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Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) commonly referred as garbage or trash includes waste from durable good (such as furniture, tires), non-durable goods (like plastic and paper cups, newspapers, etc.), packaging waste (cartons, plastic wrap, etc.) and yard and food wastes. MSW is the common wastes from household, office and retails spaces. MSW does not include industrial and hazardous waste. The handling of MSW is a growing concern across all the countries, in United States Food and Yard Waste constitute of approximately 28% of MSW followed by paper waste (Chalmin & Gaillochet, 2009).
Waste Management before Industrialization and challenges
The waste generation before industrialization was negligible and mostly related to food, and paper waste. The common form of disposal in the pre-industrialization age was open-dump and releasing into the groundwater and nearby water sources.
The rapid increase in MSW in the post-industrialization age had been marked with large scale consumption and manufacturing of products, high-income cities, with a large amount of organic and non-organic waste from home and office spaces. The conventional waste management techniques were not efficient enough to handle the new amount of waste generated by expanding cities. It requires an integrated level of solid waste management that addresses both the old and new streams of waste, such as, electronics, construction and scrapped vehicles waste along with food and yard waste (Chapter 5.., 2016).
Open dump
Open dump is the disposal of MSW at any location other than the designated facility for the waste. Open dumps are illegal where waste and debris are left in huge quantities. The chemicals and contaminants for open dumps can seep into the ground water, rivers and lake and destroy the essential wildlife habitat. These contaminants are also carried by rainwater and distributed over different places including sources of drinking water. Open dumps are esthetically unpleasing and detrimental to natural beauty, flora and fauna of the vicinity.
Early landfill
The early landfills or sanitary landfills as they were known as previously are the locations where garbage was collected. These landfills were created in a designated place and covered with several inches of soil at the end of each day. This early landfill had significant problems such as the release of methane and leachate due to incomplete decomposition and settling. Leachate is the liquid consisting of toxic chemicals that filter down from a landfill into the groundwater. The Early landfill also generated methane gas making the whole area susceptible to fire and explosion (Chapter 5.., 2016).
A modern landfill
Most of the landfills built after the 1970s, mostly in developed countries, had been well engineered with linings of clay and thick plastic sheets. The modern landfills consist of drain pipes that collect and process leachate at the bottom. Methane gas is also piped out of the modern landfills.
Tessman Road Landfill, Texas
Tessman Road Landfill in San Antonio, Texas, USA is an award winning landfill that has been designed and created by Republic services inc. It is first of its kind landfill with a solar energy cover and a synthetic geomembrane that seals the landfill once it reaches its capacity. Landfill spans over the area of 5.6 acres have a facility to manage methane gas and the solar cover generates the energy of 9 MW of electricity. The landfill generates renewable energy, reduces maintenance and creates a revenue stream (Tessman Road Landfill Solar Energy Cover < HDR, Inc. 2016).
Conclusion
Waste is something that has been generated since the beginning of mankind in the pre-industrialized era. The waste generation has been limited to organic, consisting of food and consumable waste, thereby requiring less complicated methods of waste management. The post-industrialization era increased human consumption of food and retail products, additionally garbage from electronic and vehicles added to the complications of solid waste management. Modern landfills are designed to handle waste from home and offices in an environment-friendly way.
References
CHAPTER 5 – MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: TURNING WASTE INTO
RESOURCES. (2016). un.org. Retrieved 29 April 2016, from
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/susdevtopics/sdt_pdfs/shanghaimanual/Chapter%205%20- %20Waste_management.pdf
Chalmin P. and Gaillochet C. (2009). From waste to resource, An abstract of world waste survey,
Cyclope, Veolia Environmental Services, Edition Economica, France.
Tessman Road Landfill Solar Energy Cover < HDR, Inc.. (2016). Hdrinc.com. Retrieved 29
April 2016, from http://www.hdrinc.com/portfolio/tessman-road-landfill-solar-energy-
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