Introduction
When most people think of hazardous trash, they see massive industrial firms releasing rubbish that looks like those awful photos of waste barrels abandoned in a neighborhood creek and leaking poison into our backyards. However, our own houses generate a large amount of hazardous garbage. Household waste can come from a wide range of residential settings, from single-family homes to hotels with a significant number of transient tenants. Since waste items are chemical, they can poison, corrode, explode, or burn easily when mishandled or tossed; as a result, domestic garbage is considered hazardous waste. Materials may be recycled, repurposed, reused, and disposed of correctly to achieve the most secure and risk-free final result possible. Proper waste disposal has a tremendous impact on the quality of our environment.
Hazardous Waste Disposal Strategies
It is common practice to dispose of potentially dangerous things at home in trash cans used daily, despite not being the correct method. The primary reason for this is that most individuals are either ignorant of the fact that the items in question are dangerous and do not understand how to dispose of them appropriately. Batteries, paint, lawn chemicals, microwaves, and other common household products are some of the items that fall into this category. Due to technological advancement, our homes are now more attractive and free of pests, and we can eat our meals in a matter of seconds. However, if they are not disposed of properly, they have the potential to constitute a danger to either human health or the environment.
Educating and Enlightening the Community
The disposal of hazardous waste varies depending on the location and availability of disposal facilities. Nonetheless, most areas get government assistance. The programs can range from educating the public about the risks of household chemicals to constructing a domestic hazardous waste-collection facility; the more complex programs are best suited for larger communities with existing facilities, such as a municipal solid waste collection area (Ferronato & Torretta, 2019). Despite the necessity of all of the above, education is the first stage of any home hazardous waste (HHW) program. Before hazardous trash collection begins, municipalities could distribute educational materials, include them in utility bills, or even host seminars informing residents of less-hazardous options The proper disposal of waste is taught to the general population as part of a waste management strategy that does its job effectively. People are informed about the area of the collection facilities and the types of materials that are permissible and inadmissible at the collection site. It helps achieve the desired end in the disposal of hazardous waste.
A range of organizations and institutions, including local or regional chemical producers, firms with local branches, civic groups, the government, and private grant-giving organizations, may be able to provide financial assistance. Even while these organizations provide financial aid to help offset the costs, the individual may still be responsible for paying part of the remaining costs. When dropping off household trash at certain sites, service fees may be required, while other areas may incorporate the cost of HHW disposal into municipal or state taxes.
Incineration, Underground Disposal, and Ocean Dumping
Incineration and chemical treatment are two methods that may be utilized to deactivate the toxic components that are present in the material that is regarded as hazardous waste from residential sources. These components are present in the garbage that is generated in residential settings. Other waste disposal methods include dumping hazardous materials underground or into the oceans, requiring the materials to be treated first to protect marine life (Singh & Yadav, 2022). Underground disposal involves putting hazardous materials at an abandoned mining site, while ocean dumping requires treating the materials before dumping them into oceans.
Recycling of Household Hazardous Waste
Electronic devices are one of the most widespread sources of hazardous waste produced by society in the modern era. To maintain the quality of the program, it will be necessary to recycle several electronic pieces of equipment (Awasthi & Li, 2018). By retrieving valuable resources such as precious and semi-precious metals for application in manufacturing brand-new consumer items, recycling helps divert these materials from the trash stream, where they would otherwise be hazardous.
Impacts and Significance of Proper Household Waste Disposal
When hazardous wastes from homes are disposed of correctly, there is no risk of contamination from water or soil caused by leaks or spills. Toxic waste thrown out with ordinary rubbish runs the risk of causing harm that cannot be repaired. In most cases, the risks associated with improperly disposing of hazardous waste are not immediately obvious. However, certain types of household hazardous waste have the potential to cause physical injury to sanitation workers (Xu et al., 2018). Contaminate septic tanks, polluted bodies of water, contaminate groundwater, and surface water that is used as a source of drinking water are harmful if they are sent to landfills that are not adequately protected from contamination (Bakyayita et al., 2019). Hazardous waste reuse, recycling, and reclamation can help to safeguard rare natural resources, generate economic advantages, and lessen the country’s dependency on raw materials and energy.
The environmental impact of mining may be reduced by reducing the need for extraction, which recycling minerals can accomplish from the garbage. It takes far more energy to process and transport raw materials than to recycle rubbish. The processing and transportation of raw materials involve fossil fuels, which contribute to the overall amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. A substance’s carbon footprint may be reduced by cutting down on the energy needed to get the resources used in the production of goods (Ferronato & Torretta, 2019). In addition, the treatment of hazardous waste, transportation of that trash, and disposal of that waste all produce additional pollutants. Since these toxins harm the air, water, and soil, recycling helps to reduce the amount of these pollutants and creates a healthier environment in which to live.
Recycling hazardous trash can improve production efficiency while simultaneously lowering costs connected with acquiring raw materials and managing waste. Recycling can save businesses money and help them avoid regulatory fines and costs for garbage disposal (Okan et al., 2018). The quantity of pollution in the air, water, and soil may all be reduced due to recycling, which is beneficial to society as a whole. If people can breathe clean air, drink clean water, and grow their food in healthy soil, then the incidence of illnesses caused by contamination will decrease. Not only does it cut down on the expense of medical treatment, but it also makes people in the community happier and healthier, leading to increased economic activity.
Conclusion
As we have discovered, human activity is responsible for a significant amount of the damage that has been done to the natural world. However, we have also realized that we can constructively use our knowledge and technology. An excellent action plan will emphasize education as the primary driving force behind the program’s continued development. To achieve the objective as effectively as possible, the priority should be placed on fostering regional collaboration, public education and outreach, and the responsible use of public funds. The primary goal should be to attract as many residents of the community to participate as possible. It may be accomplished via various methods, from distributing flyers to developing an online outreach curriculum incorporating social media to educate society on household hazardous wastes.
References
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