Question

identify important indicators used to monitor solid waste management describe how you what access them

Answer 1

Plastic bags are commonly known as festal. They are widely used to carry goods from market to home in all areas because they are convenient, cheap and easy to use. Plastic bags are usually non-biodegradable and persist in the environment for a very long time. Moreover, when discarded indiscriminately, they pollute the land surface of your community, prevent rainwater from percolating into the soil, can easily be blown all over the place by wind, and create unsightly and nuisance conditions. The bags can also be easily swallowed by animals, which may block their digestive system and kill them (Figure 22.1). In malaria-prone areas, there is also a potential to create breeding places for mosquitoes because the bags may trap small pools of water.



Figure 22.1  Discarded plastic bags are a health hazard for grazing animals. (Photos: Pam Furniss)

22.1.2  Hazardous waste

Hazardous wastes are treated as a separate category of waste because special management and disposal methods are required. The main sources of hazardous substances are agricultural offices/stores, health offices/stores and possibly also private firms, homes and retail shops. The toxic, corrosive, ignitable, explosive and/or infectious characteristics of these wastes require careful and stringently controlled methods of handling, storing and transportation. Hazardous wastes, because of their particular environmental health hazard, should be identified, quantified and reported to a higher level for further action.