The Tip of the Wasteberg: How Do We Handle It?

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There is no better way to take care of our health and planet than properly handling the waste we produce on a daily basis. If not handled correctly, waste can easily contaminate the soil, water and pollute the air. This, in turn, is a major reason for us to form a habit to manage waste in a way that will reduce its negative impact. Luckily, today’s technological advancements offer a wide variety of equipment and processes that make it easier for us to preserve our environment and health altogether. So, without further ado, let’s dive in and explore all the processes and tools needed for that. 

Equipment

First things first, before we even start demolishing our trash, we need to first sort it out so we make it easier to handle it further down the line. The small bins you see around your neighborhood and the big containers placed all over town are a good form of waste management equipment to start with, so sorting the waste in separate bins for metal, plastic, paper, and glass is a good starting point.

Separators – the name of these pieces of equipment is pretty self-explanatory. They are meant to sort all the different types of waste that come in to the tiniest material, so it gets segregated to a very fine point. In other words, every single piece of garbage will be put in its place, whether it goes out for recycling, getting incinerated or dumped in the landfill.

Shredders – After all the sorting and nitpicking, next comes the shredder as the main protagonist to put all the pieces into good use. This is probably the most important piece of waste management equipment – it mutilates the material at hand to thousands, if not millions, of small bits and pieces, in order to make it suitable for the aforementioned solutions.

Waste Disposal Techniques

The first and probably the most common go-to option most of the time are landfills. They are the most economical and simple solution there is, as they are usually located away from populated areas. The waste is buried under the ground and it is under constant surveillance, in case there is some sort of leakage which may lead to contamination.

While in some places pollution is a bigger problem than space is, in other places, it’s the other way around. This is where incineration comes into play as it doesn’t require a lot of space for a long period of time, unlike landfills. However, incineration is a big air pollutant and most certainly not environmentally friendly.

Probably the best way to handle waste is recycling. It is not only the most nonhazardous and non-pollutant alternative, but it also makes things like scrap metal, glass bottles, steel cans and paper reusable over and over again. Therefore, it’s safe to say that recycling is the most efficient and economical way to handle waste in the long run and reduce our negative impact on the environment as much as possible.