This document summarizes waste management practices in developed and developing countries. It begins by defining different types of wastes, including solid, liquid, sludge, and hazardous wastes. For developed countries, common solid waste management practices are landfilling, recycling, and incineration. Liquid waste management involves detailed plans, water treatment facilities, and injection wells. Hazardous waste is strictly regulated and disposed of through landfilling or incineration. Developing countries also utilize these methods but to a lesser extent due to resource constraints. The Philippine waste management system is then briefly outlined.

1. Review of Related Literature
JOSOL
APDONGENCIANEOROLANDO
I.Definition of Wastes
II.Classification of Wastes
A. Solid WasteB. Liquid
WasteC.SludgeD. Hazardous Waste
III.Waste Management
A. Waste Management in Developed
Nations1. Solid WasteA) LandfillsB)
RecyclingC) Incineration2.Liquid
WasteA) Management PlansB) Waste
Water Treatment FacilitiesC) Injection
Wells3.Hazardous WasteA) LandfillB)
IncinerationB.Waste Management in
Developing Nations1.Solid WasteA)
LandfillsB) RecyclingC)
Incineration2.Liquid WasteA)
Management PlansB) Waste Water
Treatment FacilitiesC) Injection
Wells3.Hazardous WasteA) LandfillB)
IncinerationC. Waste Management: The
Philippine Setting1. Solid Waste
Management2.Liquid Waste
Management3. Hazardous Waste
Management
IV.Threats of Improper Waste
ManagementV. Initiatives for Liquid Wast
e Management
I.Definition of Wastes
Waste can be described as "any
substance or object the holder
discards, intends
tod i s c a r d o r i s r e q u i r e d t o
discard", as defined by the
Waste Framework Directive
(European Directive (WFD) 20
06/12/EC), (amended by the ne
w W F D ( D i r e c t i v e 2008/98/EC,
coming into force in December
2010).I n t h e P h i l i p p i n e s ’
Republic Act No. 9275
(An Act Providing For
a Comprehensive Water Quality
management and for Other Purposes),
waste means
“anym a t e r i a l e i t h e r s o l i d , l i q u i d
, semisolid, contained gas or ot
her forms resulting fromindust
rial, commercial, mining or agr
icultural operations, or from c
o m m u n i t y a n d household activities
that is devoid of usage and discarded.”
II.
Classification of Wastes
The classification of wastes varies and
depends country by country. Waste
canbedivided into many different
types. The most common method of
classification is by their physical,
chemical, and biological
characteristics.1. Solid WasteSolid
waste is broadly defined as including
non-hazardous industrial,
commercialand domestic refuse
including household organic
trash, street sweepings, hospital
andinstitutional garbage, and
construction wastes; generally
sludge and human waste
areregarded as a liquid waste problem
outside the scope of MSW (Zerbock,
2003).These arewaste materials that
contain less than 70% water.
Example of this type of waste
arethedomestic or household garbage,
some industrial wastes, some mining
wastes, and oilfieldwastes such as drill
cuttings.
. Liquid WasteThese are usually
wastewaters that contain less than 1%.
This type of waste
mayc o n t a i n h i g h c o n c e n t r a t i o n
of dissolved salts and metals.

2. L i q u i d w a s t e s a r e o f t e n classifie
d into two broad types: sewage and
toxic wastes. Generally, there are
varioust y p e s o f l i q u i d w a s t e g e n
erated in urban centers: human
e x c r e t a , d o m e s t i c s w a s t e s produ
ced in households, hospital wastes,
industrial effluents, agricultural
liquid wastesa n d n u c l e a r w a s t e s .
When improperly handled and
disposed of, liquid wastes pose
aserious threat to human health
and the environment because of
t h e i r a b i l i t y t o e n t e r watersheds,
pollute ground water and drinking water
(US EPA, 2009).
3. Sludge
It is a class of waste between liquid
and solid. They usually contain
between 3%and 25% solid, while the
rest of the material is dissolved water.4.
