Waste management corresponds to the process of managing unwanted waste items. This includes collection, transport, processing or waste treatment, recycling, and disposal. Mainly done for waste produced by human activities, it started off in an effort to reduce their effect on human health or local aesthetics, but now addresses their effect on the natural world and environment at large as well. Wastes can be generated domestically, industrially, agriculturally, and commercially, among others, and its management can involve solid, liquid, or gaseous substances with different methods for each.
The aim of waste management is to reduce the dangerous effects of such waste on the environment and human health. A big part of waste management deals with municipal solid waste, which is created by industrial, commercial, and household activity.
Waste management practices are not uniform among countries (developed and developing nations); regions (urban and rural areas), and residential and industrial sectors can all take different approaches.
Proper management of waste is important for building sustainable and liveable cities, but it remains a challenge for many developing countries and cities. A report found that effective waste management is relatively expensive, usually comprising 20%–50% of municipal budgets. Operating this essential municipal service requires integrated systems that are efficient, sustainable, and socially supported. A large portion of waste management practices deal with municipal solid waste (MSW) which is the bulk of the waste that is created by household, industrial, and commercial activity. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), municipal solid waste is expected to reach approximately 3.4 Gt by 2050; however, policies and lawmaking can reduce the amount of waste produced in different areas and cities of the world.[8] Measures of waste management include measures for integrated techno-economic mechanisms of a circular economy, effective disposal facilities, export and import control and optimal sustainable design of products that are produced.
In the first systematic review of the scientific evidence around global waste, its management and its impact on human health and life, authors concluded that about a fourth of all the municipal solid terrestrial waste is not collected and an additional fourth is mismanaged after collection, often being burned in open and uncontrolled fires – or close to one billion tons per year when combined. They also found that broad priority areas each lack a “high-quality research base”, partly due to the absence of “substantial research funding”, which motivated scientists often require. Electronic waste (ewaste) includes discarded computer monitors, motherboards, mobile phones and chargers, compact discs (CDs), headphones, television sets, air conditioners and refrigerators. According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2017, India generates ~ 2 million tonnes (Mte) of e-waste annually and ranks fifth among the e-waste producing countries, after the US, P.R. China, Japan and Germany.
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