Waste Generation and Need for Waste Management
GEOGRAPHY WASTE GENERATION AND ITS MANAGEMENT DEFINATION OF WASTE DEFINATION OF WASTE
Waste, or rubbish, trash, junk, garbage, depending on the type of material or the regional terminology, is an unwanted or undesired material or substance. It may consist of the unwanted materials left over from a manufacturing process (industrial, commercial, mining or agricultural operations,) or from community and household activities. The material may be discarded or accumulated, stored, or treated (physically, chemically, or biologically), prior to being discarded or recycled. It is also used to describe something we use inefficiently or inappropriately. THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY WASTE THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY WASTE
Waste can be regarded as a human concept as there appears to be no such thing as waste in nature. The waste products created by a natural process or organism quickly become the raw products used by other processes and organisms. Recycling is predominant, therefore production and decomposition are well balanced and nutrient cycles continuously support the next cycles of production. This is the so-called circle of life and is a strategy clearly related to ensuring stability and sustainability in natural systems. On the other hand there are man-made systems which emphasize the economic value of materials and energy, and where production and consumption are the dominant economic activities. Such systems tend to be highly destructive of the environment as they require massive consumption of natural capital and energy, return the end product (waste) to the environment in a form that damages the environment and require more natural capital be consumed in order to feed the system.
Where resources and space are finite this is ultimately not sustainable. The presence of waste is an indication of overconsumption and
Waste, or rubbish, trash, junk, garbage, depending on the type of material or the regional terminology, is an unwanted or undesired material or substance. It may consist of the unwanted materials left over from a manufacturing process (industrial, commercial, mining or agricultural operations,) or from community and household activities. The material may be discarded or accumulated, stored, or treated (physically, chemically, or biologically), prior to being discarded or recycled. It is also used to describe something we use inefficiently or inappropriately. THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY WASTE THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY WASTE
Waste can be regarded as a human concept as there appears to be no such thing as waste in nature. The waste products created by a natural process or organism quickly become the raw products used by other processes and organisms. Recycling is predominant, therefore production and decomposition are well balanced and nutrient cycles continuously support the next cycles of production. This is the so-called circle of life and is a strategy clearly related to ensuring stability and sustainability in natural systems. On the other hand there are man-made systems which emphasize the economic value of materials and energy, and where production and consumption are the dominant economic activities. Such systems tend to be highly destructive of the environment as they require massive consumption of natural capital and energy, return the end product (waste) to the environment in a form that damages the environment and require more natural capital be consumed in order to feed the system.
Where resources and space are finite this is ultimately not sustainable. The presence of waste is an indication of overconsumption and