Hazardous WasteHazardous wastes
are wastes which, by themselves or
after coming into
contactw i t h o t h e r w a s t e s , h a v
e characteristics, such as ch
emical reactivity, toxicity,c
orrosiveness or a tendency t
o explode, that pose a risk t
o human health or theenviro
nment. Hazardous wastes are
generated from a wide range
o f i n d u s t r i a l , commercial,
agricultural, and to a much less
extent, domestic activities. They
may takethe form of solids, liquids or
sludges, and can pose both acute and
chronic public healthand environmental
risks.
III.
Waste Management
A.Waste Management in Developed
Countriesb r o u g h t b a s i c a l l y b y
their more developed industr
ies and more advancedt e c h n
ology, developed nations
have more efficient and st
a n d a r d l i q u i d w a s t e manageme
nt plans.Developed countries,
however, still employ different
methods of waste disposal(which
largely depends on a country‟s
policies and preferences). The large
amount of solid waste (including its
collection, transfer and disposal)
generated in developed nationshas
been generally assumed
by municipal governments. The
format varies, however, inmost
urban areas, where garbage is
collected either by a government
agency or
privatec o n t r a c t o r , a n d t h i s c o
nstitutes a basic and expecte
d government function in the
developed world. (Zerbock,
2003)1 . S o l i d W a s t e
M a n a g e m e n t A ) L a n d f i l l The
placement of solid waste in land
fills is probably the
o l d e s t a n d definitely the most
prevalent form of ultimate garbage
disposal (Zerbock,2003). It is to be
noted, however, that most landfills refer
to nothing more thanopen dumps.
Nonetheless, in the case of
developed countries, waste
disposali s o f t e n i n t h e f o r m o f
sanitary landfills
, which differ from open dumps
bytheir higher degree of engineering,
planning and
administration.L a n d f i l l s a c c o u n t
for the disposal of 90%

3. o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ‟ s o l i d wastes
. It is also the most common
disposal method in the United
Kingdomwhere annually,
approximately 111 million tones of
controlled wastes aredisposed in their
4000 landfill sites (Baker, 2005).In a
modern landfill, refuse is spread thin,
compacted layers covered by alayer of
clean earth. Pollution of surface water
and groundwater is minimized
by lining and contouring the
fill, compacting and planting
t h e u p p e r m o s t cover layer, diverting
drainage, and selecting proper soil in
sites not subject toflooding or high
groundwater levels. The best soil for a
landfill is clay becausec l a y i s l e s s
p e r m e a b l e t h a n o t h e r t yp e s o f
soil. Materials disposed of in
a landfill can be further secured
from leakage by solidifying them in
materialss u c h a s c e m e n t , f l y a s h
from power plants, asphalt, or
o r g a n i c p o l ym e r s (Bassis,
2005)Landfills can also be shifted to
another use after their capacities have
beenreached. The city of Evanston,
Illinois, built a landfill up into a
hill and thenow-complete “Mt.
Trashmore” is a ski area. Golf courses
built over landfillsites are also
increasingly common (Montgomery,
2000).B ) R e c yc l i n g o r t h e
3R‟sA n o t h e r m e t h o d , w h i c h s
ets off before waste disposal
i s w a s t e reduction through
recycling or often coined as the 3
R‟s:
reuse, reduce, and recycle.
On the local or regional level, r
educing wastes is accomplishedt
hrough these methods by source
separation and subsequent material
recovery.Currently, the United States
recycles about 10% of its glass and
25%of its paper wastes; in countries
such as Switzerland and the Netherlands,
the proportion in the glass recycled
approaches to 50% while Japan recycles
50%of its paper wastes (Montgomery,
2000).C ) I n c i n e r a t i o n
Some countries, on the other hand,
manage most of their solid waste through
incinerators
.
