Causes Of Solid Waste Management

As stated by Annie Leonard, “There is no such thing as away, when we throw anything away it must go somewhere”. Waste is often overlooked and taken for granted. As soon as it is out of sight, people tend to forget that waste does not magically disappear. A common type of waste that is often overlooked is solid waste. Solid waste refers to “a variety of discarded materials, not liquid or gas, that are deemed useless or worthless” (1). There are two major types of solid waste, but the focus of this essay will be municipal solid waste, which describes waste generated by “households, small businesses, and offices that are collected by the municipality” (2). Despite being deemed as worthless, management of solid waste should be a priority if people …show more content…
To understand how and why management of solid waste is becoming a global problem, it is important to understand the causes. The problem of solid waste management is evident in “developing countries as a result of the rapid increase in waste generation caused by rapid urbanization, industrialization, and economic development” (2). To understand these causes, each will be further defined starting with urbanization. Urbanization is defined as “the process by which large numbers of people become permanently concentrated in relatively small areas forming cities” (3). It has been recorded that “urban populations in developing countries grow more than 150,000 people everyday” (2). A study in India further validated this fact as it was shown that “there was a 49% increase in population and at the same time, there was 67% an increase in solid waste” …show more content…
These industries strive to “manufacture goods and services” instead of relying on just agriculture based resources (5). This requires more technological resources and use of materials that are not sustainable. With urbanization and industrialization comes economic development, which involves “the development of economic wealth of countries, regions, or communities for the well being of their inhabitants” (6). Altogether, urbanization, industrialization, and economic development add to generation of solid waste. In fact, economic growth is linked to the increase of solid waste from 395 million tons in 1980 to 653 million tons in 2005 (2). This is because there is a correlation between a rise in income of individuals and increase in higher rates of consumption of goods (for example, electrical goods), and increase in packaging waste as a result of industrialization (2). This leads to another main cause of solid waste generation, which is consumption. Consumption refers to “all resources that are purchased, worn, used, digested (food), and any other goods that may be accumulated” (7). The result and consequence of consumption is waste (7). Urbanization, industrialization, economic growth, and consumption all contribute as major causes of solid waste