124 Ecology and Applied Environmental Science
participation make integrated USW management a complex environmental
and social issue.
Management of USW should be technologically feasible, legally permissible, socially acceptable, and environmentally and economically sustainable.
Failure to resolve USW management problems in many developing countries as well as in some developed ones allows the continued existence of
unrestricted garbage dumps, piles of rubbish in the streets and the increasing insecurity that rubbish creates for city dwellers. The environmental
impacts of lack of management are severe and involve:
• Aesthetic deterioration of the city
• Odour-related nuisances
• Hazards to public health
• Ground pollution
• Pollution of underground and surface water
• Local air pollution
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Burden on natural ecosystems
• Risk of forest fires
• Economic impacts due to less tourism and degradation of various
natural resources, such as coasts
The threats to public health resulting from lack of USW management
involve the risk of the spread of pathogens present in contaminated waste,
potential nuisances in the form of insects or rodents, the channelling of
toxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic substances into the environment, and
the negative psychological effects that the sight of rubbish has on the
population. Water pollution is due to toxic inorganic or organic substances, organic material and the products of its decomposition, nitrogen
or phosphorus salts etc. Local air pollution is primarily due to emissions
of volatile toxic organic substances, while air pollution on the global level
is chiefly due to emissions of methane and carbon dioxide (greenhouse
gases) from decomposition of USW. The risk of forest fires is mainly due
to the possibility of spontaneous combustion of USW that has accumulated near flammable forest vegetation.
The quantity of USW in developed countries generally exceeds 1 and
may be as high as 2 kilograms per person per day. Its composition depends
to a great extent on the level of economic development and lifestyle. In
less developed countries, for example, USW contains less paper, plastic
and glass than the USW of cities in the United States, and more organic
matter , mainly in the form of food scraps. These differences are decreasing,
however, as the gaps between lifestyles are narrowing. The composition of
USW generated (before recycling) in the United States in 2006 was: paper
and cardboard (34%), organic fermentable, e.g. food waste and garden
participation make integrated USW management a complex environmental
and social issue.
Management of USW should be technologically feasible, legally permissible, socially acceptable, and environmentally and economically sustainable.
Failure to resolve USW management problems in many developing countries as well as in some developed ones allows the continued existence of
unrestricted garbage dumps, piles of rubbish in the streets and the increasing insecurity that rubbish creates for city dwellers. The environmental
impacts of lack of management are severe and involve:
• Aesthetic deterioration of the city
• Odour-related nuisances
• Hazards to public health
• Ground pollution
• Pollution of underground and surface water
• Local air pollution
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Burden on natural ecosystems
• Risk of forest fires
• Economic impacts due to less tourism and degradation of various
natural resources, such as coasts
The threats to public health resulting from lack of USW management
involve the risk of the spread of pathogens present in contaminated waste,
potential nuisances in the form of insects or rodents, the channelling of
toxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic substances into the environment, and
the negative psychological effects that the sight of rubbish has on the
population. Water pollution is due to toxic inorganic or organic substances, organic material and the products of its decomposition, nitrogen
or phosphorus salts etc. Local air pollution is primarily due to emissions
of volatile toxic organic substances, while air pollution on the global level
is chiefly due to emissions of methane and carbon dioxide (greenhouse
gases) from decomposition of USW. The risk of forest fires is mainly due
to the possibility of spontaneous combustion of USW that has accumulated near flammable forest vegetation.
The quantity of USW in developed countries generally exceeds 1 and
may be as high as 2 kilograms per person per day. Its composition depends
to a great extent on the level of economic development and lifestyle. In
less developed countries, for example, USW contains less paper, plastic
and glass than the USW of cities in the United States, and more organic
matter , mainly in the form of food scraps. These differences are decreasing,
however, as the gaps between lifestyles are narrowing. The composition of
USW generated (before recycling) in the United States in 2006 was: paper
and cardboard (34%), organic fermentable, e.g. food waste and garden