EVALUATING THE GLOBAL

IMPACT OF WASTE
MANAGEMENT

ZAJI REYES MAGDANGAL

MAENARD BENSLEY MANGLO

JOEFREY PAJARILLO

RIZZA MAE ASSUNCION

CRYSTAL VEGA
EXPLANATION OF THE ISSUE

Poor waste management - ranging from non-existing collection systems to ineffective disposal -
causes air pollution, water and soil contamination. Open and unsanitary landfills contribute to
contamination of drinking water and can cause infection and transmit diseases. The dispersal of
debris pollutes ecosystems and dangerous substances from electronic waste or industrial
garbage puts a strain on the health of urban dwellers and the environment.

Poor waste management is improper collection of wastes and improper disposal of collected
wastes. Poor waste management tends to spoil the water, air, and soil by polluting it. The
landfills cause various infections and they also spread diseases. The waste from industrial
minerals or mining wastes brings more drawbacks to the environment’s health if not managed
properly.

Improper waste disposal can pollute the environment, cause health issues, damage the
economy, and contribute to climate change.

Thus, by double-checking the items that get thrown away, we can prevent improper waste
disposal. This is a small task in helping maintain a clean and beautiful environment.Hazardous
waste refers to any toxic materials that pose a threat to human health or the ecosystem. Since
they cannot be disposed of by regular means, they might require special treatment or
solidification processes. They are also taken to incinerators or a hazardous waste landfill.

Improper disposal can lead to adverse health outcomes, for example through water, soil and air
contamination. Hazardous waste or unsafe waste treatment such as open burning can directly
harm waste workers or other people involved in waste burning and neighbouring communities.
Vulnerable groups such as children are at increased risk of adverse health outcomes. Poor
waste collection leads to environmental and marine pollution and can block water drains.
Resulting flooding and other standing waters in waste items favour cholera and vector-borne
diseases such as malaria and dengue.

About 54 million tons of e-waste, such as TVs, computers and phones, are created annually
(2019 data) with an expected increase to 75 million tons by 2030. In 2019 only 17% of e-waste
was documented as being properly collected and recycled. Exposure to improperly managed e-
waste and its components can cause multiple adverse health and developmental impacts
especially in young children.
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE

The human connection to the environment can be understood in different philosophical ideas.

1. Being responsible to handle all waste management that can affect the nature and the other
generation

2. Utilitarianism advocates for actions that maximize overall well-being, suggesting that
effective waste management benefits society by reducing pollution and conserving resources.

3. Environmental justice focuses on how waste management practices affect other local
communities.

4. Anthropocentrism focuses on human needs and ignores the negative effects of waste on our
environment. Ecocentrism, on the other hand, values all living things or organisms and
promotes waste management practices that maintain ecosystem health.

5. Sustainability is meeting the needs of today, ensuring that future generations can meet their
own needs, and emphasizing the importance of reducing waste by reducing, reusing and
recycling.

Deep ecology and anthropocentrism can be studied to evaluate solid waste management. Deep
ecology emphasizes the value of all living beings while advocating for a holistic approach to
environmental issues. Viewing nature as interconnected promotes sustainable practices, which
help minimize harm to ecosystems and promote waste reduction. On the flip side,
anthropocentrism emphasizes human needs and interests above all else, often justifying waste
as essential for economic growth. Due to focusing on immediate human benefits rather than
ecological stability, this approach might lead to overlooking the lasting environmental impacts.
These theories shed light on the conflict between ecological responsibility and economic
development in solid waste management.
ETHICAL DILEMMA

Waste Management is the way in which waste is being managed. It is the right process of
disposing and managing the waste that leads the community into a sustainable and progressing
environment. Additionally, waste management is important because it will help the people to
learn the process of reducing, reusing, and recycling waste that will result in a better
environment for this generation, together with the future generation.

As the issue of poor waste management arises, people in the community and the community
itself bear the effect of this issue. Poor waste disposal may cause floods that lead into the
destruction of property. For as long as this generation continuously observes this poor waste
management, pollution will continuously be observed. Due to the fact that pollution affects all
living things, not just humans, this practice will undoubtedly put people’s health together with
the animal welfare’s at risk. Furthermore, people's continued participation in this harmful
behavior will contribute to climate change. Because even small wastes have a significant impact
on our environment, imagine how much greater consequences the environment would suffer if
small wastes continues to increase.

