Nepal Water for Health: Waste Management and Recycling - Coursework Example

NEPAL WATER FOR HEALTH: WASTE MANAWAGEMENT AND RECYCLING Lecturer: Keeping the environment cleanis one of the practices that promote healthy living. The practice is essential to the current and future generations respectively. However, the rise of technology and thriving industries has made it difficult to keep the environment clean. Failure to maintain the environment has serious negative consequences such as diseases breakout, for example, cholera and typhoid, and global warming which is an indication of an unhealthy environment. Having known the negative impacts, it is important to implement waste management strategies to ensure that natural resources especially water are safe for human consumption. Recycling waste is also a major concern and essential method used in waste management especially in the solid waste materials (PARIATAMBY & TANAKA, 2013) In Gorkha District, the rural hill area, there is a lack of waste management facilities hence can create challenges especially during the disposal of organic waste materials. In this case, the disposal of organic materials/waste is done in various ways that sometimes do not meet the required measures. These include feeding the animals with the leftover scraps, a trend that creates threat to animals’ lives. In the hill areas, plastic bottles, glass bottles, and plastic bags are some of the waste materials that are being found on the ground. This is an indication that there is a gradual accumulation of waste in the area. The methods used to dispose these wastes such as dumping and burning is also a threat to human and animal’s health. As a result of these effects, the community is being encouraged to desist from littering on the ground through provision of bags for disposing of the recyclable wastes/materials. Maintaining an environment is one of the ways to keep the community healthy and active by acquiring healthy natural resources (WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL AND WATER RESOURCES CONGRESS, & KABBES, K. C, 2007). In waste management, recycling is given a major consideration. It helps in saving the valuable landfill space and protecting the health of the surrounding society. Nepal Water for Health is continuously operating together with the community to increase the recycling efforts to the people. Giving the community a recommended bag for waste disposal is one of the major steps taken to improve waste management. Even though recycling proves to be the best method in waste management, not all waste materials can be recycled for home use. They can further be as raw materials to manufacture the same products. Some of the materials that can be recycled for home use include bottles, aluminum cans, Cartons among many more. Those that can be taken to the recycling machines include plastics, cartons, broken bottles and plastic bags. Recycling is done through different processes depending on the material. Nepal Water for Health works on different projects to ensure the maintenance of sanitation in the hill area. These projects include sludge management, solid waste management, waste as energy and composting. The project involves installing septic tanks for the accumulation of sludge, keeping wastes for the production of energy through biogas and using some of the waste as manure to the agriculturalists. Figure 12.1: The process of electronic recycling (Kent 2000) Recycling waste is not only important to the environment but even to the manufacturers. Recycled products consume less energy compared to the raw materials from its source. Waste management is an important process to the environment as well as human life, therefore, before determining on the method to use in the recycling process, it is advisable to consider the design issues that can either create positive or negative impact to the process. Methods used in the waste management and recycling process may be harmful if not executed in an expected way, thus causing danger instead of helping the community (ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK, 2013) These issues include methods of collection, collection space, location, volume of the recyclable garbage, facilities available or the ones offered by local authority in terms of support and structure. Having noted all the issues, recycling and waste management program can be undertaken easily without creating any negative effect to the surrounding (human beings and animals). Having the knowledge of the recycling practices is also important since it enhance the quality of the work being undertaken by concerned individual or organizations. The program; recycling waste and waste management can be carried out efficiently after knowing the current waste management practices and composition. The virtual analysis of waste composition shows that the organic matter has the highest percentage of waste fraction, followed by plastics, and paper items, among others (BILITEWSKI, HÄRDTLE, & MAREK, 1997). The level of these waste shows that the collection and removal should be done frequently. On the other hand, household waste composition within the area varied between locations of the homes. The generation, characterization, handling, monitoring, prevention, treatment, recycle and residual disposition of wastewater and solid waste defines waste management. Waste management is done according to international standards that help in reducing health and environmental dangers. On the hilltop area of the community, Nepal Water for Health (NEWA) has objectives to achieve in promoting health and improving the lives of Gorkha community. These include provision of a long lasting solution to aid waste reduction for a given duration, developing appropriate waste management system through application of cost effective procedures and steadfast resources. Waste management cannot be executed without using some of the best practices to realize the best result (LYE, 2010). The current waste management practices include the following: Waste collection The practice involves collection of waste from one place to another, door to door by using bins, trucks and personal or self-delivery. However, this method is limited to those who live in high visibility places and those who are in business and are ready to pay. Therefore, it is sporadic and inefficient. Landfilling This practice is commonly practiced in the parts where there is low income. Gorkha community considers dumping as one of the major ways of disposing of waste.it