1. “Sustainability Initiatives and Practices”
GROUP NO.: - 23
NAMES:-
ARPAN RASTOGI (E – 15)
BASIT WANI (E – 20)
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2. TABLE OF CONTENT
S. NO. CONTENT Pg. NO.
1 INTRODUCTION 3
2 TYPES OF SOLID WASTE 4
3 IMPORTANCE OF SOLID WASTE 6
4 IMPACT OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ON PEOPLE 7
5 IMPACT OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ON PLANET 10
6 IMPACT OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ON PROFIT 14
7 BIBLIOGRAPHY 17
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3. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
INTRODUCTION-
The sight of a dustbin overflowing and the stench rising from it are all too familiar
sights and smells of a crowded city. You look away from it and hold your nose as
you cross it. Have you ever thought that you also have a role to play in the creation
of this stench? That you can also play a role in the lessening of this smell and
making this waste bin look a little more attractive if you follow proper methods of
disposal of the waste generated in the house?
Since the beginning, humankind has been generating waste, be it the bones and
other parts of animals they slaughter for their food or the wood they cut to make
their carts. With the progress of civilization, the waste generated became of a more
complex nature. At the end of the 19th century the industrial revolution saw the rise
of the world of consumers. Not only did the air get more and more polluted but the
Earth itself became more polluted with the generation of non-biodegradable solid
waste. The increase in population and urbanization was also largely responsible for
the increase in solid waste.
Solid waste is the unwanted or useless solid materials generated from combined
residential, industrial and commercial activities in a given area. It may be categorized
according to its origin (domestic, industrial, commercial, construction or institutional);
according to its contents (organic material, glass, metal, plastic paper etc.); or according
to hazard potential (toxic, non-toxin, flammable, radioactive, infectious etc.).
Management of solid waste reduces or eliminates adverse impacts on the environment
and human health and supports economic development and improved quality of life. A
number of processes are involved in effectively managing waste for a municipality.
These include monitoring, collection, transport, processing, recycling and disposal.
There has been a significant increase in MSW (municipal solid waste) generation in
India in the last few decades. This is largely because of rapid population growth and
economic development in the country. Solid waste management has become a major
environmental issue in India. The per capita of MSW generated daily, in India ranges
from about 100 g in small towns to 500g in large towns. Although, there is no national
level data for MSW generation, collection and disposal, and increase in solid waste
generation, over the years, can be studied for a few urban centers.
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4. For example, the population of Mumbai grew from around 12.3 million in 2001 to 24.5
million in 2011,registering a growth of around 49%. On the other hand, MSW generated
in the city increased from 3200 tons per day to 5355 tons per day in the same period
registering a growth of around 67%. This clearly indicates that the growth in MSW in our
urban centers has outpaced the population growth in recent years. This trend can be
ascribed to our changing lifestyles, food habits, and change in living standards. MSW in
cities is collected by respective municipalities and transported to designated disposal
sites, which are normally low lying areas on the outskirts of the city. The limited
revenues earmarked for the municipalities make them Ill-equipped to provide for high
costs involved in the collection, storage, treatment, and proper disposal of MSW. As a
result, a substantial part of the MSW generated remains unattended and grows in the
heaps at poorly maintained collection center. The choice of a disposal site also is more
a matter of what is available than what is suitable. The average collection efficiency for
MSW in Indian cities is about 72.5% and around 70% of the cities lack adequate waste
transport capacities.
The insanitary methods adopted for disposal of solid wastes is, therefore, a serious
health concern. The poorly maintained landfill sites are prone to groundwater
contamination because of leachate production. Open dumping of garbage facilitates the
breeding for disease vectors.
Such as flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, rats, and other pests. The municipalities in
India therefore face the challenge of reinforcing their available infrastructure for efficient
MSW management and ensuring the scientific disposal of MSW by generating enough
revenues either from the generators or by identifying activities that generate resources
from waste management.
The key issues involved in the solid waste management are growth in population and
increasing garbage generation, waste collection system, segregation of waste at source
in as many categories as practical, scientific processing of waste material depending on
nature, developing infrastructure for solid waste and disposal and processing,
decentralize means to process waste to avoid multiple transfer and facilitate disposal
etc.
