Social Causatums of Improper Waste Management

Introduction

Dilemma attributed to waste engenderment commenced from awful human acts, which actually needs diligent management. It has been found that the waste management becomes more intricate and multifarious in the more highly developed parts of the world (Kumar et al., 2013). Waste generation ratio is augmenting globally. The world’s cities in 2016 generated 2.01 billion tons of garbage/ solid waste which is equal to 0.74 kilograms/person/day. With the increasing population, urbanization and industrialization, generation of waste is likely to swell by 70% per year from 2016 levels to 3.40 billion tons in 2050 (World Bank report, 2018). In many developing and indigent countries 90% of people tend to bundle their succulent and solid waste in plastic wraps and cast them in the society. Open dumps along the road sides are primarily in practice (Bhat et al., 2018). Ahmed et al (2015) stated that Himalayans are striving for constructive and judicious plan for municipal waste management. In Western Himalayas, the rapidly growing City is Srinagar and municipal waste management is still a colossal challenge for government. Environmental Pollution Act (1986) characterizes waste as “Any substance or object which the holder discards or tends to discard”. In other words waste can be defined as scrapped/ abandoned material like glass, sewage mud, ash, metal, plastic bags, and dead animals etc. Waste generation is not fixed to a particular quantity, it diverges from 2.75- 4.00 / capita/day in cost effective countries although in developing countries it is as low as 0.5 kg/capita/day. It has been found that waste generation increases with increasing population and increasing demand of land (Indris et al., 2004; Bhat et al., 2014).

Effective waste management is a global concern now. Even the developed countries are grappled with this issue. In most of the developing countries one can observe several problems associated with improper waste management. The environmental problems associated with improper waste management are known to everyone but there are also various social causatums of improper waste management which are rarely looked into by many environmentalists or the waste management experts. These social consequences include branding the locality living near the waste sites as ‘dirty community’ irrespective of their economic and social status which often leads to other associated problems. The other problem is the low land valuation of the area being in the vicinity of waste sites and temptation to migrate from the area. Before proceeding further let’s enlist few facts which signifies the importance of proper waste management.

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  Waste management reduces the chances of environmental pollution

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  Waste management reduces spread of various diseases

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  Waste management generates employment

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  Waste management supports the normal societal functioning

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  Waste management helps to conservation of energy

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  Waste management reduces waste

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  Waste management prevents misuse of open lands

Classification Of Waste

Waste can be classified into various ways depending upon their type and source.