hazardous waste to ensure that problems do not occur.  It could also limit the amount of waste industries are allowed to produce, or provide incentives to create less waste. After hazardous waste has been created, there are several actions that can be taken.  Industries can break down chemical compounds into less dangerous forms, or store waste in ways that protect the environment from being exposed to the waste. Not only major industries but individuals as well must form part of the solution.  They can choose not to buy those products which require the production of hazardous waste, attempt to influence policymakers, and produce less hazardous waste themselves. Many scientists think that waste production can be cut.  Experts say that waste can be reduced by at least one-third using existing technologies and methods.

Some countries, including many in

Europe, are working to reduce waste levels.  A great deal of success is being achieved in eliminating this serious problem.

                                                      For further more details, contact

                                                       Apoorva.M.R.

                                                       Viii 'B'

                                                       First bench,

                                                       second girl of your school

himaani Introduction

Solid waste management is one of the most important functions of

society. Solid Waste management is the collection, transport, processing,

recycling or disposal, & monitoring of waste materials. The term

usually relates to materials produced by human activity, & is

generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health & the

environment.Solid Waste management is also carried out to recover

resources from it.

Solid Waste management practices differ for developed & developing

nations, for urban & rural areas, & for residential & industrial producers.

Management for non-hazardous waste residential & institutional waste

in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibility of local government

authorities, while management for non-hazardous commercial &

industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator.

While the task of taking trash to the curb may seem simple, that is

just the beginning of the complete management process.Management

of solid waste is a trillion dollar industry that grows larger every day

as the planet's population increases.

Cities with large populations would be uninhabitable without these

services. A proper solid waste management system is immensely

beneficial to society & to the planet by managing raw materials &

sustaining ecosystems. Efficient systems of solid waste

management help prevent pollution, degradation, the

deforestation,etc. Recycled items located can be oftentimes be

reused, which further helps the environment in the long run. The

end goal is a reduction of the amount of garbage clogging the

streets & polluting the environment, whether that garbage is

disposed of or recycled into something useful.

History of waste managementHistorically, the amount of wastes generated by human population was

insignificant mainly due to the low population densities, coupled with the

fact there was very little exploitation of natural resources. Common

wastes produced during the early ages were mainly ashes & human &

biodegradable wastes, & these were released back into the ground locally,

with minimal environmental impact.

Before the widespread use of metals, wood was widely used for most

applications. However, reuse of wood has been well documented.

Nevertheless, it is once again well documented that reuse & recovery

of such metals have been carried out by earlier humans.

The Maya of Central America had dumps, which exploded occasionally &

burned. They also recycled. Homemakers brought trash to local

dumps, & monthly burnings would occur. Many Mayan sites

demonstrated such careless consumption. Consumption & waste of

resources is probably related to supply available more than any other

factor.

With the advent of industrial revolution, waste management became a

critical issue. This was due to the increase in population & the

massive migration of people to industrial towns & cities from rural

areas during the 18th century. There was a consequent increase in

industrial & domestic wastes posing threat to human health & environment.

Archeologists found that early solid waste management consisted of digging pits & throwing garbage into them. When human cities began to be more concentrated, solid waste management became a serious issue. Houses that did not have room to bury their garbage would throw it into the streets, making a stroll to the corner store an unpleasant prospect. In response, many cities started to set up municipal garbage collection, in the form of rag & bone men who would buy useful garbage from people & recycle it, or waste collection teams which would dispose of unusable garbage.

Need For Solid Waste MangementThere is a need for solid waste management as it causes many

problems.Some of them are:

Garbages have bad smells & releases toxic fumes which effects

the surrounding vegetation.

It makes the place untidy.

It is aplace of infectious scavengers

These all result in health problems & environmental pollution

Waste has played a tremendous role in history.Some of the diseases

caused due to improper h&ling of waste management are listed

below:

The Bubonic Plague, cholera & typhoid fever were some diseases that

altered the populations of Europe & influenced monarchies. They

were perpetuated by filth that harbored rats, & contaminated

water supply. It was not uncommon for Europeans to throw their

waste & human wastes out of the window which would

decompose in the street.

France, specifically Paris seems to have been a leader in waste

management. At Lille, in the 1860s, in the working class district

of Saint-Sauveur, 95% of the children died before age 5.

Many landlords installed sewers because working class people

wanted it as they were affected by the garbage dumps near their

locality.

In 1979, in US, EPA issued criteria for the prohibition of open

dumping as it caused many health Hazards.

