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With ever growing population and industrial development, waste disposal is becoming a challenge. Safe waste disposal is not only an arduous task, but there are many environmental and economic concerns associated with it. Waste disposal process starts right from collecting the waste from households, industries and other places and this has to be transported safely to the site in this process. Hence, for proper waste disposal, waste management is the key! Previously this involved manual burying, but now it is sophisticated process which is done by several ways. In a rapidly emerging economy as that of Malaysia, proper waste disposal is synonymous with the country’s image in the world markets and its standards.
Landfill
Thos is one of the commonly practised methods of waste disposal. It is still practised widely. This is done in large designated pits away from populated areas, including mining areas and old and abandoned quarries. This is considered as a cost-effective way for waste disposal and here close to 75% of the cost involves in collection and transportation of the waste to the site of the landfills. The waste is then layered as thin spreads followed by compacting wherein clean earth is added to cover the waste material followed by addition of more layers over time. Incineration This is also an effective waste disposal method that involves burning the trash. It is also called as thermal treatment which suggests that high temperature treatment is used for burning the waste material. Using this method waste is also converted into heat, steam, gas, and ash. Here the waste volume is reduced by 50 percent or more and doesn’t need much land. It can process huge waste in less time and in densely populated countries like Malaysia, this is a good option. Recycling Waste disposal by means of recycling involves processing the waste materials and transforming them into new and reusable products. This concept holds the key for the modern waste disposal strategies and for effective waste management. It is also an environment friendly solution when compared to landfills and incineration which causes land and air pollution respectively. Safe waste disposal and its proper recycling is a sustainable practice which is receiving world-wide attention as the way to effective waste management in the years to come. This involves recycling minerals such as aluminium which is used in beverage cans while copper can be salvaged from wire, steel and aerosol cans followed by other important metals and chemicals from old polyethylene and PET bottles, paperboard cartons, magazines, newspapers, glass bottles etc. Although this method is still not applied in case of electronic waste, but there are efforts in this direction too. Rather than one-size-fits-all approach it is therefore suggested that a combination of two or more practices can be used for waste disposal and subsequent waste management effectively. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages and there is also the cost factor involved. It therefore necessitates a fair assessment as to which method can applied for what kind of waste and it should also take into account the environmental regulations and other standards followed in Malaysia for proper waste management and waste disposal!
