GARBAGE POLLUTION: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES AND EXAMPLES - ENVIRONMENT - 2025

The garbage pollution is the accumulation of solid waste generated by human activity on the environment. The accumulation of garbage brings environmental problems by producing air, soil and water pollution. In addition, it alters the functioning of ecosystems and is an important cause of death due to obstruction or poisoning of wildlife.

It is also considered a public health problem, being a culture medium for various disease-causing pathogens. On the other hand, the accumulation of waste constitutes an aesthetic problem, capable of altering the quality of life and local economies based on activities such as tourism.

Garbage. Source: mjmulders1989

The structural cause of the accumulation of garbage is the prevailing model of economic development, based on the exacerbated consumption of goods and services. The direct causes include population growth, the high concentration of human communities and poor waste management.

Garbage contamination can be prevented with good waste management and disposal. Another approach, known as the three Rs, involves reducing, reusing, and recycling. However, a more profound alternative involves changing the consumption patterns of today's human society.

Solid waste can accumulate anywhere, even in the stratosphere where it is found as space debris. Other very obvious cases are the islands of garbage that have formed in the oceans and the accumulation of waste in large cities in underdeveloped countries.

Causes

Garbage can be defined as waste that has no use and must be disposed of. These wastes are the product of human production and consumption activities that have no economic value.

Therefore, it is the various human activities such as agriculture, industry, mining, among others, that influence the generation of garbage.

The main causes of garbage pollution are mentioned below:

Development model

Fast food, garbage generator. Source: www. Flickr.com

The consumption pattern of a certain population is largely defined by its economic development model. Currently, an industrial model that is based on the mass production of all kinds of goods predominates worldwide.

This model is based on promoting the maximum consumption of products, through different advertising strategies. In this way, the consumer is encouraged to purchase goods that in many cases are not required to satisfy their real needs.

On the other hand, in industrial processes, a practice known as planned obsolescence has been developing. It consists of designing the products in such a way that their useful life is short, in order to achieve greater economic performance.

Consumer goods are rendered useless due to lack of spare parts or poor quality of parts. This forces the consumer to discard the product and purchase a new one to meet their needs.

This practice results in the generation of a large amount of waste that must be discarded. In addition, if you do not have adequate programs for their processing, they end up accumulating in inappropriate places.

The combination of encouraging consumption with programmed obsolescence practices generates serious problems of contamination by garbage.

Population growth and concentration

One of the main direct causes of garbage accumulation is population growth. This is due to the fact that with a greater number of people, there is a greater demand for goods and services.

The accelerated production of products that can satisfy the consumer demand of this growing population generates a large amount of waste.

On the other hand, it is appreciated that the greatest concentration of people on the planet is located in small geographical areas. In fact, approximately 75% of the world's population is distributed in mid-latitudes, with mild climates.

The areas with the highest population density are South Asia (Japan and China) and East Asia (Indochina, India and Pakistan). Other regions are Eastern Europe and Northeast North America.

In these regions, the production of waste is very high, making its processing complex. Furthermore, most of the most populous countries have underdeveloped economies with poor garbage management plans.

Poor waste management

Image: Uncontrolled landfill. Source:

Poor waste management is considered the main direct cause of garbage pollution. The waste generated by the production of goods only becomes garbage if it is not processed properly.

For example, glass bottles that have already been used can become garbage or raw material. If these bottles are thrown into a poorly controlled landfill, they will accumulate and become garbage.

On the other hand, if these bottles are used to produce new glass containers, they become a raw material. In this way, they do not accumulate and contribute to reducing the production of new materials.

Poor waste management has become a serious environmental problem globally. As an example we have that annually more than 8 million tons of plastic waste accumulate in seas and oceans.

Currently, this plastic waste represents almost 80% of marine litter, the majority in the form of microplastics (<5mm). This accumulation has very serious consequences for all the marine ecosystems of the planet.

Consequences

Impact on public health

The accumulation of solid and liquid waste in an inappropriate way directly affects the epidemiological risk of the population. For example, the uncontrolled dumping of excrement favors the proliferation of insects, rodents and other animals that are vectors of diseases.

In addition, when garbage accumulates, conditions are generated in the environment that favor the reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms. These can later be dispersed by wind or water and affect people.

