All About Solid & Hazardous Waste

First thing you must know is what is solid and hazardous waste is and how much is produced each year. Solid Waste is any material that is discarded because it has served its purpose or is no longer useful. The United States produces 33% of the world’s solid waste. With most of it coming from miming, oil and natural gas, agriculture, sewage, and plants that produce the things that we need in our everyday life. However, the reaming waste comes from municipal solid waste. Sometimes you might even hear someone call municipal sold waste “garbage.� Which come from our homes and business in and around our neighborhood. Improper disposal of municipal waste can create unsanitary conditions, and these conditions in turn can lead to pollution of the environment and to outbreaks of vector-borne disease (that is, diseases spread by rodents and insects).
Hazardous waste is any waste material that, when improperly handled, can cause substantial harm to human health and safety or to the environment. The United Sates produces 75% of the world’s hazardous waste. Over the last 100 years the amount of hazardous waste has increased. Though due to Congress and its definition of hazardous waste the laws for hazardous waste do not regulate 95%

For several years researchers and analysts have been trying to figure out a way to reduce hazardous waste intake or transform it into a substance that can be re-used. Several analysts have come up with substantial positive arguments that support an ‘eco-industrial revolution’. An ecoindustrial revolution per says would help accommodate 3 huge areas of our existence: Industrial, Economic, and Environment. “The goals of this emerging concept of cleaner production, or industrial ecology, are to redesign all industrial products and processes and then integrate them into (1.) essentially closed systems of cyclical material flows and (2.) networks in which the waste of one manufacturer become new, raw material for another”

2.) There is no “away” for the waste we produce

Along with other developing ideas, there was another idea that stood out amongst the rest. In the 1980's chemists and analysts combined their thoughts and came up with a service flow economy program. Instead of our economy being based upon materials and buying them it would be based on using services and then returning them. Using materials and then returning them has many advantages, which are very positive for the service flow economy development. “It uses the minimum amount of materials (2.) lasts as long as possible (3.) it’s easier to repair, reuse, and recycle (4.) it provides customers with services they want instead of trying to keep selling them newer models”.

There are two ways to reduce the solid and hazardous waste that we create everyday. One option is high waste approach which views waste as inescapable product of economical growth. High waste approach consists of burning, burying, or shipping the waste to other states or countries. The next option would be a low waste approach that would consist of recycling, composting, reusing, or not using it in the first place. Solid and hazardous waste (60%-80%) could be eliminated by reduction, reuse, recycling, and redesign. We can also consume less by deciding how much a product is really needed. Redesigning manufacturing processes to use less material, energy, pollution, and waste. Develop products that are easy to reuse, repair, remanufacture, compost, or recycle. As well as, designing product that will last longer than currents ones. Furthermore eliminating or reducing unnecessary packing (taking things that can’t be recycled etc.) In addition to using trash taxes to reduce waste, and use the revenues to reduce taxes on income and wealth.

Lead is a neurotoxin that is very harmful to unborn fetuses and children up to the age of nine. Lead can affect almost every organ and system in your body. The most sensitive is the central nervous system, particularly in children. Lead also damages kidneys and the reproductive system. The effects are the same whether it is breathed or swallowed. In the home, the main sources of lead are usually lead-based paint and drinking water carried through lead pipes; lead-based paints are especially harmful to children who chew on painted toys, furnishings and eat paint peelings. Much of it comes from human activities including burning fossil fuels, mining, and manufacturing. When lead enters the environment lead itself does not break down, but lead compounds are changed by sunlight, air, and water. When lead is released to the air, it may travel long distances before settling to the ground. Once lead falls onto soil, it usually sticks to soil particles. Movement of lead from soil into groundwater will depend on the type of lead compound and the characteristics of the soil. Much of the lead in inner-city soils comes from old houses painted with lead-based paint. The EPA requires lead in air not to exceed 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter averaged over 3 months. EPA limits lead in drinking w