Techniques Of Solid Waste

ManagementThere are a number of types of solid waste which need to be dealt

with. The first is recyclable waste, objects which are useful, but no

longer wanted. Solid waste management includes the construction

of facilities to recycle these goods, which include scrap metal, glass,

cans, etc. Another category is toxic waste; waste which could

potentially contaminate the environment, meaning that it needs to

be h&led with care. This category includes e-waste, a growing

problem in many industrialized nations. Next is green waste such

as compost & yard clippings. People with land& can compost their

own green waste, & many cities collect it separately from true

garbage, the final category, so that the green waste can be

composted & returned to the earth.So there are many methods for

handling these wastes.They Are:

Landfill

Disposing of waste in a landfill is the most traditional method of waste

disposal, and it remains a common practice in most countries.

Landfills were often established in abandoned or unused quarries, mining

voids or borrow pits. A properly designed and well-managed landfill can

be a hygienic and relatively inexpensive method of disposing of waste

materials. Older, poorly designed or poorly managed landfills can

create a number of adverse environmental impacts such as wind-

blown litter, attraction of vermin,etc.

Design characteristics of a modern landfill include methods to

contain leachate such as clay or plastic lining material. Deposited

waste is normally compacted to increase its density and stability, and

covered to prevent attracting mice or rats. Many landfills also have

landfill gas extraction systems installed to extract the landfill gas. Gas is

pumped out of the landfill using perforated pipes and flared off or

burnt in a gas engine to generate electricity.

The disadvantages are:

Many local authorities (especially in urban areas) have found it

difficult to establish new landfills, due to opposition from

adjacent landowners. Few people want a landfill in their local

neighbourhood. As a result, solid waste disposal in these areas

has become more expensive as material must be transported

further away for disposal.

Some oppose the use of landfills in any way, anywhere, arguing

that the logical end result of landfill operations is that it will

eventually leave a drastically polluted planet with no canyons, and

no wild space.

growing concern about the impacts of excessive materials

consumption, has given rise to efforts to minimise the amount of

waste sent to landfill in many areas. These efforts include taxing

or levying waste sent to landfill, recycling the materials,

converting material to energy, designing products that require

less material, etc.

Incineration

Incineration is the process of destroying waste material by burning it. Incineration is carried out both on a small scale by individuals, and on a large scale by industry. It is recognised as a practical method of disposing of hazardous waste materials (such as bio-medical waste). This method is useful for disposal of residue of both solid waste management and solid residue from waste water management.This process reduces the volumes of solid waste to 20% to 30% of the original volume. Incineration and other high temperature waste treatment systems are sometimes described as "thermal treatment". Incinerators convert waste materials into heat, gas, steam and ash.

safe disposal of incinerator waste was a major problem. In the mid-1990s, experiments in France and Germany used electric plasma torches to melt incinerator waste into inert glassy pebbles, valuable in concrete production. Incinerator ash has also been chemically separated into lye

and other useful chemicals.

Though still widely used in many areas especially in developing countries, incineration as a waste management tool is becoming controversial for several reasons.

it may be a poor use of many waste materials because it destroys not only the raw material, but also all of the energy, water, and other natural resources used to produce it. Some energy can be reclaimed as electricity by using the combustion to create steam to drive an electrical generator, but even the best incinerator can only recover a fraction of the caloric value of fuel materials.

incineration creates toxic gas and ash, which can harm local populations and pollute groundwater. Modern, well-run incinerators take elaborate measures to reduce the amount of toxic products

released in exhaust gas. But concern has increased in recent years about the levels of dioxins that are released when burning mixed waste.

Combustion in an incinerator is not always perfect and there have been concerns about micro-pollutants in gaseous emissions from incinerator stacks.

Particular concern has focused on some very persistent organics such as dioxins, furans, PAHs,... which may be created within the incinerator and afterwards in the incinerator plume which may have serious environmental consequences in the area immediately around the incinerator.

Recycling

Recycling refers to the widespread collection and reuse of everyday

waste materials such as empty beverage containers. These are

collected and sorted into common types so that the raw materials from

which the items are made can be reprocessed into new products.

Material for recycling may be collected separately from general waste

using dedicated bins and collection vehicles, or sorted directly from

mixed waste streams.

The most common consumer products recycled include aluminum such

as beverage cans, copper such as wire, steel food and aerosol cans, old

steel furnishings or equipment , glass bottles and jars, paperboard cartons,

newspapers, magazines and light paper, and corrugated fiberboard boxes.