The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that in 2017 there were more than 1.7 million infant deaths due to environmental pollution. Many of these deaths have been a consequence of garbage pollution in the poorest regions of the world.

It is indicated that more than 361,000 children have died from gastrointestinal diseases, having ingested water contaminated by garbage. Another 200,000 children have died from diseases transmitted by insects that breed in poorly managed waste.

Impact on biodiversity

Turtle with malformation due to jam with plastic garbage. Source: www.flickr.com

Trash pollution has a negative impact on biodiversity. One of the problems that has a global impact is the accumulation of plastic in the seas and oceans.

Marine ecosystems provide 60% of the proteins that humans consume, and sustains an industry that produces about 2.1 billion euros per year. In addition, they support the life of approximately 700,000 species.

The accumulation of plastics is seriously affecting this biological system. For example, microplastics consumed by zooplakton, crustaceans and fish can affect them by accumulating chemical pollutants in their bodies.

On the other hand, these pollutants enter the trophic chains and are passed from one species to another. Likewise, they can affect people who consume marine animals contaminated with plastic.

Larger plastic debris or aluminum debris can cause animals such as birds and sea turtles to suffocate. In this sense, it is estimated that 52% of sea turtles have been affected by plastic waste.

The accumulation of garbage near natural habitats can cause many species of animals to change their eating habits. This is because they find affordable sources of energy foods that end up generating metabolic disorders that affect their health.

Another impact on biodiversity is that garbage incorporates biocidal substances such as heavy metals and detergents into the environment, among others. This causes contamination of water sources and soil, one of the most serious being radioactive waste.

Impact on environmental quality

When organic waste accumulates in large quantities and improperly, it begins to decompose, generating gases that are harmful to health. Among these we have carbon dioxide and methane, which are greenhouse gases.

Furthermore, methane is highly combustible and can start fires that burn plastic waste. These residues when burned, generate toxic gases that cause various respiratory diseases to some types of cancer.

Another serious problem with garbage pollution is that it decreases the quality of water sources. The incorporation of heavy metals, detergents, dioxins, oils and other toxic substances affect its potability and usefulness for irrigation.

In some cases, the dissolved oxygen concentration can change, seriously affecting aquatic ecosystems. Also, decomposing garbage releases substances that are leached to the groundwater level, contaminating groundwater.

Likewise, the soil can be contaminated by the same toxic compounds, affecting its physical, chemical and fertility properties.

Impact on tourism activity

Tourism worldwide generates profits of more than 1.2 trillion euros a year and represents almost 10% of world GDP. In many places, it is the main economic activity so the aesthetic aspect is economically important.

Garbage pollution in tourist places, particularly in countries with underdeveloped economies, brings great economic losses. In this sense, the UN indicates that tourism has stopped receiving more than 540 million dollars a year due to the accumulation of garbage.

Solutions

Different strategies have been implemented to solve garbage pollution, the traditional ones such as landfills or inefficient incineration. That is why this problem must be addressed in a more comprehensive way, attacking its causes thoroughly.

Among the possible solutions to the problem of pollution by garbage, we have:

Sustainable economic model

The basic solution to the garbage problem would be a change in the economic model towards a more sustainable one that does not promote the unnecessary consumption of goods and services. For this, it would be necessary to achieve a balance between the economic, social and environmental needs of society.

The recycling of consumer products should be promoted, as well as the abandonment of practices such as planned obsolescence. These actions would greatly reduce the production of waste by human populations.

Awareness and modification of production and consumption patterns

From the institutional point of view, environmental quality standards that reduce waste production should be promoted. Likewise, it is convenient to generate fiscal policies that reward the efficiency of more sustainable production processes.

It is convenient to implement education programs that encourage the change of consumption habits of the population and promote recycling. These campaigns should seek a change of consciousness for the consumption of products that generate less waste.

The consumer must be educated to make proper use of the equipment and appliances, taking care of their maintenance to prolong their useful life. In addition, adequate training of citizens is required for the responsible management of waste.

Waste management

In order to achieve greater efficiency in the management of waste produced from human activities, various actions can be taken.

Reduce, reuse, recycle

The three Rs is a proposal for consumption by the population, which has an ecological focus. In it, the citizen becomes aware to make responsible consumption of goods and services. The three Rs approach is based on three actions: reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Reduce

Waste reduction seeks to optimize industrial processes in order to maximize efficiency and use fewer resources. Among the elements to be optimized, the reduction of waste generated in the production process stands out.