Types of Solid Waste
Solid waste can be classified into different types depending on their source:
Household waste is generally classified as municipal waste
Industrial waste as hazardous waste
Biomedical waste or hospital waste as infectious waste
Municipal solid waste
Consists of household waste, construction and demolition debris, sanitation residue,
and waste from streets. This garbage is generated mainly from residential and
Commercial complexes. With rising urbanization and change in lifestyle and food
habits, the amount of municipal solid waste has been increasing rapidly and its
composition changing.
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5. In 1947 cities and towns in India generated an estimated 6 million tons of solid waste.In
1997 it was about 48 million tons. More than 25% of the municipal solid waste is not
collected at all; 70% of the Indian cities lack adequate capacity to transport it and there
are no sanitary landfills to dispose of the waste. The existing landfills are neither well
equipped nor well managed and are notlined properly to protect against contamination
of soil and ground water.
Over the last few years, the consumer market has grown rapidly leading to products
being packed in cans, aluminum foils, plastics, and other such non-biodegradable
items that cause incalculable harm to the environment. In India, some municipal
areas have banned the use of plastics and they seem to have achieved success.
For example, today one will not see a single piece of plastic in the entire district of
Ladakh where the local authorities imposed a ban on plastics in 1998. Other states
should follow the example of this region and ban the use of items that cause harm
to the environment. One positive note is that in many large cities, shops have begun
packing items in reusable or biodegradable bags.
Hazardous waste
Industrial and hospital waste is considered hazardous as they may contain toxic
substances. Certain types of household waste are also hazardous. Hazardous
wastes could be highly toxic to humans, animals, and plants; are corrosive, highly
inflammable, or explosive; and react when exposed to certain things e.g. gases.
India generates around 7 million tons of hazardous wastes every year, most of which is
concentrated in four states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
Household wastes that can be categorized as hazardous waste include old batteries,
shoe polish, paint tins, old medicines, and medicine bottles.
In the industrial sector, the major generators of hazardous waste are the metal,
chemical, paper, pesticide, dye, refining, and rubber goods industries. Direct exposure to
chemicals in hazardous waste such as mercury and cyanide can be fatal.
Hospital waste
Hospital waste is generated during the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of
human beings or animals or in research activities in these fields or in the production
or testing of biological. It may include wastes like sharps, soiled waste, disposables,
Anatomical waste, cultures, discarded medicines, chemical wastes, etc.
These are in the form of disposable syringes, swabs, bandages, body fluids, human
excreta, etc. This waste is highly infectious and can be a serious threat to human health
if not managed in a scientific and discriminate manner. It has been roughly estimated
that of the 4 kg of waste generated in a hospital at least 1 kg would be infected.
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6. Hospital waste contaminated by chemicals used in hospitals is considered hazardous.
These chemicals include formaldehyde and phenols, which are used as disinfectants,
and mercury, which is used in thermometers or equipment that measure blood
pressure. Most hospitals in India do not have proper disposal facilities for these
hazardous wastes.
IMPORTANCE OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT –
Solid waste management not only comes from industrial units. It also comes from
various sources. Every man with the operation of daily domestic work creates solid
waste for disposal. A study in United States shows that solid waste per person per day
in 1920 is 1.2kg. It increases 2.3kg in 1970 and about 3.6kg in 1980.This shows that
solid waste per person is mounting due to number of reasons.Solid waste disposal
creates a problem primarily in highly populated areas. The more concentrated the
population. The greater the problem.
City Solid waste generated
Mumbai 6000 tons per day
Thane 700 tons per day
Hyderabad 2000 tons per day
Delhi 4000tones per day
In India, generation of municipal solid waste (MSW), industrial, hazardous waste,
biomedical waste have been increasing due to population growth, life style changes and
economic development. On the other hand, waste management responses have not
kept pace with the increasing quantities of waste resulting in (a) a high proportion of
uncollected waste, and (b) poor standards of transportation, storage, treatment and
disposal. The insanitary methods adopted for disposal of solid wastes is a serious
health concern with significant environmental, social and health costs associated with it.
