Segregation of waste has become a matter of serious concern taking into consideration the amount of waste being produced and its negative impact on environment (if not segregated properly) with rapid increase of human population in the city coupled with varying contemporary way of life. Segregation of waste at source level is the need of the hour as the waste being produced in the present day causes huge complications particularly in the urban areas. If the wastes are not segregated properly, it will cause a lot of evil effect to human being. As far as recycling is concerned segregation of waste before disposing of it makes it easier to recycle.
In fact, there are certain items that are not biodegradable but can be reused or recycled such as plastic, paper, glass, metal etc. However, we fail to segregate these items in the process of disposing waste at our homes, workplace, shops, etc. It is to be noted that waste produces that can be reprocessed/recycled should not be buried underground as it will pollute the soil adjoining it. It is also noteworthy to state that improper waste segregation leads to contamination of soil, floods, extinction of plants and animals, air contamination, etc.
Kitchen waste should be segregated into different bags for different categories of waste such as dry and wet waste and dispose of separately. Segregation is the paramount step towards proper disposal of both categories of waste. Every household should begin to practice keeping of separate bins for different waste to help improve the waste management. For instance, toxic and e-waste such as medicines, batteries, dried paints, chemicals, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticides containers, batteries, shoe polish, computer parts, CD’s, wires, electrical equipment of any kind, electronic toys, remotes, watches, cell phones, bulbs, tube light etc. should contain in one bin while dry waste containing cans, aluminium foils, plastics, metal glass and paper can be placed in a another bin as they can be recycled. Wet waste that contains leftover foodstuff, vegetable peels etc. should be kept in another bin or may be placed in a composite pit in the house premises. Ideally, the compost can be used as manure in the garden or elsewhere.
Biomedical waste which consist of menstrual cloths, sanitary napkins, disposable diapers, bandages and any materials that is contaminated with blood or other body fluids should be wrapped in the newspaper (if at all possible with a red cross) and pile separate from other categories of waste for disposal unlike our usual practices of placing all the waste in one bin.
According to Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000, waste must be segregated into three categories as given below
Organic waste Recyclable waste Others
tea leaves paper PET mineral water
egg shells shampoo bottles bottles
old food glass nitrogen sealed
vegetables peels note books packaging for chips
meat wires terapacks
bones safety pins thermocol
Caps of mineral water carbon paper
Bottles plastic coated visiting cards sachets
It is a sad fact that proper segregation of waste at the household level is not a common practice in our society. Practice of keeping mixed garbage is evident in almost all houses/shops/workplace. It is recommended to have two separate dustbins in each and every house to keep wet waste from mixing up with its dry one. We just dump all kinds of waste in one bin without realizing its negative impact on our health and environment. Imagine, we gathered all kinds of waste in the plastic bags and dump at the dumping areas but the rag pickers litter the areas in the process of collecting the recyclable items. In fact, the rag picker plays a very important part in the segregation of waste. The rag pickers are often seen picking out the rags in countless dumping areas in the city. They play a major role in waste management as they scavenge the recyclable items without taking the health risk into consideration. Hence, it is advisable that we should segregate biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste in different bags so as to avoid littering the areas by the rag pickers. Keeping our homes clean and throwing the garbage without segregation is against clean environment. To have a healthier environment priority should be given on waste segregation. Waste segregation is our responsibility.
Bear in mind that the municipal can never segregate all the mixed-up waste dumped in numerous areas by us during the time of collection and transportation of waste. We need to realize that we alone bear responsibilities for this problem. Starting a composting pit for the biodegradable waste by each and every house is a useful and economical idea as far as managing municipal solid waste in an environmentally maintainable method is concerned. It is to be noted that biodegradable waste should not be kept in our homes for more than a day.
Segregation is the first step of proper waste management. Segregation of bio-medical waste in appropriate colour coded containers is the most important aspect of bio-medical waste management. According to WHO reports, 80% of the bio-medical waste are general wastes which are not infectious. 15% are infectious waste but not hazardous and the rest 5% of waste are hazardous and infectious. If the 20% of infectious waste are not segregated properly from the general wastes, the whole general wastes are also converted into infectious wastes.
Bio-medical waste, if not handled in a proper way may pose a serious threat to our health and environment. Hence, prime attention needs to be given on safe and proper segregation and disposal of bio-medical waste. Given bellow is the standard system for collection, segregation and disposal of the different categories of waste in accordance with Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling Rules.46 1998
Proper segregation leads to proper recycling which eventually leads to effective waste management. So, let’s segregate our waste properly before disposal.
Semto L
Managing Director
Save Environment Network