PVC, LDPE, PP, and PS are also recyclable. These items are usually

composed of a single type of material, making them relatively easy to

recycle into new products. The recycling of complex products such as

computers and electronic equipment is more difficult, due to the

additional dismantling and separation required. . It usually requires

significantly less energy, water and other resources to recycle

materials than to produce new materials. For example, recycling 1000

kg of aluminium cans saves approximately 5000 kg of bauxite ore being

mined and 95% of the energy required to refine it.In many areas,

material for recycling is collected separately from general waste, with

dedicated bins and collection vehicles. Other waste management

processes recover these materials from general waste streams. This

usually results in greater levels of recovery than separate collections

of consumer-separated beverage containers, but are more complex

and expensive.

Biological reprocessing

Waste materials that are organic in nature, such as plant material, food

scraps, and paper products, can be recycled using biological

composting and digestion processes to decompose the organic matter.

The resulting organic material is then recycled as mulch or compost for

agricultural or landscaping purposes. In addition, waste gas from the

process can be captured and used for generating electricity and heat

maximising efficiencies. The intention of biological processing in

waste management is to control and accelerate the natural process of

decomposition of organic matter.

Methods of biological decomposition are differentiated as being aerobic

or anaerobic methods, though hybrids of the two methods also exist.

Anaerobic digestion of the organic fraction of Municipal Solid Waste

has been found to be in a number of LCA analysis studies to be more

environmentally effective, than landfill or incineration. The resulting

biogas though must be used for electricity and heat preferably on or

close to the site of production and can be used with a little upgrading

in gas combustion engines or turbines. With further upgrading to

synthetic natural gas it can be injected into the natural gas network or

further refined to hydrogen for use in stationary cogeneration fuel

cells. Its use in fuel cells eliminates the pollution from products

of .An example of waste management through composting is the

Green Bin Program in Toronto, Canada, where household organic waste

are collected in a dedicated container and then composted.

himaani

Composting and Digestion aditiWaste materials that are organic in nature, such as food scraps and paper products, are increasingly being recycled. These materials are put through a composting or artificial digestion process to decompose the

organic matter and kill pathogens. The organic material is then recycled as mulch or compost for agricultural or landscaping purposes.

There are a large variety of composting methods and technologies, varying in complexity from simple window composting of shredded plant material, to automated enclosed-vessel digestion of mixed domestic waste. Composting methods can be broadly categorised into aerobic or anaerobic methods, although hybrids of the two methods also exist.

The famous Composting and Digestion Programs

The Green Bin Program, a form of organic recycling used in Markham,

Ontario, Canada, makes use of anaerobic digestion to reduce the

amount of garbage shipped to Michigan, in the United States.

The City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada has adopted large-scale

composting to deal with its urban waste. Its composting facility

is the largest of its type in the world, representing 35% of

Canada's centralized composting capacity. The $100-million co-

composter allows Edmonton to recycle 65% of its residential

waste. The co-composter iself is 38,690 square metres in size,

equivalent to 8 football fields. It's designed to process 200,000

tonnes of residential solid waste per year and 22,500 dry tonnes

of biosolids, turning them into 80,000 tonnes of compost

annually.

Volume reduction

This means various techniques for making the waste fit into less space and easier to handle in bulk. Usually achieved by compaction or fragmentation.

Compaction

The waste is compacted or compressed. It also breaks up large or fragile items of waste.

This process is conspicuous in the feed at the back end of many garbage collection vehicles.

In landfill sites, the waste is often compacted by driving over it a heavy excavator-type vehicle with spiked wheels.

Shearing

The waste is sliced with heavy metal shears.

Grinding

The waste is ground up hammer mill.

Pyrolysis

Pyrolysis of solid waste converts the material into solid, liquid and gas

products. The liquid oil and gas can be burnt to produce energy or

refined into other products. The solid residue (char) can be further

refined into products such as activated carbon.

Resource Recovery Techniques

A relatively recent idea in waste management has been to treat the waste material as a resource to be exploited, instead of simply a challenge to be managed and disposed of. There are a number of different methods by which resources may be extracted from waste: the materials may be extracted and recycled, or the calorific content of the waste may be converted to electricity.

The process of extracting resources or value from waste is variously referred to as secondary resource recovery, recycling, and other terms. The practice of treating waste materials as a resource is becoming more common, especially in metropolitan areas where space for new landfills is becoming scarcer. There is also a growing acknowledgement that simply disposing of waste materials is unsustainable in the long term, as there is a finite supply of most raw materials.

There are a number of methods of recovering resources from waste

materials, with new technologies and methods being developed

continuously

Technologies

Traditionally the waste management industry has been slow to adopt new technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification tags(RFID tags), GPS and integrated software packages which enable better

quality data to be collected without the use of estimation or manual data entry.

Technologies like RFID tags are now being used to collect data on presentation rates for curb-side pick-ups which is useful when examining the usage of recycling bins or similar.

