WASTE DISPOSAL

Preamble: Introduction
Natural chemical deterioration of the environment is not uncommon and occurs with or
without human activities. These include:
 Natural oil seepage
 Tar sand contamination of water
 Release of toxic minerals due to weathering
 Sulphur and gas pollution from volcanoes

However, substantial deterioration of the environment is due to human activities.

According to Dr. Barry Commoner, “Nothing ever goes away”. Waste produced from
different activities of man is always within the environment in one form or the other.
Generally, high consumption technological societies tend to generate the most waste. For
example, North America (Canada and USA) has 8% of the world’s population
but consumes 33% of the world’s resources and produce almost half of the
world’s inorganic garbage.

Definition: Wastes are materials generated by human activities and can be in the form
of solids or liquids.
The principal sources of waste based on global assessment are:
i. Energy supply – 26%
ii. Forestry – 17%
iii. Industry – 19%
iv. Agriculture – 14%
v. Transport – 13%
vi. Residential and commercial buildings – 8%
vii. Liquid waste and waste water – 3%
97% of wastes occur as solid waste. Noteworthy are the following:
a. Agriculture and forestry account for about 31% of total global waste. These are
usually non-toxic.
b. Wastes from the industry are usually concentrated. Although toxic chemical wastes
are generated from this source, some levels of regulation can be used for their
controlled disposal.
c. Waste from transport, residential, and commercial buildings are however
generated from diverse sources especially in the cities. These are called municipal
wastes. The logistics involved in the collection, transportation, and disposal of this
type of waste is quite enormous.

Also, the impact of improper administration of municipal wastes can be very high in the
environment. Hence, special attention is usually given to municipal waste disposal.
Industrial wastes are also grouped as part of municipal solid waste.

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE

‘Urban Machines’
In most cities, various types of raw materials, construction materials, and agricultural
products are imported every day. These are processed for activities within the cities and
several types of waste are generated therefrom.

Municipal solid wastes: Typical composition of municipal solid wastes include: paper,
yard waste, metal, plastic, food waste, wood; as well as abandoned
construction/transport debris.

Industrial wastes: Typical composition of industrial waste include: chemicals and allied
products, paper products, food processing, wood products, fuel products (petroleum,
coal), transportation equipment, electrical/electronic, metal products and other machines.
The complexity and mix of these products make their disposal cumbersome.
Methods of Disposal
a) Open Dumps
These are sites of waste disposal without appropriate measures of control and
treatment. In most cases, holes are just made into the ground for dumping of
municipal waste. Generally, open dumps are offensive to the environment as they
are unsightly, unsanitary, generally smelly, and attract large numbers of rodents.
In addition, surface water percolating into the dump can be leached to provide
harmful leachates that can percolate into groundwater and contaminate it.
Unfortunately, it is still a method of waste disposal in many under-developed and
developing countries. Also, the use of this type of dumps is just being phased out
in developed countries.

b) Sanitary Landfills
Disposal of waste in a landfill involves burying the waste. In a basic sanitary landfill
operation, a layer of compacted waste is covered with a layer of earth at regular
intervals, which is recommended to be at least every day. When the site is full, a
thicker layer of earth is placed on top. The land can then be used for other
purposes provided that efforts were made to minimize leakage of gases or toxins
from the landfill.
Landfills are usually sited at abandoned quarries, mine sites and lowland, etc.
Properly reactivated landfills are often used for parks, golf course, pasture land,
etc.
If properly sealed, anaerobic decomposition within landfills provides methane
(CH4) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S). Hence, vents are usually installed to flare the
produced gases. However, if the gas occurs in economically recoverable quantity,
it can be used as fuel for energy source.
Environmental Impact of Landfill
One of the major environmental impacts of landfill is groundwater pollution. This may
often occur as follows:
i. Precipitation or water infiltrating the landfill will produce leachate. The
leachates can then percolate into groundwater and pollute it.
ii. If landfill were placed in areas with shallow or highly fluctuating static water
level, the groundwater can interact with the base of the landfill and get
contaminated.

Methods that can be used for prevention of groundwater contamination include:

 Lining the landfill with impermeable layers at the base.
 Location of landfill in geologically favorable sites such as in sites underlain
by sedimentary rock of low permeability and unfractured crystalline rocks
well above static water level.
 Leachates from landfills must be collected using special devices and proper
disposal.

A major setback for the use of landfill is that more land will be required as the population
gets larger. Generally, an acre of land is required every year for a population of
10,000 people. The land availability is reduced with growing population.
c) Incineration
This is a disposal method in which solid wastes are subjected to combustion at
high temperature so as to turn them into residue and gaseous products. The
process reduces the volume of solid waste to 20 - 30% of the original volume.
Hence, it has advantage of minimal land utilization. Incinerator generally ranges
from the general purpose of municipal incinerator to the sophisticated high
temperature incinerator used for industrial waste.
Drawbacks from incineration include:
 Volatile toxic elements may escape with waste gases (mercury and lead)
 Harmful non-volatile, non-combustible substances may be in the waste.
 Incinerators generate high level of heat.
 Advantages of incinerator include:
 It requires less space than landfill. Hence common in Japan where land is
scarce.
 It is a practical method of disposing certain hazardous biological and
medical wastes as well as some chemical wastes that require very high
temperature.
 The heat generated from incinerator can be used to generate electricity.

