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Waste Disposal Methods:

Landfill:

There are many advantages and disadvantages of landfill. For instance, the landfill that is sent to LIC’ s could provide the citizens items that they can use for personal use and make money from (e-waste, white goods). This is helping their economic growth and help with the extinction of poverty and breaking the huge border between being a low-income country and high-income country. This is helping HIC’s rid of unattractive garbage, therefore, increasing the beauty of the country, this then leads to more tourism that brings in more finance. With more finance comes more economic growth.

On the contrary, LIC’s not having a “large bank”/or being a consumer society, they aren’t expected to have the presence of highly polluting buildings and infrastructures, but do have the occupation of natural beauty and environmentally friendly resources and surroundings. An instance of a country that is annually defiled with landfill is Madagascar; they engender 9kg of waste per person yearly – (from 2007). Moreover, with landfill clogging up the beautiful and authentic nature of the land, the chances of tourism becomes slim, also, pollution and toxic fumes are generated from some of the waste from the landfill.

 

More Advantages:

• Energy can be obtained by the conversion of landfill gas

• Cheap, quick and easy

• The methane generated from the deposing of the waste can produce electricity

• Once full, it can be landscaped and re-used

 

More Disadvantages:

• Greenhouse gases are produced – creates more pollution and contributes to global warming

• Toxic fumes are endangering nearby habitats, can also kill humans and animals

• In the long term, after the landfill is full, re-development could not be a consideration because the site may be too polluted and hazardous

• Contaminates the ground waters through leakage and sinkholes

• The decaying organic waste produces methane, which damages the atmosphere catastrophically and harms sea levels and global warming exponentially

• Local authorities are charged TAX if too much of their’ waste is sent to them

• The “best” landfill sites in most cases have already been filled up

• The distance between the landfill and the place it is being transported from can have expensive transportation payments

 

Incineration:

Incinerators reduce the solid mass of the original waste by 80-85% and the volume (already compressed somewhat in the garbage trucks) by 95-96%, (depending on composition and degree of recovery of materials). Hence, that while incinerators do not replace landfills entirely, it detracts the unnecessary amount for disposal. Additionally, statistics show that incinerators are responsible for approximately 0.3% of the total domestic emissions that are released into the atmosphere. What is more, is that incineration of municipal solid waste avoids the release of methane and that every ton of municipal solid waste incinerated, prevents one-ton Carbon Dioxide emissions.

 

On the other hand, there are large levels of toxic metals being discharged into the air every minute, which harms the surrounding objects, at chance placing a large sector of the area at risk. The high cost is a turnoff for MSW authorities and is now being addressed by the introduction of WTE plants. The abandonment of recycling and reusing waste has been brought forward the production of Dioxin – this can form a cancer forming chemical.

 

More Advantages:

• Incinerators can be built close to where the waste is collected, meaning less expenses of transportation

• Heat from the waste furnace can be used to generate electricity

• A miniscule amount of ash is sent to landfills

 

More Disadvantages:

• Once burnt, the resource is lost forever

• Need large amounts of waste reducing the incentive to recycle

• The incineration releases CO2 emissions that will part-take in hazardous health issues locally

 

Recycling:

 

Recycling effectively helps manage disposables in congested areas by not burdening the earth with landfills, thus, also conserving energy as recycling can crank out new products without the difficulty of having to get new materials. The recycling of the material is cheaper than the creation; hence, it saves the hassle of wrecking the natural surroundings stifling the wreckage of the natural atmosphere.

 

On the other side, methane gas is formed and contributes to global warming and the equipment required for the procedure need billions yearly with the government supporting with TAX. Likewise, the process of bleaching can expose harsh conditions that can deteriorate health.

 

More Advantages:

• Resources are limited, recycling could be sustainable and can conserve the Earth’s natural resources that cannot be replenished

• Helps with the reduction of harmful gases being exploited to the atmosphere

• Certain resources such as metals have to be extracted via mining, recycling can sustain the resources enough so that miners do not have to go on dangerous mining missions that are life-risking

• The recycling industry can provide new jobs

 

More Disadvantages:

• Recycling plants yield pollution through the toxin that is released through some of the recycling processes

• Certain recyclables need specific treatment, some manufacture pollution and some do not

• Special machinery is essential for particular recyclables, this demands finance and most of all electricity, causing energy companies to consume more natural resources while emitting detrimental gases