Household Waste Management System and Types

Household waste is one of the most critical aspects of our impact on the environment. If we want to reduce our impact on nature, it is essential to address this issue and work to reduce the sorting and recycling of our waste. We each produce 500 kg of household waste a year, the main component of which is paper. Today, we offer you a focus on household waste, its types, and its management system.

Household Waste: What does it Mean?

Household waste refers to solid waste that includes garbage and garbage from our homes. This can be bottles, cans, clothing, disposables, food packaging, newspapers, magazines, or garden waste. They may also contain household hazardous waste.

Household Waste

Image Source: City and County of Denver

One of the problems with household waste is that it’s not all waste. We can drastically reduce their quantity by thinking before throwing something in the trash. The state has long been working to facilitate sorting and recycling, including the provision of paper, glass, and other items that can be broken down and reused.

However, other types of household waste, such as used batteries, are dangerous. These items must be disposed of precisely and must not be thrown in the trash.

What are the Different Types of Household Waste?

Did you know that household waste can be classified into five different types? Besides, some types of waste are recyclable while others are not:

Liquid Waste

Liquid waste is generally present in both household and industrial waste. This waste includes dirty water, body fluids, wash water, cleaners, and even rainwater.

household waste

Image Source: San Mateo County Health

Solid Waste

Solid waste can include various objects and is generally divided into 4 types:

Plastic waste: these are bags, bottles, and many other products. Plastic is not biodegradable, but many types of plastic can be recycled.

Paper Waste: this includes packaging materials, newspapers, cartons, and other products. Paper can easily be recycled and reused.

Boxes and Metals: you can find them in different forms throughout your home. Most metals can be recycled.

Organic Waste

Organic waste is another type of household waste. All food waste and garden waste are classified as organic waste. Over time, micro-organisms transform organic waste, which is the very principle of composting. However, this does not mean that you can arrange them anywhere.

Recyclable Waste

Recyclable waste includes all waste that can be converted into products that can be reused. Solid items such as paper, metals, furniture, and organic waste can all be recycled.

Recyclable Waste

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Dangerous Waste

Hazardous waste includes all types of flammable, toxic, corrosive, and reactive waste. These items may be harmful to the environment and must be removed by specific processes.

The Household Waste Circuit

Waste collection methods vary considerably by country and region. Household waste collection services are often provided by local authorities or by private companies.

The collected waste is then transported to an appropriate disposal facility. In some areas, vacuum collection is used in which waste is transported from residences by suction along small pipes.

Unsorted household waste is collected at the curb or in waste transfer stations, then sorted into recyclable waste and unusable waste. Such systems are capable of sorting large volumes of solid waste, recovering recyclables and turning the rest into biogas or burying it. This article will give you information on what is recycled in the waste deposited in selective sorting.

The Household Waste Circuit

Image Source: UN Environment

Drink Cartons

This includes drinks cartons that are made primarily from cardboard. Do not be confused between beverage cartons and other types of packaging that are very similar to them but are based on plastic or another type of polymer.

Plastic Bottles and Flasks

These are bottles with mineral water, fruit juice, or other food or chemical products. An essential good practice is to squeeze these bottles to reduce their volumes before recycling them.