Incineration, or the controlled burning of
waste at high temperaturesto produce
steam and ash, is another waste
disposal option and an alternative
tol a n d f i l l i n g ( U S E n v i r o n m e n t a l
Protection Agency, 2009). Inci
n e r a t o r s a r e designed for the
destruction of wastes and are commonly
employed in developednations who
could afford the costs of the burning
facilities, plus its operation
andmaintenance (McCracken,
2005).T h i s t yp e o f w a s t e d i s p o s a l
is the second largest disposal
m e t h o d i n m o s t developed countries
and ranks next to landfills in the United
States and the UnitedKingdom. In the
UK, approximately 5% of household
waste, 75 % of commercialw a s t e a n d
2% of industrial waste is
disposed of through this method
( B a k e r , 2005)I n s p i t e o f i t s h u g
e capital requirements, incin
e r a t i o n p r e s e n t s t o b e a prom
ising option for developed islan
d nations whose small land area
makesl a n d f i l l i n g a n u n s u i t a b
le method for their waste dis
p o s a l . R e d u c t i o n b y incineration,
along with sanitary disposal of the

4. residue, has been proven useful
innations such as Bermuda and the
British Virgin Islands (Lettsome
1998 as cited by Zerbock 2003). A
further benefit of incineration can
be realized if the
heatg e n e r a t e d t h e r e b y i s r e c o
vered. For years, European c
i t i e s h a v e g e n e r a t e d electricity
using waste-disposal
incinerators as sources of heat (Mon
tgomery,2000).There are negative
issues, however, in the use of this
burning method andmuch of that
circulate around its safety for the
environment and to the
humanhealth. It is argued that the
combustion process creates air
pollution, ash, and
waste water, all of which must be
properly managed using technical
monitoring,containment,
and treatment systems. Harmful
pollutants are released
into theenvironment whenever these
by-products are not controlled (US
EPA, 2009).Operators of these
facilities must be well-trained and
certified to ensure
proper management.1 . L i q u i d
Waste
ManagementA)Management P
l a n s Management of liquid waste in
developed nations often follows
rigoroussteps and phases
which commonly involves treatment
processes.
In BritishC o l u m b i a , m u n i c i p a l i
ties are allowed to develop t
h e i r L i q u i d W a s t e Management
Plans. The country adopts a
proactive strategy that intends
toachieve their Ministry of
Environment‟s long-term goal of
achieving zero pollution. Part of that
strategy includes: pollution prevention,
Best AvailableControl Technology
(BACT) and the principle of
polluter pay. This
strategyr e p r e s e n t s a m a j o r c
hange in the traditional re
g u l a t o r y a p p r o a c h t o enviro
nmental protection, which attem
pted to deal with pollution after
ito c c u r r e d . T h e f u t u r e e m p h
asis will be on pollution pre
vention and oni n v o l v i n g a l l
stakeholders in an open a
nd consultative approach t
o environmental protection (Environ
mental Protection Division, Ministr
y of Environment, Government of
British Columbia,
2009).B ) W a s t e w a t e r
TreatmentT h e s t r a t e g y e m p l o
yed by the government of Br
i t i s h C o l u m b i a combines a
number of processes and
programs to achieve zero
pollution.
However, when it comes to liquid
waste management, the simplest
approachis to control the quality of
wastewater at its point of treatment and
discharge.This places regulation and
control at the institutional level as
treatment isnormally conducted by a
public agency. The quality of the
discharge can then be regulated to fit the
type of use. This alternative assumes that
the treatmentsystem is well managed
and maintained and produces a
reliable quality of effluent. This
approach is utilized in the United
States, Canada, and
Europea n d i n m a n y c a s e s r e q u

5. ires an advanced level of tre
a t m e n t t e c h n o l o g y (Zerbock,
2003).C ) I n j e c t i o n w e l l s In the
USA, industrial wastes that are primarily
liquid are usually disposedof in
injection wells. Injection wells
receiving aqueous wastes can be
placedin highly permeable,
underground geological formations.