Due to these advantages, several countries in Europe and the USA have adopted
the use of incinerator.
d) Ocean Dumping
Ocean dumping involves dumping of waste into the ocean. This is done in the
following manner.
(i) Incinerated Ocean Dumping [Shipboard Incineration]: this involves the use
of ship with incinerator to burn waste in the open ocean, while the non-
combustible residue is simply dumped into the ocean. The technique is
generally regarded as safe for the environment except for the CO 2 flared
into the atmosphere.
(ii) Non-Incinerated Ocean Dumping: this involves dumping of non-incinerated
chemical waste, municipal waste, and other refuse into the ocean. In some
cases, shifting currents have brought the waste back to the shore. It also
involves dumping of sewage sludge into the ocean. Due to adverse effects,
this practice is being banned in advanced countries.
(iii) Dredge Spoils: these are sediments dredged from reservoirs and waterways
to improve their capacity. They are dumped into the ocean at the rate of
200 million tons/year.
Reducing Solid Waste Volume
Other ways of reducing volumes of waste include:
a) Recycling
Recycling is a source recovery practice that refers to the collection and reuse of
waste materials. Some materials once manufactured do not decay easily and can
be collected and reprocessed for reuse.
Glass: A good example is glass, which does not readily decay. Hence, reuse of
wasted glass products can be made to reduce municipal waste.
Paper: Paper is also recycled to produce other paper products such as recycled
paper, newspaper, and toilet tissues. Environmental scientists have stated that for
every ton of newspaper recycled means about 18 trees and 3 m 3 of landfill space
saved. Large quantities of paper are generated in offices and institutions of
learning.
Plastic and Metals: Plastic and metals are another product that are not readily
decomposed; hence recycling is highly encouraged. Although recycled plastic and
metals from a mix of used materials has adverse effect on strength of the recycled
product, yet recycled materials can be used to produce other low-grade products.
b) Other Options
These include use of worn-out construction materials for new construction. E.g.
old pavement crushed for use of new pavement.
Waste exchange: the waste of one company can be used as raw materials of
others.
General focus of municipal waste is changing to recovery and recycling rather than
disposal.
LIQUID WASTE DISPOSAL
Liquid wastes are of two types:
a) Sewage
b) Other liquid waste

Other liquid wastes include:

(i) Toxic liquid wastes: are highly concentrated toxic liquid by-products of
industrial processes. They include acids, bases, and organic solvents.
(ii) Other liquid wastes are lubricants
(iii) Liquid waste from animals.

Methods of Disposal
General methods of disposal include:
a. Dilute-and-Disperse Method
This approach assumes that once diluted liquid wastes are harmless. Hence
dumping of liquid into water bodies or drain is commonly done. This had been
found to be hazardous.
b. Secured Landfill:
This involves sealing liquid waste in drains which are stored in a secured landfill
(just out of sight anyway). Layers of plastic or compacted earth materials are
placed beneath the drains to control unexpected leaks. Also, wells and piping are
installed to monitor groundwater around the site. This method is not excellent
because leakages have been detected in secured landfills that were adjudged
excellent. E.g. Mount trash more secured landfill in Evanston, Illinois, USA. To
minimize these adverse effects, site underlain by low permeable rock such as shale
are often chosen for this work.
c. Deep Well Disposal
This involves injection of liquid industrial waste into deep wells. The recipient
lithology must be porous and permeable (aquifer-like)-sandstone or limestone, and
must be fully confined. Also, the pore fluid must be saline water or brackish water.
 The well must be well lined to prevent leakage especially with shallow freshwater
aquifer units.
The principle is that movement of groundwater in deep subsurface is very slow.
Migration of the waste laterally will slow movement or ensure sufficient dilution.
The technique is cheaper than secured landfill.

However, limitations of the technique are:

 Rate of waste disposal in well is limited to the permeability of the recipient
lithology.
 The geological condition must be favorable
 Deep injection may also leak
 More importantly, deep well injection may trigger earthquake in areas prone
to earthquake

d. Other Techniques

Other techniques of liquid waste disposal include:

i. Destruction of liquid wastes in special furnaces designed to incinerate the
stream of liquid. The toxic liquid organic chemicals are thereby destroyed
with CO2 as the by-product.
ii. Some liquid wastes can be neutralized or broken down by chemical
treatment to exclude the use of secured landfill.
iii. Liquid wastes can be exchanged to produce other products. For example,
nitric acid used in electronic industry can be neutralized to produce calcium
nitrate which can then be used in fertilizer production.