Open dumping of garbage facilitates the breeding of disease vectors such as flies,
mosquitoes, cockroaches, rats, and other pests. The poorly maintained landfill sites
further, are prone to groundwater contamination because of leachate production.
Practically every citizen is now search of clear air and pleasant environment. The land
pollution problem has grown enormously in the recent years due to waste dumping
civics administration are facing the problem for hygiene disposal waste. Those calls for
separate efforts of not only the civics administration but participation of several
responsibilities publics groups and industrial lists.
As the cities are growing in size and problems seen as the generation of plastic waste,
various municipal waste treatment and disposal methods are now being used to try
resolving these problems. Garbage generation in household can be recycled and
reused to prevent creation of waste at sources and reducing amount of waste thrown
into the community dustbins.
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7. IMPACT OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ON PEOPLE
Impact on the Surroundings
The closure of existing open dumpsites and the introduction of sanitary landfill is an
urgent priority everywhere in the developing world. Even where complementary
disposal technologies, such as composting or incineration (waste to energy plants), are
practiced, a landfill is still required and is the backbone of any sustainable disposal
system. Matching grants designed to encourage landfill investments and sustainable
operations may be an appropriate instrument to consider, primarily because the
environmental damages and benefits tend to spill over into neighboring municipalities
and regions, or into underlying groundwater resources (Daniel, 1999). This statement is
true. The reason simply being because waste in the landfills is not properly managed,
this results to the impacts to the environment. Medina (2002) also supported the US
Environmental Protection Agency. He states that pollution is not directly transferred
from land to people, except in the case of dusts and direct contact with toxic materials.
Pollutants deposited on land usually enter the human body through the medium of
contaminated crops, animals, food products, or water. Land pollution can also damage
terrestrial ecosystems, resulting in the deterioration of the conservation on and amenity
value of the environment.
Impacts on Residents
According to Marshal (1995), open dumpsites are a major problem to the environment,
especially on the air that the people inhale. Dumpsites emit obnoxious odors and smoke
that cause illness to people living in, around, or closer to them. According to Wrensh
(1990) dumpsites maybe a source of airborne chemical contamination via off site
migration of gases and the particles and chemicals adhering to dust, especially during
the period of active operation of the site. Contamination of soil and groundwater may
lead to direct contact or pollution of indoor air for example in the case of volatile organic
chemicals into basements of nearby residents and in the case of consumption of home
grown vegetables as well. Wrensh (1990) further stated that in some sites, volatile
organic chemicals have been detected in adored air of homes nearby dumpsites. In a
number of community health surveys, a wide range of health problems, including
respiratory symptoms, irritation of the skin, nose, and eyes, gastrointestinal problems,
psychological disorders, and allergies, have been discovered. A number of researches
have been carried out in response to concerns from the public, often triggered by
nuisances caused by emissions of volatile organic compounds. Forexample, according
to Dolk (1997), dump sites closer to residential areas are always feeding places for
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8. dogs and cats. These pets, together with rodents, carry diseases with them to nearby
homesteads. The UNEPA (2006) state that wastes that are not properly managed,
especially excreta and other liquids and solid wastes from households and the
community, are a serious health hazard and could lead to the spreading of diseases.
The report further states that unattended wastes lying around attract flies, rats, and
other creatures that, in turn, spread diseases. Normally, it is the wet waste that
decomposes and releases a bad odor. The bad odor affects the people settled next to
the dumpsite, which clearly shows that the dumpsites have serious effects to people
settled around or next to them.
Wastes from agriculture and industries can also cause serious health risks. Other than
this, co-disposal of industrial hazardous wastes with municipal wastes can expose
people to chemical and radioactive hazards. Uncollected solid waste can also obstruct
storm water runoff, resulting in the forming of stagnant water bodies that become the
breeding ground of disease. Wastes dumped near a water source also cause a
contamination of the water body or the ground water source.