Benefits of GPS tracking is particularly evident when considering the efficiency of ad hoc pick-ups (like skip bins or dumpsters) where the collection is done on a consumer request basis.

Integrated software packages are useful in aggregating this data for use in optimisation of operations for waste collection operations.

Rear vision cameras are commonly used for OH&S reasons and video recording devices are becoming more widely used, particularly concerning residential services and contaminations of the waste stream.

Solid Waste handling and transportSolid Waste collection methods vary widely among different countries and regions. Domestic waste collection services are often provided by local government authorities, or by private companies in the industry. Some areas, especially those in less developed countries, do not have a formal waste-collection system. Examples of waste handling systems include:

In Australia & Canada, curbside collection is the method of disposal of waste. Every urban domestic household is provided with three bins: one for recyclables, another for general waste and another for garden materials - this bin is provided by the municipality if requested. Also, many households have compost bins which is not provided by the municipality. To encourage

recycling, municipalities provide large recycle bins, which are larger than general waste bins. Municipal, commercial and industrial, construction and demolition waste is dumped at landfills and some is recycled. Household waste is segregated: recyclables sorted and made into new products, and general waste is dumped in landfill areas. Some landfill gas is captured for fuel or electricity generation. Households and industries are not charged for the volume of waste they produce.

In Europe and a few other places around the world, a few communities use a proprietary collection system known as Envac, which conveys refuse via underground conduits using a vacuum system. Other vacuum-based solutions include the MetroTaifun single-line and ring-line systems.

In Taipei, the city government charges its households and industries for the volume of rubbish they produce. Waste will only be collected by the city council if waste is disposed in government issued rubbish bags. This policy has successfully reduced the amount of waste the city produces and increased the recycling rate.

In Israel, the Arrow Ecology company has developed the ArrowBio

system, which takes trash directly from collection trucks and separates organic and inorganic materials through gravitational settling, screening, and hydro-mechanical shredding. The system is capable of sorting huge volumes of solid waste, salvaging recyclables, and turning the rest into biogas and rich agricultural compost. The system is used in California, Australia, Greece, Mexico, the United Kingdom and in Israel.

Solid Waste management conceptsThere are a number of concepts about solid waste management which vary in their usage between countries or regions. Some of the most general, widely used concepts include:

Waste hierarchy - The waste hierarchy refers to the "3 Rs" reduce, reuse and recycle, which classify waste management strategies according to their desirability in terms of waste minimization. The waste hierarchy remains the cornerstone of most waste minimization strategies. The aim of the waste hierarchy is to extract the maximum practical benefits from products and to generate the minimum amount of waste.

Extended producer responsibility - Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a strategy designed to promote the integration of all costs associated with products throughout their life cycle into the market price of the product. Extended producer responsibility is meant to impose accountability over the entire lifecycle of products and packaging introduced to the market. This means that firms which manufacture, import and/or sell products are required to be responsible for the products after their useful life as well as during manufacture.

Polluter pays principle - the Polluter Pays Principle is a principle where the polluting party pays for the impact caused to the environment. With respect to waste management, this generally refers to the requirement for a waste generator to pay for appropriate disposal of the waste.

List of waste disposal incidentsThis is a list of notable waste disposal incidents.

Incident Description Date LocationAcerinox accident radioactive contamination 1998 SpainAgriculture Street Landfill United StatesAtari video game burial 1983 United StatesBajzë Rail Station chemical contamination 1991 Albania

Corby toxic waste caseUnited Kingdom

2006 Côte d'Ivoire toxic waste dump 2006 Côte d'IvoireCuyahoga River United StatesDecision EarthFriendly Floatees flotsam 1992 OceanGoiânia accident radioactive contamination 1987 BrazilKhian Sea waste disposal incident 1986Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill

coal fly ash slurry spill 2008 United States

Gold mine at Kingston, Queensland toxic waste Australia

Lake Karachayradioactive waste dump site

Russia

Love Canal toxic waste dump United StatesMartin County sludge spill water pollution 2000 United StatesMayapuri radioactive contamination 1986 India

Minamata Bay mercury poisoningcause of Minamata disease

1932-68

Japan

Mobro 4000 garbage barge 1987 United StatesMunisportRadioactive waste dumping by the 'Ndrangheta

radioactive waste Italy

Saint John, New Brunswick harbour cleanup

sewerage Canada

Seveso disaster toxic pollutant 1976 Italy

Spodden Valley asbestos controversy 2004United Kingdom

Sydney Tar Ponds hazardous waste Canada

Syringe Tide1987-88

United States

Techa River radioactive contamination RussiaTeckomatorp 1970s SwedenTimes Beach, Missouri dioxin scare 1983 United StatesTonoshō, Kagawa industrial waste dump JapanTui mine tailings dam New Zealand

