Waste Management Essay

Waste Management Written Report

Waste can be defined as anything that no longer had a useful purpose and needs to be disposed of. Every day, no matter what we do, everyone in the environment accumulates waste. As more and more waste continues to accumulate, there becomes a need for some sort of process so that the waste doesn’t just consume the earth; this is where waste management comes into play.

Waste management is the many processes involved in managing the waste of organisms within the environment including reduction, storage, recycling, transport, and finally disposal. (Include citation here). Proper waste management is especially important because it aids in the protection and overall well-being of the environment. Certain types of

For example, we can’t just burn all the waste we come across because if we do, it releases toxins, consequently destroying the ozone layer and increasing global warming. For these reasons, waste management methods can be divided into major groups; reduction and reuse, animal feeding, recycling, composting, fermentation, landfills, incineration and more. Reduction and reuse include developing ways that consumers can drastically reduce the amount of waste that gets sent to sit in landfills. Initiatives include finding ways to recycle, repair and creative reuses for materials. Animal feeding is where food waste is heat treated then dehydrated and fed to animals with a mix of dry feed. This type of waste management is benefiting the environment by reducing waste in landfills and providing a food source for animals. (Insert citation here) Recycling is turning waste into news products, preventing the energy use and consumption of new raw materials. (Insert citation here) Composting is when organic waste sits and decomposes to later be used as plant food. This method is very effective in making waste safe and finding innovative uses for waste. Fermentation is a process where microorganisms eat the sugar from waste and produce alcohol, gases, and acids. This process is very effective because it helps prolong the amount of time a food can last, therefore reducing food waste.

As we continue to expand, we create more and more waste and force scientists to create even more innovative ways to dispose of the increasing amounts of waste. Even though the several methods of waste management we have now are very effective at keeping waste to a minimum, they still have drawbacks and will not be effective forever.

One major problem with our current waste management methods is that we, as a society, are creating too much waste to properly dispose of. The average individual produces about 4.4 pounds of waste per day. (Insert Citation here) At this rate, we will never have enough space for all this waste to be disposed of. Landfills are already becoming less and less effective because there is simply not enough space in the world to accommodate the surplus of waste we create daily. The more land we use to create landfills, the more we are contributing to the loss of biodiversity within the environment. Also, increased landfills will lead to increased landfill gases, consequently air will rise and global warming will