Solid Waste Management

Solid Waste-All wastes arising from human & animal activities that are normally solid & that are
discarded as useless or unwanted

Three General Categories

1. Municipal wastes
2. Industrial wastes
3. Hazardous wastes

Municipal Solid Wastes

Food wastes or Garbage
Rubbish : paper, cardboard, plastic, textiles, rubber, leather, wood, glass, cans, metals
Ashes & residues: materials remaining from the burning of wood, coal & other combustible
wastes
Demolition & construction wastes: stone, concrete, brick, lumber, plumbing, heating & electrical
parts
Special wastes: street sweepings, roadside litter, dead animals, abandoned vehicles, discarded
appliances
Industrial Wastes
Wastes arising from industrial activities and typically include rubbish, ashes, demolition and
construction wastes, special wastes and hazardous wastes.
Can include treatment plant wastes
Hazardous Wastes
Wastes that pose a substantial danger immediately or over a period of time to human, plant &
animal life
Wastes which exhibit any of the ff; > Ignitability > Corrosivity > Reactivity > Toxicity

Types & Sources of Solid Wastes

1. Household wastes
2. Commercial & industrial wastes
3. Farm & agricultural wastes
4. Institutional wastes
5. Miscellaneous & special wastes > sludge from water & waste water treatment plants, ash from
incinerators street sweepings, demolition, constructions
Situationer
Problems associated with solid waste disposal:
1. Pollution of water and food resources
2. Burning of solid wastes destroys the fertility of the soil
3. Exposure to smoke & fumes from burning wastes increases their risk of developing respiratory
diseases
4. Solid wastes become breeding sites of disease vectors
 5. 1997 – means of solid waste disposal by HH nationwide included the following:
> Individual burning – 48%
> Municipal garbage collection – 30%
> Open dumping – 6%
> Burying – 5%
> Composting – 4%
> others – 7%
Source: Solid Waste Management Bureau
2004 – MM generated more than 2 million tons of potentially recyclable materials
> Plastic is the most common material recycled followed by metal, paper and glass
MM generated 6,700 tons of garbage daily

 In MM sources of wastes are:

> households 74.1% > restaurants 7.5% > river clean-up 0.14%
> shops 9.4% > street sweepings 0.4%
> markets 7.6% > institutions 0.8%
 In MM, 90% of the wastes are collected by municipal collection system of which:
> 25% are illegally dumped
> 30% are collected by sanitary landfills
> 33% are disposed in open dumps
> 2% is recycled
 Of the remaining wastes that are collected, 4% are recycled by HH while 6% are self-disposed
generally into the river systems
Data from 47 municipalities revealed that 36% had waste recycling programs
On the industrial side, among the 368 business establishments that were surveyed:
> 49% - used public facilities
> 25% - private contractors
> 8% - composting
> 7% - landfill
> 4% - recycling
> 1% - incineration

Solid Waste Management

Interrelated system of appropriate technologies and mechanisms involved in the generation, collection,
storage and processing, transfer & transport , and disposal of solid wastes at the lowest possible cost
and risk to the health of the people and their environment.

National Solid Waste Management System Framework

Policy Objectives:
1. Reduction of wastes generated at the source
2. The reduction of wastes to extend the serviceability of final disposal sites
3. Improvement of collection efficiency
 4. The provision of safe, environmentally friendly & acceptable way of disposing waste collected
from source
Waste Hierarchy
Refers to an ordered sequence of initiatives that can be used to identify steps in addressing the
amount of waste produced by society
Waste avoidance  Reuse  Recovery  Recycling  Disposal
Functional Elements of Solid Waste Management
1. Waste Generation
2. On-site handling, storage & processing
3. Collection
4. Transfer & Transport
5. Processing and recovery
6. Disposal
Solid Waste Generation
Definition : refers to the act or process of producing waste
Source Reduction : reduction of solid waste before it enters the solid waste stream
3Rs of Solid Waste Mgt. at the source:
1. Reduce- avoid wasteful consumption of goods & minimize waste
2. Reuse- recovering materials intended for the same or different purpose without altering
its physical characteristics
3. Recycle-solid waste materials are transformed into new materials