These formationsare well below
1000 m underground, which is
lower than the depth of mostaquifers
used as sources of drinking water. Before
injection, liquid wastes
aref i l t e r e d t o r e m o v e s u s p e n d
ed solids and skimmed for p
h a s e d o r g a n i c compounds. Filtration
prevents the plugging of the injection
formation. If thewaste is reactive, it is
converted to less reactive compounds
before injection.1 . H a z a r d o u s
W a s t e M a n a g e m e n t Much of the
concern of many countries regarding
their waste managementcirculates around
the disposal of hazardous wastes. Due to
their toxicity and
larget h r e a t t o h u m a n a n d e n v i r
onment health, this type of
w a s t e r e q u i r e s m o r e stringent and
sophisticated methods of disposal.
Basically, the United States‟s federal
regulations classify their waste
intot w o t y p e s : h a z a r d o u s a n d
solid. In 1976, congress ado
pted the ResourceConservati
on and Recovery Act, the pri
mary national law for addres
s i n g production waste (waste generated
in the course of ongoing activity or
business).I n s u c h a c t , t h e t e r m
„solid‟ does not necessarily
refer to a waste‟s
p h ys i c a l p r o p e r t y a n d t h u s t h e
waste can also be a liquid or a
contained gas
( N a t i o n a l Society of Professional
Engineers, USA, 2009). The RCRA
provides a stringentclassification of
hazardous wastes and the necessary
treatment that such
wastess h o u l d u n d e r g o . U n d e r t h e
law, a „comprehensive national
“cradle-tograve” program for regulating t
he generation, transportation, tr
e a t m e n t , s t o r a g e a n d disposal
of hazardous wastes
is established. Such program
includes a system for tracking the
wastes‟ point sources and point of
disposal, and a permitting
systemt o c o n t r o l t h e o p e r a t i o n
of treatment, storage and di
s p o s a l f a c i l i t i e s ( U S Environme
ntal Protection Agency).
A.
Waste Management in Developing
CountriesAlthough largely limited in
terms of budget and technology as
compared to
thed e v e l o p e d n a t i o n s , d e v e l o p i n
g countries also take their share
i n i m p l e m e n t i n g w a s t e manageme
nt policies.1 . S o l i d W a s t e
M a n a g e m e n t In developing
countries, it is common for
municipalities to spend 20-50 percent of
their available recurrent budget on solid
waste management.Yet, it is also
common that 30-60 percent of all
the urban solid waste
ind e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s i s u n c
ollected and less than 50 per
cent of the

6. population is served. In som
e cases, as much as 80 perce
n t o f t h e collection and transport
equipment is out of service, in need
of repair
or m a i n t e n a n c e . I n m o s t d e v e l o p
ing countries, open dumping wit
h o p e n burning is the norm (The World
Bank,
2009).A ) O p e n D u m p s D u m p s
are long-established method of
w a s t e d i s p o s a l i n m a n y countries.
Although this method have been
largely phased-out in
mostdeveloped countries and
replaced by sanitary landfills, many
developingnations still rely on this form
of disposal. Open dumps are not much to
beendorsed though. They are
unsightly, unsanitary and generally
smelly,they attract rats, insects and
other pests; they are also fire
hazards.Still, behind these negative
aspects, open dumps continue to
be prevalent in countries like India,
the Philippines and Indonesia.
