Learn how excess wastes made by us is Polluting the Environment

Everything-everything indeed, we use and consume—the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the house we live in — are all essentially made of materials and energy drawn from environment—the earth’s crust and surface, atmosphere or water. We never get something from nothing.

The materials extracted from environment are not in the desired usable forms, they are subjected to knowledge-based processing called ‘technology’. By applying energy, they are converted into useful products and services. It holds good for every activity we perform, whether; it has to do with industry, agriculture, transport services, or domestic sector both urban and rural areas.

It must be recognized here that in any technological process, all the material inputs or input resources are NOT and perhaps can NEVER be transformed into desirable products and services completely. Some amount of waste is always produced. How much of the given inputs shall finally appear as products and services at the end of processing-run-through, or how much shall go out as wastes, would depend on what is produced, the technological processes employed and how efficiently these processes are managed. One thing, however, is certain that wastes would be generated—come what may. It is inevitable.

Wastes are also generated when people take in food, water, air or use material to make industrial products. When waste is produced, in excess, it pollutes the environment. However, some of the wastes can be recycled.

As the ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ of people increase, per capita extraction of materials from environment also increases progressively. For instance, per capita material extraction in USA during early 80s was as high as 60 kgs per day. With increase in population, the world production of goods and services has also been growing rapidly. For example, since 1950, the industrial production has grown more than seven-times and production of minerals has multiplied over three times.

Obviously, therefore, as the withdrawal of resources increases, so does the discharge of wastes back-into the environment. Every withdrawal and every discharge alters the environment. What emerges, therefore, is that we are constantly disturbing the environmental equilibrium. The intensity of these disturbances, unfortunately, escalates with ever-growing withdrawals and discharges.

It is, however, not just the quantity of discharges or withdrawals alone, which is the basic bane of all the environmental problems confronting us today. There are other factors too. The form, the place and the time of discharges or withdrawals also contribute significantly to our environmental woes.

Let us try to understand the importance of these factors in the context of environmental degradation, with the help of an example — the coal fired thermal power station at Delhi. The power generation capacity of this station determines the quantity of coal needed, which in fact has to be extracted from Bengal or Bihar coalmines and transported all the way. This coal when burnt in the power station results in a waste flyash and unburnt coal particles, which are discharged up the chimney into the atmosphere. While, the coal was withdrawn from the environment in Bengal or Bihar, what is discharged into the environment at Delhi is flyash and a little quantity of unburnt coal. Therefore, from withdrawal to discharge, form has changed, and so has the place — from Bengal or Bihar to Delhi.

Even the period has undergone a change. At one point of time, what was coal is now largely ash. The timings of discharges or withdrawals acquire special significance in real life situations. For instance, in certain weather conditions if the discharges are not controlled it may lead to ‘smog’ — a suffocating environmental condition.

The form, place and time of withdrawal and discharge changes at the biosphere level also. Of the total withdrawals, a very major portion is extracted from the earth’s crust or the surface. Relatively, much less material is withdrawn from air or water. But, when it comes to discharges, the proportion discharged into the air and water is very much more than that extracted from them. This leads to an increasing level of pollution of the air and water. That is why water pollution problems were recognized first, followed by the air, soil and other forms of pollutions. Accordingly, the trend world over has been that acts to control water pollution were the earliest to be enacted. Acts regulating air pollution and others followed later.

Wastes are inevitable and are growing both in quantity and complexity. Since, their discharge affects the environment adversely, different environmental protection or pollution control Acts have been enacted and are being enforced. Let us examine the economic aspects of wastes right from generation stage to disposal—discharge into the environment.

Excessive wastes, when generated, indicate inefficiency. They represent economic loss and therefore associate with it is a hidden cost. Under obligations and mandates of environment protection or pollution control laws, when wastes have to be arrested, treated, stored, transported and disposed off in environmentally acceptable manner, additional cost is incurred.