On-Site Storage
Containers for on-site storage should meet the following requirements:
1. Provided with fitting covers to prevent access to flies and rodents
2. Sufficient in size or number to store all the wastes between collection
3. Made of water-proof material
4. Small enough to be carried easily when filled with wastes
5. Accessible to the collector, not subject to flooding & located away from food storage
 Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 provides that segregation of wastes shall be
primarily conducted at the source
 Wastes shall be segregated into biodegradable and non- biodegradable
Refuse Collection
Important points to consider in solid waste collection are:
1. Regular collection is necessary to avoid problems of storage
2. Vehicles transporting refuse should be properly covered to prevent foul odors, eye-sores access
to flies & scattering of waste materials in the streets
3. The route to the final destination site should be as direct as possible from the point of origin &
should avoid busy streets
Transfer and Transport
Refers to the means & facilities used to effect the transfer of wastes from relatively small to
larger vehicles & to transport them to processing centers or disposal sites
Processing Techniques
1. Mechanical volume reduction
Compaction
Balling of papers for recycling
Used to increase the life of landfills
2. Thermal volume reduction
Incineration can reduce the volume of wastes by more than 90%
Generation of toxic air pollutants: dioxins and furans
3. Manual component separation
Can be accomplished at the source, transfer stations, centralized processing stations or disposal
sites
Materials to be sorted or salvaged are: cardboard & high quality paper, newsprint, aluminum
cans, glass, iron metals
Resource Recovery
 Refer to the collection, extraction or sorting of recyclable materials from the waste stream for
purpose of recycling, generating energy or production of a product for beneficial use
 The recyclable items are bought by manufacturing plants for processing to produce goods
Disposal of Solid Wastes
In the homes particularly in rural areas, solid wastes may be disposed of satisfactorily in the ff.
ways:
1. Burial- deposit solid wastes in pits & covered with soil > pit should be located at least 25 m.
away from any well used for water supply
2. Open burning
3. Feeding to animals
4. Composting – controlled decomposition of organic matter by micro-organisms mainly
bacteria & fungi, into humus-like product
5. Grinding & disposal sewer – “garbage grinders” attached to kitchen sinks
6. Sanitary Landfill- involves controlled disposal of solid wastes on or in the upper layer of earth’s
mantle

Criteria for Establishment of a Sanitary Landfill

1. Liners – a system of clay or geosynthetic membranes used to contain the leachate

and to prevent contaminant flow to groundwater
2. Leachate collection & treatment system > installation of pipes at the low areas of
the liner to collect leachate for storage & eventual treatment & discharge
3. Gas control recovery system > series of vertical pipes or horizontal trenches containing
permeable materials and perforated piping to collect gas for treatment of use as an energy
source
4. Groundwater monitoring system – takes water samples representative of ground water quality
5. Cover – 2 forms of cover consisting of soil & geosynthetic materials to protect the waste
Materials
 6. A daily cover is placed over the waste at the close of each day’s operations
7. A final cover or cap w/c is the material placed over the completed landfill to control infiltration
of water, gas emission to the atmosphere & erosion

Health Care Waste Management

National Objectives for 2005-2010

 Health care waste segregation, treatment and disposal are improved

Indicators
1. Percentage of health care facilities disposing infectious & hazardous wastes according to
approved means
Target: 80%
Baseline: 51% in NCR, DOH 1997
Indicators , cont.
2. Number of approved healthcare waste treatment facilities at the regional level
Target: at least 1 per region
Baseline: 3 in Southern Tagalog, 1 in NCR
Source: DENR, 2002
3. Number of healthcare facilities served by approved disposal facilities
Target: at least one per region
Baseline: to be determined
Indicators, cont.
4. Percentage of healthcare facilities practicing proper waste segregation
Target: 100% of DOH hospitals
Baseline: 69% of DOH hospitals
Source: DOH, 2004

