Page 18 - Energy from Toxic Organic Waste for Heat and Power Generation

CHAPTER 2

Toxic Waste From Municipality

Aravind Sam, Debabrata Barik
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore, India

2.1 INTRODUCTION
In general, anything which is not useful anymore are collectively given the
name as wastes or garbage. The wastes are of different forms and are increas-
ing at higher rate day by day due to the development of the world. The
waste generation also depends on the population level of the region under
consideration. The level of waste generated is higher even in low-populated
regions due to the lack of waste management systems. The wastes are gen-
erated from all sorts of places, starting from residential, commercial, indus-
trial, agricultural, institutional places, etc.; the wastes from such places are
given names accordingly and each waste has its own characteristics. Their
behavior in the environment also varies with the nature of its composition
and based on what those wastes are made up of. Hence, it requires a proper
understanding of wastes that are handled. In common practice, wastes are
handled by the municipality of each region. Their work is to collect all sorts
of waste and to dispose them properly. The wastes that are collected by the
municipality are termed as the municipal wastes. These municipal wastes
include wastes collected from residential areas. The wastes from residential
areas are like spoiled food items, plastic covers or bags, dead batteries, glass
bottles, tins, aluminum foils, broken electrical and electronic items, and gar-
den wastes. The municipality also covers the handling of wastes generated
by the hospitals, industries, and other commercial places.
The wastes are classified in many ways. One such classification is like bio-
degradable wastes, recyclable wastes, inert wastes, e-wastes, composite wastes,
hazardous wastes, toxic wastes, and biomedical wastes. The biodegradable
wastes include green wastes and food and kitchen wastes. The recyclable
wastes include materials like papers, cardboards, glass bottles, tin cans, alu-
minum cans and foils, metals, some type of plastics, clothes, tires, etc. The
inert waste includes construction and demolition waste, dirt, rocks, debris,
etc. The e-waste includes worn out electrical and electronic items such as
washing machines, refrigerators, televisions, light bulbs, computers, mobiles,
and clocks. The hazardous waste includes chemicals, batteries, aerosol cans,

Energy from Toxic Organic Waste for Heat and Power Generation © 2019 Elsevier Ltd.
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