Direct dumping of untreated wastes in rivers, seas, and lakes, result the accumulation of
toxic substances in the food chain through the plants and animals that feed on it
(Medina, 2002). This clearly shows how waste disposal seriously affects the health of
residents located closer to dumpsites. The effect of solid waste disposal in African
countries faces a great problem. It is imperative to note that Swaziland is planning to
address the issue of solid waste disposal.
The major problem of Swaziland is that, they are engaging in a long term plan, while
damage is increasing every day. The National Solid Waste Management Strategy for
Swaziland represents a long-term plan up to year 2010 for addressing key issues,
needs, and problems experienced with waste management inSwaziland. The strategy
attempts to give effects to the National Environmental Policy, the National
Environmental Management Act of 2002, and the Waste Regulations Act of 2000.
The focus of the strategy is to move towards a holistic approach in waste management,
in line with the internationally accepted principles, but taking into account the specific
context of Swaziland, with regard to the institutional and legal framework, as well as
land tenure and resource constraints. Integrated waste management, thus, represents a
move away from waste management through impact management and remediation to a
proactive management system that focuses on waste prevention and minimization.
Dumpsites are known for their smelly and unsightly conditions.
These conditions are worse in the summer because of extreme temperatures, which
speed up the rate of bacterial action on biodegradable organic material.
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9. Most developing countries, like Swaziland, use such dumpsites rather than properly
managed and environmentally safe landfills.
Lack of capital and poor government policies regarding to wastes contributes to such
conditions. There is therefore considerable public concern over the possible effects of
dumpsites on the health of people living nearby, particularly those where hazardous
waste is dumped. Most solid wastes are disposed on the land in open dumps. Disposal
of solid waste on the land without careful planning and management can present a
danger to the environment and the human health. The environment should be clean and
less polluted by all means. This means that waste should be managed at all costs to
limit its effects to the environment.
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10. IMPACT OF SOIL WASTE MANAGEMENT ON PLANET
About 40 million tons of municipal waste is generated in India every year. The waste
management scenario continues to be grim, even though there have been some
Commendable initiatives by scattered municipalities, individuals, groups and NGOs. As
of today, open dumps are the major mode of waste disposal. Composting,
biomethanation and thermal processing are being attempted as the options for waste
processing. This paper analyses the performance of such waste processing initiatives in
India, identifies the key constraints and presents suggestions for improvement.
Key Words: Waste processing, Composting, Biomethanation, RDF, Waste to energy
Municipal solid waste (MSW) includes household garbage and rubbish, street sweeping,
construction and demolition debris, sanitation residues, trade and
nonhazardousindustrial refuse and treated bio-medical solid waste. The management of
MSW is an area of universal concern for both the developed and developing world. It is
a major problem in Indian cities and towns with the urban areas of India producing
about 40 million tons of solid waste from household and commercial activities every
year. As the Solid Waste Management (SWM) is of local nature it is the responsibility of
the State which in turn has entrusted it to local authorities who carry out the solid waste
management in areas under their control using mostly their own funds, staff and
equipment. The urban local bodies spend approximately Rs.500 to Rs.1500 (approx.
USD 12 - 36) per ton on solid waste for collection, transportation, treatment and
disposal. About 60-70% of this amount is spent on collection, 20-30% on transportation
and less than 5% on processing and final disposal. Out of the total municipal waste
collected, about 94% is disposed by open dumping and the rest is composted.
The 2001 Census has put the number of urban centers as 5144 out of which 464
centers have a population greater than 1 lakh. According to the Central Pollution Control
Board(CPCB) the average waste generated for small towns is 0.1 kg per person per
day; for medium towns/city is 0.3 to 0.4 kg per person per day; and for large cities
around 0.5 kg per person per day (CPCB, 2000). The typical rate of increase of waste
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11. generation in Indian cities has been estimated at around 1.3% annually. The expected
generation of Lesson from Municipal Solid Waste Processing Initiatives in India.
MSW in 2025 will therefore be around 700 grams per capita per day. Considering that
the urban population of India is expected to grow to 45% of total from the prevailing
28%, the magnitude of problem is likely to grow to even larger proportions (World Bank,
2006). The socio-economic structure of the Indian society not only makes per capita
generation of waste much less compared to that of the western societies, it has also
brought in a system of waste recycling and reusing not common in developed societies,
though these systems are fast losing ground.