A study of 144 private & government hospitals in MM showed that

> 86% practiced waste segregation

> 59% pre-treated hazardous wastes chemical disinfection and autoclaving
Waste collection was done by:
> MMDA (38.9%)
> Private contractors (35.4%)
> Networking with other hospitals with incinerators (12.9%)
Health Care Waste
 Includes all the wastes that is generated or produced as a result of any of the following
activities:
1. Diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals
2. Research pertaining to the above activities
3. Production or testing of biologicals
4. Waste originating from minor or scattered sources
 Categories of Health Care Waste
1. General waste 8. Sharps
2. Infectious waste 9. Pharmaceutical waste
3. Pathological waste 10. Chemical waste
4. Genotoxic waste
5. Waste with high content of Heavy metals
6. Pressurized containers
7. Radioactive waste

General Waste
 Comparable to domestic waste
 Comes costly from the administrative or housekeeping functions of health care establishments
 May also include waste generated during maintenance of health care premises
 Does not pose special handling problem or hazard to human health or to the environment
Infectious Waste
 Waste is suspected to contain pathogens
 This includes:
Cultures & stocks or infectious agents from laboratory work
Waste from surgery & autopsies on patients with infectious diseases
Waste from infected patients in isolation wards
Wastes that has been in contact with infected patients undergoing hemodialysis
Infected animals from laboratories
Any other instruments or materials that have been in contact with infected patients or
animals
Pathological Waste
 Consist of tissues, organs, body parts, human fetus and animal carcasses, blood & body fluids
 Anatomical waste- recognizable human or animal body parts
 Can also be considered as a subcategory of infectious wastes
Sharps
 Includes needles, syringes, scalpels, saws, blades, broken glass, infusions sets, knives, nails & any
other items that can cause a cut or puncture wounds
Genotoxic Waste
 Includes cytostatic drugs, vomit, urine or feces from patients treated with cytostatic drugs,
chemicals and radioactive materials
 Highly hazardous and may have mutagenic, teratogenic or carcinogenic properties
Chemical Waste
 Consist of solid, liquid and gaseous chemicals from diagnostic, experimental work, cleaning &
housekeeping and disinfecting procedures
 Maybe considered as hazardous or non-hazardous
 Chemical waste is considered hazardous if it has at least one of the following properties
 Toxic, Corrosive, flammable, reactive, genotoxic
Waste with High Content of Heavy Metals
Wastes with a high metal content
Represent a subcategory of hazardous chemical waste & are usually highly toxic
Mercury wastes generated from spillage of broken clinical equipment
Cadmium waste comes from discarded batteries
Reinforced wood panels containing lead
Pressurized Containers
 Includes gases which are stored in pressurized cylinders, cartridges and aerosol cans
 Whether inert or potentially harmful, gases in pressurized containers should always be handled
with care
Radioactive Wastes
 Includes disused sealed radiation sources, liquid & gaseous materials contaminated with
radioactivity, excreta of patients who underwent radionuclide diagnostic and therapeutic
applications , paper cups, straws, needles & syringes, test tubes, & tap water washings of such
paraphernalia
Waste Minimization
 Centered on the elimination or reduction of the health care waste stream
 Consist of source reduction, recycling, treatment and residual disposal
 Prior to the implementation of a waste minimization program, it is important to develop a
baseline data of the amount of waste generated
Principles of Waste Minimization
 Identify waste generation rates, current hazardous waste management strategies
 Commitment of health care establishment operators/owners to waste minimization
 Includes a written policy with specific goals, objectives & timeliness
 Train employees in hazardous waste handling & site specific waste minimization methods
 Be aware of and keep updated on the hazardous materials regulations
Methods of Waste Minimization
 Eliminate use of a material or generate less waste
 Re-use
 Recycling
 Segregation of wastes
 Composting
Color Coding Scheme for Health Care Waste
 Black – non-infectious waste
 Green – non-infectious wet waste
 Yellow – infectious & pathological waste
 Yellow with black band – chemical waste including those with heavy metals
 Orange – Radioactive waste
 Red – sharps & pressurized containers
The following practices should be observed:
Residuals of the general health care waste should join the domestic waste or municipal solid
waste
 Sharps should all be collected together & placed in puncture proof containers with fitted covers
Bags & containers for infectious waste should be marked with the international infectious
substance symbol
Highly infectious waste & other hazardous waste should be treated immediately
Cytotoxic waste should be collected in leak proof containers clearly labeled “Cytotoxic wastes”
Radioactive waste should be segregated accdg. to its physical form & to its half-life and potency
Large quantities of chemical waste should be packed in chemical resistant containers & sent to
specialized treatment facilities
Wastes with a high content of heavy metals (e.g. cadmium or mercury) should be collected
separately & sent to a waste treatment facility
Aerosol containers may be collected with the general health care waste. They should not be
burnt or incinerated.
Anatomical waste should be disposed of in accordance with the local custom

