Negative Effects of Improper Waste Management

Introduction to Waste Management

Waste is defined in Assembly of People’s Deputies, “Act N 005/97/ADP on the environmental code in Burkina Faso” as solid, liquid or gas rubbish from the living homes and related administrative buildings, recreational, restoration room and any other public installation receiving people” (1997). Waste is an object that can have negative impacts on the environment from the environmentalist’s point of view. The concept of household waste (solid or liquid) means waste from daily household activity. Proper waste management is the set of provisions for the collection, transportation and environmentally sound disposal of waste.

In many countries, the management of waste is sidelined. Meanwhile, pollution transforms the environment into an epidemiologic space. Waste management is one of the major challenges of urban management in Sub Saharan African countries. The current difficulties in the management of solid waste are the result of poor mastering of concepts, approaches and techniques. Just across some African cities is to see the manifestations of this problem: piles of garbage, trash along the roads, landfill blocking riverbeds, threatening health in residential areas and improper disposal of wastewater.

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The town of Kaya, an important center of transit, trade and production including stock breeding and its by-products are no exception to this. Indeed, with urbanization and population growth, the city of Kaya produces an enormous amount of waste without adequate infrastructure to manage it. Most households are using landfills and other anarchic waste disposal methods that turn street corners or gutters into landfills, making the city insalubrious.

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The inefficiency in the management of waste can adversely affect public health, environment and economy of the country.

Environmental Impact on Inefficient Waste Management.

Rubbish and Waste can cause air pollution.

Poor handling, evacuation and disposal of waste have numerous negative impacts on the city’s environment such as proliferation of mosquitoes and flies, bad odors and visual pollution. Many of the goods these days are made with chemicals and those chemicals don’t just disappear when they are dumped but has a very long-lasting impact on environment as biogas in landfills occurs which contains about 50% of methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and various acids or volatile and sulfur. Methane exits the landfill and floats up in the atmosphere which contributes to global warming and then causes extreme weather reaction in the form of storm and typhoons. Open air waste firing gives hand to the production of flying heavy metals and hydrochloric acid. When combustion occurs, tons of waste releases more than 7 kg of hydrochloric acid and the air pollution from incineration can release toxic substances that can contribute to acid rain.

Rubbish and waste also have an impact on soil.

Stagnation and the infiltration of wastewater are factors that influence the degradation of components of the environment because when waste ends up in the landfill, chemicals can leech out into the soil and contaminates it. These may cause the dispersion of soil particles and unfavorably affects the soil structure. Plants then take up the contamination through their roots and if humans eat plants and animals that have been in contact with such polluted soils, there can be negative impacts on their health. Stagnation and the infiltration of wastewater are factors that influence the degradation of components of the environment. Plastic is a non-biodegradable material so plastic bags pollute the soil, attack vegetation, reduce infiltration of rainwater, clogged pipes and drains discharge storm water and wastewater.

Water is also polluted by waste.

Household waste and their soil infiltration pollute groundwater. Solid waste and domestic sewage sludge are rich in organic waste, fats, mineral substances, hydro carbonates, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium carried materials in suspension which pollute the water. Garbage and liquid waste that end up in the water brings negative change in the chemical composition of water and it affects all the ecosystems living in the water including fish and other creatures that drinks the polluted water.

Negative Impact of Inefficient Waste Management on Health

Potting garbage produces harmful gases which can cause respiratory disease.

When there is negative impact on the environment, eventually there will be negative impacts on the health of those people staying in that area. The toxic substances in the air contaminated by waste are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane and when these gases mix up with the air, it gives breathing problems to all the beings. There is no epidemiological study which has been conducted in order to study this phenomenon and it has been estimated that cases in endemic areas occur in children as many children die due to pneumonia and lower respiratory tract infections. Young children and infants are very likely to develop severe tuberculosis.

Other Harmful Health Effects

The hydrochloric acid which are produced by waste irritates the skin, respiratory tract, eyes and the diseases are carried by factors such as flies and rats because when they breed and stays in dirty places, the spreads diseases like malaria and dengue etc. Everyone knows that water is something very essential in life but when it comes to an unhealthy environment, it becomes the most dreading source killing people and causing illness. People who lives near the landfill have more risk of getting those diseases compared to those who lives in a distant. A case study in New York State has examined lung cancer in relation to residence in a census tract with a waste site and it is said that twelve waste sites are known to contain suspected lung carcinogens.

The Inefficiency in Management of Waste can affect the economy of the country.

Without proper waste management, the area/ land gets belittled.

One of the greatest contributions to the government revenue is from the tourists. Clean and beautiful places can attract people from everywhere because it makes them feel welcoming which leads to a drastic change in the revenue of the government. If the country is dirty, smelly, poor waste management system and a poor sanitation, people will quit visiting those places because everyone prefers to travel to those places which are clean and has a healthy air quality. If there is no one willing to visit the country, the government will not be able to generate revenue as well as foreign exchange.

Improper disposal of waste prevents resources from being reused.

If the management of waste in the country is inefficient, they will not give much importance in recycling the wastes which can easily be reused and this also leads to reduction of job opportunities which comes from recycling such as, compositing and businesses who works with the recycling agents. Not recycling will most likely miss out on the revenue from recycling as they will end up purchasing new resources from different countries leading to more expenditure but if the wastes that are possible to be reused are recycled, they can reduce both the expenditure as well as the waste. It is very important to sustain unnecessary expenditure for fresh water because water is contaminated by waste products.

Updated: Aug 12, 2021
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Negative Effects of Improper Waste Management. (2021, Feb 06). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/negative-effects-of-improper-waste-management-essay

Negative Effects of Improper Waste Management essay
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