Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, together with monitoring and regulation of the waste management process and waste-related laws, technologies, and economic mechanisms.
Waste management practices are not the same across countries (developed and developing nations); regions (urban and rural areas) and residential and industrial sectors can all take different approaches. Effective waste management can be relatively expensive, with one report estimating that it usually comprises 20%–50% of municipal budgets. In high-income countries, waste management typically includes street collection and transportation to controlled or sanitary landfills, incinerators, or recycling centers. In lower-income countries, practices vary, but a sizable portion of waste is stored in open dumps or openly burned, in addition to more sanitary methods. According to one estimate of global waste, approximately a fourth of all the municipal solid terrestrial waste is not collected, and an additional fourth is mismanaged after collection, often being burned in open and uncontrolled fires – or close to one billion tons per year when combined.
Waste itself and poor waste management methods can pose human health harm and environmental harm by polluting air, water, soil, and food. The aim of waste management is to reduce the adverse effects of waste on human health, the environment, planetary resources, and aesthetics. Waste management deals with all types of waste (whether solid, liquid, or gases), including industrial, chemical, municipal, organic, biomedical, and radioactive wastes. A large portion of waste management practices deal with municipal solid waste (MSW), which is the bulk of the waste that is created by household, industrial, and commercial activity. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), municipal solid waste is expected to reach approximately 3.4 Gt by 2050; however, policies and lawmaking can reduce the amount of waste produced in different areas and cities of the world.
Effective 'Waste Management' involves the practice of '7R' - 'R'efuse, 'R'educe', 'R'euse, 'R'epair, 'R'epurpose, 'R'ecycle and 'R'ecover. Amongst these '7R's, the first two ('Refuse' and 'Reduce') relate to the non-creation of waste, such as reducing consumption. The next two ('Reuse' and 'Repair') refer to increasing the usage of the existing product. 'Repurpose' and 'Recycle' involve maximum usage of the materials used in the product, and 'Recover' is the least preferred and least efficient waste management practice involving the recovery of embedded energy in the waste material. For example, burning the waste to produce heat (and electricity from heat).
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