These practices lead to the saving of raw materials and a decrease in the volume of garbage produced. For this, campaigns should be generated that promote recycling and that raise awareness about the role of people in garbage management.

To reuse

On the other hand, the reuse of waste is based on the idea that they can be reused, either for the same function that they were created or in other similar ones without the need to transform them. For this, the product or part of it can be designed to be used again, such as glass bottles.

Recycle

Another option to reduce garbage pollution is to process waste classifying it according to its nature. For example, organic and inorganic and within these large groups continue to select.

Inorganic waste can be classified into metals, plastics, and others, and organic waste can be separated as paper and cardboard and food waste.

Metals and plastics can be used as raw materials for various products and recycled paper can be produced. Organic waste can be used to prepare organic fertilizers through composting techniques.

Elimination

Incineration is not a very suitable solution due to the gases that are generated, such as carbon dioxide, which has a greenhouse effect, and dioxins, which are classified as extremely toxic chemicals.

However, today there are plasma-based incineration systems, still under development. These use a reactor with high voltage electricity and oxygen, nitrogen or argon that reach temperatures close to 1500ºC.

At these very high temperatures a plasma state is obtained and the waste is literally atomized. Organic matter turns into gas, which can be used as an energy source.

Storage

The accumulation of garbage in defined places was one of the first measures that were taken to try to solve the problem. However, this does not represent a real solution since the high production of waste makes its storage unmanageable.

A more advanced variant is landfills, layered garbage dumps that are covered with soil and other substrates. In these landfills, an infrastructure is designed that allows the aeration and decomposition of accumulated waste.

Although this procedure may be adequate to process certain types of waste, it can generate contamination of soil and water by leaching. A particularly delicate case is the storage of radioactive waste that requires deep geological storage sites.

Examples of places contaminated with garbage

Although garbage has become a permanent factor in many places on the planet, there are some places where pollution reaches alarming levels. Some examples are mentioned below:

The oceanic garbage islands

Garbage islands are large patches of waste accumulated in the planet's oceans. There are currently 5 large garbage islands, two located in the Pacific Ocean, two in the Atlantic and one in the Indian Ocean.

The largest is located in the North Pacific, near Hawaii, with an estimated area between 700,000 and 15,000,000 km ². On this island it is estimated that approximately 80,000 tons of garbage accumulate.

More than 80% of these wastes come from human activities carried out in land areas and the other 20% are produced by ships. This island of garbage is composed mainly of plastic, which is carried to this point by the movement of ocean currents.

Citarum River in Indonesia

Pollution of the Citarum River, Indonesia. Source: By, Chief on Oct. 16,2009 @ 11:23 pm

The Citarum River is located to the west of the island of Java with a length of 270 km. More than 2,000 industries are concentrated in the Citarum basin, of which more than 200 are textile companies.

All these industries dump approximately 280 tons per day of waste that has not been previously treated. The case of textile companies is one of the most serious, due to the large amount of toxic waste they generate.

On the other hand, due to the large number of jobs there is a high population density in the Citarum Valley. This large number of people produces a large amount of waste that is not managed properly.

This has resulted in a high degree of garbage pollution that is affecting the health of the population. Currently there is a high incidence of respiratory and skin diseases in the majority of the population.

Earth's orbit

Special garbage in the orbit of the Earth. Source: NASA employee

Space debris is defined as any artificial object present in Earth's orbit that is not used. These debris originated from space activities and can be the remains of rockets, useless satellites and small fragments of space parts.

This garbage represents a serious problem since collisions at orbital speeds are very destructive. Satellite collision accidents can affect communications, investigations and all kinds of activities related to the use of these devices.

Big cities

The most populated cities on the planet tend to produce a greater amount of waste, particularly if they have strong economies. In these cities, the rate of consumption of goods and services is very high.

New York City, with 20 million inhabitants, produces 33 million tons / year of garbage, being the highest in the world. In second place is Mexico City, with 21 million inhabitants that generate 12 million tons / year.

However, in New York the contamination by garbage is not very high due to its efficient waste management programs. For their part, the inhabitants of Mexico City are seriously affected by trash pollution.

This is because waste management plans are insufficient and inadequate, with few landfills. Not enough trash recycling programs are in place and collection systems are insufficient.

References

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