View-Master factory supply well United States

Events in the history of waste management

Date Location Notes

1 6500 BCNorth America

Archaeological studies show that a clan of Native Americans in what is now Colorado produced an average of 5.3 pounds of waste a day.[citation needed]

2 500 BCAthens Greece

First municipal dump in the Western world. Regulations require waste to be dumped at least a mile from the city limits.[citation needed]

3New Testament of Bible

Jerusalem Palestine

The valley of Gehenna (also called Sheol) is a dump outside of the city that periodically burns. It becomes synonymous with "hell": "Though I descent into Sheol, thou art there."

4 1388 EnglandEnglish Parliament bars waste disposal in public waterways and ditches.

5 1400 Paris FranceWaste piles so high outside of Paris gates that it interferes with city defense.

6 1690 PhiladelphiaRittenhouse Mill, Philadelphia produces paper from recycled fibers originating from waste paper and rags.

7 1820'sLondon, England

Almost 100% of the waste collected by "dust-men" is recycled/recovered/reused through manual separation and sieving in "dust-yards", the main product being the fine fraction of coal-ash, remaining after coal burning in households ("dust").[4] The system had many similarities to informal sector recycling, prevailing in today's environmentally developing countries.

8 1842 England

Edwin Chadwick's Report of an Inquiry into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain linked disease to filthy environmental conditions. The "age of sanitation" begins.

9 1874Nottingham England

A new technology called "The Destructor", patented by Albert Fryer and built by Manlove, Alliott & Co. Ltd., provides the first systematic incineration of refuse in Nottingham, England. Until this time, much of the burning had been incidental, a result of methane production.

101885 Governor's Island New

First waste incinerator is built in United States.

York

111889Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., reports that the country is running out of appropriate places for refuse.

121896 United StatesWaste reduction plants for compressing organic wastes arrives in US. Later closed because of noxious emissions.

131898 New York New York opens first waste sorting plant for recycling.

14Turn of the 20th century

Waste problem seen as one of the greatest problems facing local authorities.

151900

[[Intensive pig farming] is developed to consume fresh or cooked waste. Later, in the mid-1950s, an outbreak of vesicular exanthema of swine virus results in the destruction of thousands of pigs that had eaten raw waste. A law is passed requiring waste to be cooked before feeding it to swine.

151916New York City

New York City citizens produce 4.6 pounds of refuse per day.

171914 United StatesApproximately 300 incinerators operating in the US for burning waste.

181920'sLandfills become a popular way to reclaim swamp land while getting rid of trash.

191954Olympia, Washington

The city of Olympia, Washington, pays for return of aluminum cans.

201965 United States First US federal solid waste management laws enacted.211968 Companies begin to buy back recyclable containers.

221970 United StatesFirst Earth Day celebrated. Environmental Protection Agency created.

231976 United States

As a result of the 1974 oil embargo and discovery (or recognition) of Love Canal, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is created to emphasizing recycling and waste management.

241979 United States EPA issue criteria for the prohibition of open dumping.

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Avoidance and reduction methods by ordinary man

An oridinary man: An important method of Solid waste management is the prevention of waste material

being created, also known as waste reduction. Methods of avoidance include reuse of second-hand products, repairing broken items instead of buying new, designing products to be refillable or reusable, encouraging consumers to avoid using disposable products

such as disposable cutlery, removing any food/liquid remains from cans, packaging, and designing products that use less material to achieve the same purpose,for example, lightweighting of beverage cans.

Kitchen is a good place of organic solid waste and this can be made into compost & used for gardens

Reuse containers to store food in ur refrigirator instead of using Al foil/plastic. Keep rags in the kitchen to wipe spills instead of using paper towel evertime. While shopping change ur attitude.This makes loot of differnce in the environment. Use paper bags which are biodegradable. Use recharchable batteries than disposable batteries. Students can use slates/blackboards at home for practice & revision instead of papers. Shiny gift wrappers are not eco friendly. There for paint papers & decorate them as it is

biodegradable. Use cloth handkerchief instead of disposable tissues Avoid using paper plates,tissues etc in parties Instead of sending greeting caeds send e-mail. Don’t buest too much of crackers during any ocassion as it causes pollution & produces

more wastes. Flowers used for decorations and poojas can be used as compost. Segregate the wastes Reuse plastic bottels as pencil stand. Donate all furnitures and clothes instead of just throwing it away. Reduce the use of Poly bags Use natural ayuevedic medicines than chemical medicines.

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