A substantial amount of MSW is recycled and reused through the primary intervention
of rag pickers and second-hand markets, though there are problems like the health
hazard to the rag pickers and the degradation and devaluation of the recyclables. Since
the experience in the towns all over India regarding waste processing has not been
encouraging and since the States were not observed to take any specific initiative in this
regard various committees were appointed by the Central Government and as a result
of these committees various projects were initiated. The two leading methods of waste
processing being adopted in India include composting (aerobic composting, anaerobic,
vermicomposting, etc.) and waste-to-energy. The larger (50-60%) proportion of organic
matter in Indian MSW indicates the desirability of biological processing of wastes. This
paper is aimed at analyzing the performance of these waste processing plants on
technical aspects (i.e. processing technology and quality of product), the type of
management and performance, institutional aspects and environmental health aspects.
This also includes aspects such as the technology Maturity, input quality/ quantity
flexibility and local availability of technology and expertise.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Methods of waste reduction, waste reuse and recycling are the preferred options when
Managing waste. There are many environmental benefits that can be derived from the
use of these methods. They reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the
release of pollutants, conserve resources, save energy and reduce the demand for
waste treatment technology and landfill space. Therefore it is advisable that these
methods be adopted and incorporated as part of the waste management plan.
Waste reduction and reuse
Waste reduction and reuse of products are both methods of waste prevention. They
eliminate the production of waste at the source of usual generation and reduce the
demands for large scale treatment and disposal facilities.
Methods of waste reduction include manufacturing products with less packaging,
encouraging customers to bring their own reusable bags for packaging, encouraging
thepublic to choose reusableproducts such as cloth napkins and reusable plastic and
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12. glass containers, backyard composting and sharing and donating any unwanted items
rather than discarding them. All of the methods of waste prevention mentioned require
public participation. In order to get the public onboard, training and educational
programmers need to be undertaken to educate the public about their role in the
process. Also the government may need to regulate the types and amount of packaging
used by manufacturers and make the reuse of shopping bags mandatory.
Treatment & Disposal
Waste treatment techniques seek to transform the waste into a form that is more
manageable, reduce the volume or reduce the toxicity of the waste thus making the
waste easier to dispose of. Treatment methods are selected based on the composition,
quantity,and form of the waste material. Some waste treatment methods being used
today include subjecting the waste to extremely high temperatures, dumping on land or
land filling and use of biological processes to treat the waste. It should be noted that
treatment and disposal options are chosen as a last resort to the previously mentioned
management strategies reducing, reusing and recycling of waste.
Dumps and Landfills
Sanitary landfills
Sanitary Landfills are designed to greatly reduce or eliminate the risks that waste
disposal may pose to the public health and environmental quality. They are usually
placed in areaswhere land features act as natural buffers between the landfill and the
environment. For example the area may be comprised of clay soil which is fairly
impermeable due to itstightly packed particles, or the area may be characterized by a
low water table and an absence of surface water bodies thus preventing the threat of
water contamination. In addition to the strategic placement of the landfill other protective
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13. measures are incorporated into its design. The bottom and sides of landfills are lined
with layers of clay or plastic to keep the liquid waste, known as leachate, from escaping
into the soil. The leachate is collected and pumped to the surface for treatment.
Boreholes or monitoring wells are dug in the vicinity of the landfill to monitor
groundwater quality. A landfill is divided into a series of individual cells and only a few
cells of the site are filled with trash at any one time. This minimizes exposure to wind
and rain. The daily waste is spread and compacted to reduce the volume, a cover is
then applied to reduce odors and keep out pests. When the landfill has reached its
capacity it is capped with an impermeable seal which is typically composed of clay soil.
Some sanitary landfills are used to recover energy. The natural anaerobic
decomposition of the waste in the landfill produces landfill gases which include Carbon
Dioxide, methane and traces of other gases. Methane can be used as an energy source
to produce heat or electricity. Thus some landfills are fitted with landfill gas collection
(LFG) systems to capitalize on the methane being produced. The process of generating
gas is very slow, for the energy recovery system to be successful there needs to be
large volumes of wastes. These landfills present the least environmental and health risk
and the records kept can be a good source of information for future use in waste
management, however, the cost of establishing these sanitary landfills are high when
compared to the other land disposal methods.