In observing the result of this issue to the people and to the community, this question arises
“How can we properly utilize the waste that we produce in order for us to create a sustainable
community?” This question promotes us to think about the long-term condition of our
environment. Let us not just think “now” , let us think for our future, for our sustainable future.
Because at the end of the day, it’s us who will bear the consequences of our actions.
PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
Waste disposal is an urgent issue. The acceleration of global waste generation makes waste
disposal an issue that cannot be ignored. As income levels increase, so does the per capita
waste volume. By 2050 high-income countries are expected to have a 19% increase in the
volume of waste they generate, but low and middle-income countries are projected to generate
40% more waste as their economies advance.

Humanity generates between 2.1 billion and 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste a year.

When improperly managed, much of that refuse—from food and plastics to electronics and
textiles—emits greenhouse gases or poisonous chemicals. This damages ecosystems, inflicts
disease and threatens economic prosperity, disproportionately harming women and youth.

Here are eight ways to embrace a zero waste approach:

Combat food waste

Some 19 per cent of food available to consumers is wasted annually despite 783 million
peoplegoing hungry. Around 8 to 10 per cent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions come
from the production of food that is ultimately squandered.

There are lots of ways to turn that tide. Municipalities can promote urban agriculture and use
food waste in animal husbandry, farming, green-space maintenance and more. They can also
fund food waste composting schemes, segregate food waste at source and ban food from
dumpsites. Meanwhile, consumers can buy only what they need, embrace less appealing but
perfectly edible fruits and vegetables, store food more wisely, use up leftovers, compost food
scraps instead of throwing them away, and donate food before it goes bad, something made
easier by a bevy of apps.

Recovery is already on the menu in some places. In Vallès Occidental, Spain, municipalities are
redistributing surplus healthy food to the marginalized. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the non-profit
organization No Hunger Food Bank works with the Adeta indigenous community to reduce
post-harvest losses by recycling cassava peels into animal feed.
2. Take on textile waste.

Less than 1 per cent of the material used to produce clothing is recycled into new items,
resulting in over US$100 billion in annual material value loss. The textiles industry also uses the
equivalent of 86 million Olympic-sized swimming pools of water every year.

To counter that, the fashion industry needs to become more circular. Brands and retailers can
offer more circular business models and products that last longer and can be remade,
governments can provide infrastructure for collecting and sorting used textiles,
communicators—including influencers and brand managers—can shift fashion’s marketing
narrative, and consumers can assess if their clothing purchases are necessary.

3. Avoid electronic waste

Electronics, from computers to phones, are clogging dumpsites around the world as
manufacturers continually encourage consumers to purchase brand-new devices.

Through robust policymaking, governments can encourage consumers to keep their products
for longer while pushing manufacturers to offer repair services, a change that would bring a
host of economic benefits. They can also implement extended producer responsibility, a policy
that can ensure producers of material goods are responsible for the management and
treatment of waste. This can keep raw materials and goods in the economic cycle and inspire
consumer waste prevention, eco-design, and optimization of waste collection.

4. Reduce resource use in products

Raw material use has more than tripled over the last 50 years, driving the destruction of natural
spaces and fueling the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and
pollution and waste.

Producers can follow nationally determined eco-design standards to reduce energy and
resource use while minimizing hazardous chemicals in production. These standards also ensure
products are durable, repairable and recyclable while use.
This should be part of a larger effort to design products through what is known as the lifecycle
approach. This entails reducing resource use and emissions to the environment throughout all
stages of a product’s life, from production to recycling.

5. Crack down on plastic pollution

Plastics are commonly used in electronics, textiles and single-use products. Some 85 per cent of
single-use plastic bottles, containers and packaging end up in landfills or are mismanaged.
Because plastic does not biodegrade, it contributes to major health impacts as microplastics
infiltrate food and water sources.

In addition to phasing out single-use plastics and improving waste management, establishing a
global monitoring and reporting system can help end plastic pollution.

6. Take on hazardous waste

Chemicals are prevalent in daily life – electronics can contain mercury, cosmetics may have lead
and cleaning supplies often have persistent organic pollutants. Chemical and hazardous waste
require specialized treatment and disposal, yet some governments fail to meet standards set in
the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) conventions. Hazardous chemicals and waste cross
borders, unauthorized or even illegally.

