Amount Of Waste Societies Produce

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Group: Group A

Module Title: Skills for Study 1

Assessment Title: Final Essay

Assignment Title: Discuss the problems associated with disposing of large amounts of waste and identify effective ways of reducing the waste societies produce.

Student ID Number: T0006256

Student Name: Son Ngoc Le

Date of Submission: 29-11-2012

Word count:

Waste disposal is an important topic and discussion in the society because it affects the human living environment. The waste is from the business and human activities. This problem continues to rise with the growth of population and development of industries. Nowadays, waste caused many problems on the earth. H2G2 (2008) pointed out that the EU produced tons of waste. Part of the waste is hazardous or especial danger. This essay will discuss the following problems associated with disposing of large amount of waste: pollution and impact on economy. This essay will argues that reducing waste, reusing and recycling are effective ways in order to reduce the amount of waste societies produce.

One problem associated with disposing of large amount of waste is environmental pollution. One of the large problems is the environmental pollution which includes soil pollution, air pollution and water pollution. All three factors have caused to serious environmental degradation. More specifically, air pollution comes from the disposal of chemicals or biological materials such as, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxides, hydrocarbons that cause harm for humans, other living organisms and damage to the natural environmental and the atmosphere. Air pollution occurs outdoors and indoors (Enviropedia. n.d.). Common sources of pollution include households and business firms. For example, in early December 1952, a cold fog descended upon London. Smoke from coal, rails and buses have been accumulated and created pollution. The fog had killed 4000 people. Moreover, 8000 died in the weeks and months that followed (Nagourney 2003). The air pollution resulted from the discharge of wastes into the environment. Secondly, water pollution is any chemical, physical or biological change in the quality of water. Water pollution has many different sources. In additionally, when toxic substances enter lakes, streams, rivers, oceans, and other water bodies. A huge number of animals can be died by water pollution. Finally, land pollution is the degradation of the Earth's land surface often caused by human activities (National open University of Nigeria n.d.). Land pollution can affect wildlife, plants and humans in many ways. The main cause of land pollution is unwanted materials from human. Cans, bottles, papers, and plastics are a few examples of litter. Garbage or many foods is also a land pollutant.

Second problem is the impact of waste on the economy. Waste which is part of economy is a by-product of economic activity, by business, government and household. Nowadays, the global population is growing and people’s needs are raising so; wastes are also being gradually increased by human. If there are more wastes, the cost is also increase. For example, last year, the tax rose from £48 to £56 a ton in UK. In April, landfill tax has increased £64 per ton (Bateman 2012). This number is gradually increased by the amount of waste that society produces. Landfill tax will continue to increase if waste continues to increase and society to pay more money. Wastes affect the families, state and societies economy.

Currently, human uses different ways to reduce the waste and they uses 3 main ways are recycling, reusing and reducing for saving natural resources, energy, and waste disposal space and costs. Reducing is the first and most effective of the three main ways. It means reducing your consumption or buying less. Consumers are encouraged to reduce their waste by buying items with less packaging instead of single-use items. Businesses can apply the method of producing fewer resources and creating less waste .For example, Tesco have already reduced packaging in the UK by more than 15% since 2007. Reducing the weight of the bottles and cutting glass use by 420 tons per year (Tesco PLC n.d.). Moreover, reusing is meaning that consumers can find new uses for them and thereby reduces their consumption of new resources. Using items many times, including food storage containers, cloth napkins, shopping bags, produce bags, coffee mugs, water bottles, cloth diapers, shoes, and clothing, also reduces waste (Brennan and Media n.d.). Reusing which has many benefits for people, save moneys and landfill, creates opportunities for jobs and training (WasteAware 2010). Finally, recycling is meaning that when people cannot use it anymore, turns them into new products. Recycling saves natural resources and reduces the need for landfills. For example, Microsoft is developing a new data Centre that will run entirely on bio waste. Microsoft will recycle and reuse of bio waste, to create an energy source (Sky news 2012)

In conclusion, this essay has argued that pollution and impact on economy are problems associated with disposing of large amount of waste. The first problem is that it can lead to environment degradation and effects health. The second problem affecting the social economy of waste if not handled. Furthermore, there are three ways to reduce the amount of waste that society produces are reducing waste, reusing and recycling.