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14. IMPACT OF SOIL WASTE MANAGEMENT ON PROFIT
Waste Ventures: A Decentralized Bio-methane Distribution System from
Municipal Solid Waste Management in India
Waste Ventures is an international non-profit addressing the social and environmental
degradation caused by broken solid waste management systems in emerging market
cities. We build waste picker groups into profitable waste collection companies that
environmentally process waste, reducing destructive methane and other greenhouse
gases while earning three times their previous income. We have started operations in
India and are seeking to expand our model into emerging market cities around the
world.
Problem
Without a low-cost and low-tech methodology for processing organic waste, methane
from anaerobic decomposition on dumping grounds will continue to destroy the
atmosphere. The challenge is to design a low-cost, technologically simple and
environmentally sound system to centrally process waste into biogas (or bio-methane)
and distribute for fuel consumption to households, restaurants, as a replacement for
CNG gas in transportation uses, or for generating electricity.
Context
Over 50-60% of municipal solid waste in emerging market cities is organic. The
implication of such a large organic component is that methane, 20 times more harmful
to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, is being produced from global dumping of waste
at the rate of almost 40 million tons each year.
Waste Ventures builds and trains waste picker companies to collect organic waste to
process into organic compost for application as a soil conditioner in agricultural
contexts. In places where great nutrient depletion is threatening the ability of farmers to
retain water and grow healthy produce, organic soil conditioners are gaining ground as
essential to the farming regimen. In some cities, however, weaker compost markets or
greater demand for energy indicate that generating and selling biogas would be a more
locally appropriate solution.
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15. Solution Parameters
The focus of our work is in tier II and tier III cities in India (population 80,000-800,000).
This is the cross-section of India’s cities which are growing the fastest, and they are
having increasing difficulty keeping up with the infrastructure needs of their residents.
Municipal solid waste provides a reliable and organic-rich supply of raw material from
which to generate renewable energy.
In India, biogas production has been widely introduced in the form of decentralized
digesters fed with agricultural wastes and animal dung to generate combustible gas for
cooking in rural kitchens. However, in cities where we work, we require a rapidly
scalable solution that does not rely on individual adoption and installation of the
technology in a house-by-house basis.
Centralized bio-digester. The solution should be built around a centralized
processing center for digesting the organic waste into biogas rather than
decentralized digesters.
Upgrade biogas for higher value fuel. In order to stabilize the gas for
distribution, cost-effective and environmentally responsible technology should
be used for upgrading the biogas to bio-methane (ideally, >97% CH4). Though
“scrubbing” with water is generally low cost, the water loss and inability to
recover the CO2 would need to be addressed. Alternatively, designing a
methodology for separating CH4 and CO2 using a Ranque-Hilsch vortex tube
could be a very low-cost and high-efficiency method for upgrading the bio-
methane, if such a prototype could be developed.
Consideration of market forces. Use of the gas to adequately meet market
demands is critical to developing a model which achieves our ultimate goals of
increasing waste picker income and creating waste enterprises capable of
attracting commercial investment.
Municipal solid waste stream. System inputs are restricted to the municipal
solid waste stream of vegetable & fruit market wastes, kitchen wastes, and
some slaughter house waste. Human waste and wastewater are not.
Minimal methane leakage. Because methane is over 20 times more potent as
a greenhouse gas than an equal measure of carbon dioxide, even a minor
leakage in the process can cause extensive atmospheric heating. It is essential
to design a system which inherently prevents any methane leakage.
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17. BIBLIOGRAPGY
For making the project we have taken the help of following links:-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_management
cmsdu.org/organs/solid_waste_management.pdf
www.wasteventures.org
http://www.teriin.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52
www.worldbank.org
ww.eai.in
www.wasteconsult.de
www.lcacenter.org/../solidwaste.ppt
environmentalhealthtoday.files.word…
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