is common in areas where technology is not applied in waste management. This method encourages pollution to the environment. After the waste has piled up, they are burned to reduce the size and create more space for further dumping. It creates negative health impacts on the lives of human beings and animals living near the dumping site. Composting This practice is mainly carried out in areas with a high percentage of organic waste. Most of the organic waste decompose on the ground and can be used as manure in the farm. Wastes such as glasses and plastic materials cannot decompose, therefore not recommended for this practice. Incineration The practice requires a lot of capital to execute hence not common in many places. It involves the use air pollution equipment that are advanced to reduce emissions to the environment. It can only be done where there are a high prevalent land costs and islands. Recycling It is applicable to plastics, glasses, cartons, and metals. In Gorkha District, the program has not been introduced community. Due to lack of the program, most of the recyclable items have found their way to the dumping sites. Recycling is done by casual subdivision and manual picking of waste. It has a high rate in the market since most of the materials are used as raw materials to manufacture new products. Measures are being put in place to curb dumping in areas such as waterways, communities, and forest. These are natural resources that add value to the well-being of the environment. For example, dumping in waterways and forests creates adverse impact to the lives of organisms living in those areas. In waterways, it contaminates water that communities use thus risk to the outbreak of serious diseases. Forest is known for its important function as a major source of rain catchment. Dumping in the forest also destroys the trees, for example, when a bottle of dangerous chemical finds its way to the forest and destroys the plants. This reduces the number of trees that covers the forest, and the community will start feeling the negative effects of the absence of trees. NEWA is tirelessly working with other stakeholders to provide solution for the problem. They have installed large septic tanks and rubbish bags for managing sludge and plastics respectively. Offering trainings on waste management practices is also another way of making sure that the community gets the required knowledge and skills. Lack of essential knowledge is one of the reasons why residents of the hilltop are dumping irresponsibly. Creating landfills within the community also plays a great role, making the dumping site available for the residents and the whole community. Making the equipment available for the community to manage waste with the required procedures reduces the irresponsible dumping. Apart from providing the necessary resources for managing waste, creating strict rules and regulation will also help since there are many people who are stubborn and cannot make use of the available resources. Employing enough manpower and technology in waste management to help the community in maintaining the dump sites is also another way that will help in the reduction of irresponsible dumping. Reduction of transportable waste is also an essential issue that should be put into consideration. The amount of money spent on the cost of transport can be diverted to other useful areas. In addition, as the wastes are being transported, some normally drops on the ground hence increasing more work and waste of money and resources. This can be done through the creation of dumping sites and coming up with techniques that can help in the recycling of wastes without transporting them to other areas. Waste management practice should be a routine practice within the community considering its essence to the people (DUNSMORE, 1988). It can be successful within the society if recycling equipment are made available to the people. It is one of the long-term projects that will ensure that wastes add monetary value to the people. In Gorkha, these machines are not available to convert wastes into useful products. Therefore introducing it to the community will not only help in the cleaning of environment, but also serves as a source of revenue addition to the people. Converting wastes into streams of valuable products comes with a reward to the community. It creates employment opportunity to the people. The production of biogas provides a cheap source of energy that is friendly to the environment. The absence of wastes encourages a healthy living to human beings and animals. The decomposed organic wastes are used in the farming activities, an indication of the reduction of expenditure cost especially for purchasing fertilizers. Conclusion The entire area of Gorhka District needs development projects especially in the environmental area. Waste management is a major issue for the residents and this makes them exposed to high chances of contracting diseases that come as a result of untidy environment. The community needs a long-term solution to the problem to handle their plights. The solution needs to be affordable in terms of resources and expertise. The major objective of the project is to enhance the living standard of the Gorhka people through giving support and directs them on how to keep the surrounding safe and hygienic. Bibliography PARIATAMBY, A., & TANAKA, M. (2013). Municipal solid waste management in Asia and the Pacific Islands: challenges and strategic solutions. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-73-4. WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL AND WATER RESOURCES CONGRESS, & KABBES, K. C. (2007). Restoring our natural habitat proceedings of the World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2007, May 15-19, 2007, Tampa, Florida, USA. Reston, Va, American Society of Civil Engineers. http://ascelibrary.aip.org/dbt/dbt.jsp?KEY=ASCECP&Volume=243&Issue=40927. ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK. (2013). Solid waste management in Nepal: current status and policy recommendations. http://alltitles.ebrary.com/Doc?id=10900904. BILITEWSKI, B., HÄRDTLE, G., & MAREK, K. (1997). Waste management. New York, Springer. LYE, L. H. (2010). Sustainability matters environmental management in Asia. Singapore, World Scientific. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10479896. DUNSMORE, J. R. (1988). Mountain environmental management in the Arun River basin of Nepal. Kathmandu, Nepal, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. Read More