Types of Solid Waste

Solid waste can be classified into different types depending on their

source:a) Municipal waste,

a) Hazardous waste, and

a) Biomedical waste or hospital waste as infectious waste.

a) Municipal waste

• Household waste, • Construction and demolition debris, • Sanitation residue, and • Waste from streets.

Garbage

• This garbage is generated mainly fromresidential and commercial complexes. Withrising urbanization and change in lifestyle andfood habits, the amount of municipal solidwaste has been increasing rapidly and itscomposition changing.

The four broad categories of Garbage

• Organic waste: kitchen waste, vegetables, flowers, leaves, fruits.

• Toxic waste: old medicines, paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers, batteries, shoe polish.

• Recyclable: paper, glass, metals, plastics.• Soiled: hospital waste such as cloth soiled

with blood and other body fluids.

b) Hazardous Waste

• Industrial and hospital waste is consideredhazardous as they may contain toxicsubstances. Certain types of household wasteare also hazardous.

• Hazardous wastes could be highly toxic tohumans, animals, and plants; are corrosive,highly inflammable, or explosive; and reactwhen exposed to certain things.

Hazardous Waste (Continued)

• Household waste that can be categorized as hazardous waste include old batteries, shoe polish, paint tins, old medicines, and medicine bottles.

• Hospital waste contaminated by chemicals usedin hospitals is considered hazardous. Thesechemicals include formaldehyde and phenols,which are used as disinfectants, and mercury,which is used in thermometers or equipment thatmeasure blood pressure.

Hazardous Waste (Continued)

• In the industrial sector, the major generators of hazardous waste are the metal, chemical, paper, pesticide, dye, refining, and rubber goods industries.

Note• Direct exposure to chemicals in hazardous

waste such as mercury and cyanide can be fatal.

c) Biomedical/ Hospital waste/Infectious Waste

• Hospital waste is generated during the diagnosis,treatment, or immunization of human beings oranimals or in research activities in these fields orin the production or testing ofmedicines/vaccines.

• May include wastes like sharps, soiled waste,disposables, anatomical waste, cultures,discarded medicines, chemical wastes, etc. Theseare in the form of disposable syringes, swabs,bandages, body fluids, human excreta, etc.

c) Biomedical/ Hospital waste/Infectious Waste (Continued)

• This waste is highly infectious and can be aserious threat to human health if notmanaged in a scientific and discriminatemanner.

The type of litter we generate and the approximate time it takes to

degenerate/DecomposeType of Litter Approximate time it takes to

decompose

•Organic Waste such as fruits,vegetables, food stuffs, leftovers e.t.c

• 1 to 2 weeks

•Paper • 10 to 30 Days

•Cotton Cloth • 2 to 5 months

•Wood • 10 to 15 years

• Woolen items •One year

• Tin, Aluminium & other Metal items •100 to 500 years

•Plastic bags •One million years

•Glass and glass bottles •Undetermined

Sources• http://edugreen.teri.res.in/explore/solwaste/t

ypes.htm• http://web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/urbanen

vironment/sectors/solid-waste-sources.html• http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/ESTdir/Pub/MSW/

SP/SP2/SP2_1.asp• http://www.epa.gov/reg3wcmd/solidwasteco

mposting.htm#residuals• http://recycle-recycling.com.au/accepted-

waste/

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