How do household waste cause?

Answer 1

Waste is a material that no longer serves a purpose and so is thrown away. In

some cases what one person discards may be re-used by somebody else. All

wasters is particularly hazardous: If not carefully disposed of, it will have an impact

on the environment, whether it be unsightly litter in urban streets or contaminated

air, soil or water. But what is equally important about waste is that it is recyclable.

For example, if all human, animal and solid wastes are recycled back to soil, then

we do not need inorganic fertilizers to maintain the high yields of crops. Today

India produces 180 million tonnes of food grains and consumer 13 million tonnes of

inorganic fertilizers at a huge cost. Therefore, time has come when we have to look

at the waste not merely as an environment polluter but a recyclable material of

great potential and energy saver.

In India we produce 300 to 400 gms. of solid waste per person per day in town of

normal size. The figure is 500 to 800 gms. per capita per day in cities like Delhi and

Bombay. The problem in these cities is how to dispose such large mass of solid

waste daily and this poses a massive and expensive problem to the authorities. The

composition of average domestic dustbin can be broken down as follows :

10% Glass

30% Paper/Cardboard

9% Metals

3% Textiles

4% Plastics

23% Vegetable Waste

21% Dust, Cinders, Miscellaneous

Some of the waste on the other hand may also contain poisonous substances like

Mercury's lead and cadmium from batteries, old medicines, household cleaning and

decorating chemicals and garden chemicals. Many of these chemicals are similar to

these found in industrial waste, although in low concentration.