Governments can commit to multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), like the BRS
conventions, which institutionalize intergovernmental and cross-sectoral cooperation through
binding targets and action plans.

Citizens can educate themselves about substances and waste types that are restricted or
banned under the MEAs and demand that governments and industries remove them from the
global market.

8. Bolster waste management through investment and training

Globally, around 25 per cent of waste is left uncollected, while 39 per cent is not managed in
controlled facilities. Global waste management incurs a total net cost of US$361 billion
annually. By ending uncontrolled disposal, reducing waste generation, and increasing recycling,
governments can generate an annual net gain of US$108.1 billion by 2050.
By recovering materials, redesigning products, bolstering waste management and prioritizing
reuse, humanity can embrace a zero waste approach for a more sustainable future.

(https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/eight-ways-overcome-waste-pollution-crisis)

Refuse
A good option to use instead are reusable or returnable containers and packaging. Switching to
wiser buying decisions and keeping standards that are more efficient at the beginning of the
waste management process will make refusing unnecessary waste much easier.
Reduce
Try to use the smallest amount of material to lessen the amount of excess waste. A great
example of this is printing a document. You can lessen the paper waste by printing double-
sided. Think of how to use this kind of concept on a larger scale to apply it to whatever your
company produces.
Reuse
As a new effort to reduce the high amount of waste throughout the world, businesses are
following practices that involve reusing materials within the workplace rather than ordering
more replacements. Look through the different equipment, tools, and materials your company
uses on a constant basis and opt for using as many compostable or reusable options that are
available
Repurpose
Some of the best places to start with this is collecting any packaging such as cardboard boxes
and packing material to keep for storing other items from the worksite. Anything you can find
another use for is going to help with better waste management.
Recycle
The final step in the process is recycle, which means exactly what it sounds like. After you’ve
made quality efforts to go through all the previous steps from the five Rs, recycling is a great
final option. One of the main ways we continue to make efforts to be more environmentally
friendly is to recycle anything that has that option.
Thousands or mountains of garbage are piled up in other parts of the Philippines. Sometimes it
is harmful to our beloved nature, the garbage reaches the sea, a little rain immediately floods
other parts of the Philippines, but what should be done to avoid these kinds of disasters or bad
effects in our nature?
There is nothing wrong if we live and do the 5 R's, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and
Recycle every day, because it is very valuable and it can help us a lot, because in this way we
help our Mother Nature which we protect with all our hearts, using the 5 R's is just an example
for us to be responsible for our environment as well as ourselves. Each of these steps must be
followed to every last detail in order for the plan to work to its full potential. These solutions,
when combined, can significantly reduce waste generation and environmental pollution,

contributing to a more sustainable future. The Philippines has endeavored to improve its
management of solid waste through the passage of RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste
Management Act that provides for a systematic, comprehensive and ecological waste
management program to ensure the protection of public health and the environment.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

To engage students on waste management, the activity titled “Reduce, Reuse, and
Revolutionize” can help educate and encourage action toward reducing waste both on campus
and in their communities. The engagement begins with an icebreaker where students reflect on
their daily plastic use, sparking a discussion on the importance of waste management and its
environmental impact. Students then explore the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) by creating
posters and sharing practical ways they can implement each concept in their lives.

A campus waste audit follows, allowing students to analyze real waste data, identify major
sources of waste, and brainstorm reduction strategies. This hands-on experience can be further
enhanced by setting up a recycling station where students bring in items to be recycled, earning
rewards for participation. Inviting an environmental expert to discuss local waste management
challenges, such as plastic pollution in the Philippines, will deepen their understanding of the
issue. Demonstrating how waste can be converted into energy, like composting to produce
biogas, can show students the innovative solutions available to tackle waste.

To wrap up the engagement, students will sign a pledge to commit to waste-reducing

behaviors, which can be tracked and rewarded over time. Additional follow-up initiatives, like
organizing a “Waste-Free School Day” or launching a social media challenge, will ensure that
students remain engaged and motivated to make sustainable choices in the long run. This
comprehensive program will not only educate students about the importance of waste
management but also inspire them to take active steps in protecting the environment.