Solid Waste Management (RA 9003), Biodegradable-vs-non biodegradable, and other hazardous wastes
Nonbiodegradable Waste
Non-biodegradable Garbage
Soil is getting polluted by pesticides, factory wastes, the reclamation of poisonous industrial and household wastes, and the careless abandonment of non-biodegradable garbage. Some of those wastes remain under the ground for 500 years, which pollutes the environment.
Recently, the wastes that are not rotten easily, such as bottles, cans, plastics, vinyl, Styrofoam, and aluminum, are increasing so how to treat them is a worry. Incinerating the rotten wastes is a treatment way, but it can pollute the air or can generate the substances that have bad influence on organisms. And it causes other environmental problems. Therefore, the quantity of wastes generated should be reduced as far as possible, and recyclable wastes should be recycled.
Segregation of waste
Waste can be segregated as
1. Biodegradable and
2. Nonbiodegradable.
Biodegradable waste include organic waste, e.g. kitchen waste, vegetables, fruits, flowers, leaves from the garden, and paper.
Nonbiodegradable waste can be further segregated into:
a) Recyclable waste – plastics, paper, glass, metal, etc.
b) Toxic waste – old medicines, paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers, batteries, shoe polish.
c) Soiled – hospital waste such as cloth soiled with blood and other body fluids.
Toxic and soiled waste must be disposed of with utmost care.
Full resolution (1,501 × 1,140 pixels, file size: 482 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
| Description | Biodegradable waste.jpg Biodegradable waste in a trashcan. |
| Date | September 2005 |
| Source | Own work |
| Author | Photo taken by Muu-karhu |
| Permission
| The author put it under the GFDL and CC-BY-SA |
Biodegradable waste is a Type of waste, typically originating from Plant or Animal sources, which may be broken down by other living organisms. Waste that cannot be broken down by other living organisms may be called non-biodegradable.
Biodegradable waste can be commonly found in Municipal solid waste (sometimes called biodegradable municipal waste, or BMW) as Green waste, Food waste, Paper waste, and Biodegradable. Other biodegradable wastes include Human waste, Manure, Sewage, Slaughterhouse waste.
Treatment
Through proper Waste, it can be converted into valuable products by Compost, or Energy by Waste processes such as Anaerobic digestion and Incineration. Anaerobic digestion is the process in which Microorganisms break down Biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. As part of an integrated Waste system, anaerobic digestion reduces the emission of Landfill into the atmosphere.
Composting converts biodegradable waste into Compost. Anaerobic digestion converts biodegradable waste into several products, including Biogas and soil amendment (Digestate). Incineration as well as biogas can be used to generate electricity and/or heat for District heating.
Global warming
Biodegradable waste is an important substance due to its links with Global warming. When it is disposed of in landfills, it breaks down under uncontrolled anaerobic conditions. This produces landfill gas which, if not harnessed, escapes into the atmosphere. Landfill gas contains Methane, a more potent Greenhouse gas than Carbon dioxide.
The European Union Landfill puts key requirements on member states for the management of biodegradable waste in order to stop global warming.
Philippine Republic Act No.9003
REPUBLIC ACT 9003 January 26, 2001
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR AN ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, CREATING THE NECESSARY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS AND INCENTIVES, DECLARING CERTAIN ACTS PROHIBITED AND PROVIDING PENALTIES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representative of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
CHAPTER I BASIC POLICIES
Article 1 General Provisions
Section 1. Short Title - This Act shall be known as the "Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000."
Section 2. Declaration of Policies - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to adopt a systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid waste management program which shall:
(a) Ensure the protection of the public health and environment;
(b) Utilize environmentally-sound methods that maximize the utilization of valuable resources and encourage resource conservation and recovery;
(c) Set guidelines and targets for solid waste avoidance and volume reduction through source reduction and waste minimization measures, including composting, recycling, re-use, recovery, green charcoal process, and others, before collection, treatment and disposal in appropriate and environmentally sound solid waste management facilities in accordance with ecologically sustainable development principles;
(d) Ensure the proper segregation, collection, transport, storage, treatment and disposal of solid waste through the formulation and adoption of the best environmental practice in ecological waste management excluding incineration;
(e) Promote national research and development programs for improved solid waste management and resource conservation techniques, more effective institutional arrangement and indigenous and improved methods of waste reduction, collection, separation and recovery;
(f) Encourage greater private sector participation in solid waste management;
(g) Retain primary enforcement and responsibility of solid waste management with local government units while establishing a cooperative effort among the national government, other local government units, non- government organizations, and the private sector;
(h) Encourage cooperation and self-regulation among waste generators through the application of market-based instruments;
(i) Institutionalize public participation in the development and implementation of national and local integrated, comprehensive, and ecological waste management programs; and
(j) Strength the integration of ecological solid waste management and resource conservation and recovery topics into the academic curricula of formal and non-formal education in order to promote environmental awareness and action among the citizenry.
Article 2 Definition of Terms
Section 3. Definition of Terms - For the purposes of this Act:
(a) Agricultural waste shall refer to waste generated from planting or harvesting of crops, trimming or pruning of plants and wastes or run-off materials from farms or fields;
(b) Bulky wastes shall refer to waste materials which cannot be appropriately placed in separate containers because of either its bulky size, shape or other physical attributes. These include large worn-out or broken household, commercial, and industrial items such as furniture, lamps, bookcases, filing cabinets, and other similar items;
(c) Bureau shall refer to the Environmental Management Bureau;
(d) Buy-back center shall refer to a recycling center that purchases of otherwise accepts recyclable materials from the public for the purpose of recycling such materials;
(e) Collection shall refer to the act of removing solid waste from the source or from a communal storage point;
(f) Composting shall refer to the controlled decomposition of organic matter by micro-organisms, mainly bacteria and fungi, into a humus-like product;
(g) Consumer electronics shall refer to special waste that includes worn-out, broken, and other discarded items such as radios, stereos, and TV sets;
(h) Controlled dump shall refer to a disposal site at which solid waste is deposited in accordance with the minimum prescribed standards of site operation;
(i) Department shall refer to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources;
(j) Disposal shall refer to the discharge, deposit, dumping, spilling, leaking or placing of any solid waste into or in an land;
(k) Disposal site shall refer to a site where solid waste is finally discharged and deposited;
(l) Ecological solid waste management shall refer to the systematic administration of activities which provide for segregation at source, segregated transportation, storage, transfer, processing, treatment, and disposal of solid waste and all other waste management activities which do not harm the environment;
(m) Environmentally acceptable shall refer to the quality of being re-usable, biodegradable or compostable, recyclable and not toxic or hazardous to the environment;
(n) Generation shall refer to the act or process of producing solid waste;
(o) Generator shall refer to a person, natural or juridical, who last uses a material and makes it available for disposal or recycling;
(p) Hazardous waste shall refer to solid waste management or combination of solid waste which because of its quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics may:
(1) cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness; or
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