Health Care Waste Treatment

 Aim: to change the biological & chemical character of the waste to minimize its potential to
cause harm
Incineration used to be the method of choice in treating health care wastes
Most common technologies & processes are: thermal, chemical, irradiation, biological
processes, encapsulation and inertization

Thermal Processes
 Rely on high heat to destroy pathogens
 Autoclave > uses high temperature & high pressure steam sterilization to
inactivate most microorganisms > used for sterilization of reusable medical equipment
Chemical Disinfection
 Presently being applied for treatment of health care waste
 Aldehydes, Chlorine compounds, phenolic compounds, etc. are added to waste to kill or
inactivate pathogens
 Most suitable in treating blood, urine, stools and sewage or in treating infectious wastes
containing pathogens

Biological Processes
 Uses an enzyme mixture to decontaminate health care wastes
 Requires regulation of ph, enzyme level, temperature & other variables
 Design application is mainly for regional health care waste treatment centers
 Composting & vermiculture for treating and disposing of placental waste, food waste, yard
trimmings & other organic wastes
Radiation Technology
 Wastes containign potentially infectious microorganisms ( sewage sludge, biomedical wastes,
wastewater) are treated using irradiation systems
 Four main elements of the waste handling system are:
 1. Identification of the contaminated waste
2. Collection
3. Sterilization
4. Final disposal or recycling
Encapsulation
 Appropriate for disposal of sharps & chemical and pharmaceutical residues
 Uses either cubic boxes made of high density polyethylene or metallic drums that are ¾ filled
with sharps or chemical or pharmaceutical residues
 Containers are filled up with a medium like plastic foam, bituminous sand & cement mortar
 Reduces the risk of scavengers gaining access to health care wastes
Inertization
 Suitable for pharmaceutical waste
 Involves the mixing of waste with cement & other substances before disposal
 Minimize the risk of toxic substances in the waste from migrating into the surface water or
groundwater
 Mixture composed of 65% pharmaceutical waste, 15% lime, 15% cement, & 5% water
Waste Disposal Systems
 Sanitary Landfill – designed to keep the waste isolated from the environment
 Safe burial on Hospital premises
 Septic or concrete vault – for the disposal of used sharps & syringes
Burial on Hospital Premises
 Burial site should be lined with a material of low permeability like clay
 Only hazardous health care wastes should be buried
 Large quantities (>1kg) of chemical & pharmaceutical wastes should not be buried
 Burial site should be managed as a landfill
 Burial pit should be downhill & about 50 meters away from any body of water
 The bottom of the pit should be at least 1.5 meters higher than the ground water level
 On-site burial is for limited period of 1-2 years only & for small amounts of wastes ( 5-10 tons in
total)