The pronounced impact of garbage on our environment in the form of soil, water and air pollution and the consequent effect on public health has made the municipal authorities wake up to the challenge. Governments have devised rules and regulations to be adhered to by the waste generation, clearance and disposal entities for minimising the impact on the environment. These rules call for regular and frequent waste clearance from households as well as commercial entities, transporting these to the proper facility without causing a public health hazard and disposing of the same according to laid down guidelines.
Norms of waste collection
To minimise the impact of garbage on the environment the guidelines of garbage collection and disposal has stipulated certain norms.
Recycling or reusing
Though not all, waste can be recycled or reused in some meaningful ways. This minimises the need for more raw material extraction and their processing. This also reduces the need for felling of trees and plundering of forest resources which act as shields for environmental pollution.
Toxic items
Waste electrical and electronic items disposed of households and commercial premises such as computer monitors, hard disks, printers, scanners, televisions, refrigerators etc are all toxic in nature, and should not be sent to the landfill. The best way is to recycle as much of the material as possible. WEEE norms for rubbish clearance specify that at least 4 kg of material should be recovered per person per year from such items.
Hazardous items
Items such as a spent battery, used motor fuel etc can be recycled and reused in meaningful ways to reduce the bane of pollution.