B)
Landfill is also a common
method of solid waste disposal i
n m o s t developing countries, although
many of them harbors open
dumps.C ) R e c y c l i n g I n m a n y
developing countries and
countries with economies
i n transition there are two types of
recycling sectors, a formal sector
andinformal sector. Formal recyclin
g sector, using efficient
technologiesand state-of-the-art
recycling facilities are rare. As a result,
recyclablematerials are managed through
various informal sectors with lowendm a n a g e m e n t a l t e r n a t i v e s s u c
h a s m a n u a l s e p a r a t i o n o f r e c yc l
ablecomponents, burning of som
e components in open
pits to recover
precious metals, and dumping of
residues into surface water
bodies.T h i s i n f o r m a l s e c t o r
o f t h e e c o n o m y e m p l o ys t h o u s a
n d s o f p o o r people who are not
aware of the hazard of exposure or
hazards thatexist in some recyclable
materials (Basel Convention Report
Paper,2009).1 . L i q u i d
W a s t e M a n a g e m e n t In spite of
the continuing efforts of many
developing nations tocope with
the standards of the developed
nations, finance and
technology p l u s p o l i c i e s s t i l l p
ut limit to what they have ge
n e r a l l y a c h i e v e d . According to
the World Resources Institute, it
has been estimated thatover 90% of
the sewage in developing countries is
discharged into surfacewaters with no
treatment conducted. In India, with its
3,100plus cities andtowns, only 209 have
even partial sewage treatment
(Montgomery, 2000).2 . H a z a r d o u s
W a s t e M a n a g e m e n t In many
countries, current emphasis is more
on preventing andminimizing the
production of hazardous wastes by
adopting the „pollution prevention
hierarchy‟.T h e r e a r e s e v e r a l p r o b l
ems that could be associated wit
h p o o r disposal techniques and
management. One of these problems
could be
thef a c t t h a t m a n y d e v e l o p i n g c o
untries and countries with econ
omies intransition do not have

7. the expertise to manage
hazardous wastes in
ane n v i r o n m e n t a l l y s o u n d m a
nner, and most may not empl
o y p r o p e r technologies. Furthermore,
many of these countries may not have a
systema n d i n f r a s t r u c t u r e t o e n s u r
e that hazardous wastes
a r e m a n a g e d i n a manner which
will protect human health and the
environment against thea d v e r s e
effects which may result from
such wastes. The
g o v e r n m e n t s often lack
information about how much and
what types of pollutants
arereleased, and what risk they pose
to people and the environment
(BaselConvention Paper,
2009).A.Waste Management:
The Philippine
Setting1 . P h i l i p p i n e
S o l i d W a s t e M a n a g e m e n t In
our country, solid waste
management is embodied in RA
9003 or theEcological Solid Waste
Management Act of 2000. This law
provides “the legalframework
for the country‟s
systematic, comprehensive and ecol
ogical solidwaste management program
that shall ensure protection of public
health and theenvironment”
(Environmental Management BureauDENR, 2009).2. Philippine Liquid Waste
ManagementI n t h e P h i l i p p i n e s e t t i
ng, disposal of wastewater is tu
r n i n g t o b e a n enormous challenge.
This is the concern of NEDA Board
Resolution No. 5, serieso f 1 9 9 4
which stated the national policf
orurban sewerage and sanitation
( M a g t i b a y, 2 0 0 6 ) . T h e m a n a g e m
ent of liquid wastes requires a c
o o r d i n a t e d system of policies
which covers requisites on
drainage, sewers, and
wastewater treatment facilities. It is
also a complex issue as it traverses
across various sectors:domestic,
industrial, agricultural,
etc.Unfortunately, with the current
situation of the country, with
its politicalclashes and poverty
situation, liquid waste management had
largely been centeredonly in the private
sectors (Contreras, 2005). Treatments are
largely carried out byindustrial groups.
Effective domestic liquid waste
management occurs mostly in private
households.I n t h i s a r e a , p o l i c i e s o
nce again govern the
a c t i o n s o f t h e c o n c e r n e d agencies
. The treatment and discharge of
commercial wastewater (liquid
wastegenerated by trading or
business establishment and or any
other related firms
or c o m p a n i e s ) i s r e g u l a t e d a n d
monitored through the provision
s o f t h e D E N R Administrative
Order No. 2002-16 or the DENREMB National EnvironmentalUser‟s
Fee of 2002, which authors the
DENR Wastewater Discharge
PermittingSystem.2 . P h i l i p p i n e
Hazardous Waste
ManagementB e f o r e t h e e n a c t
ment of the Clean Air Act (w
h i c h i n c l u d e d i n i t s provisions
the banning of incinerators in the
country), hazardous wastes such
asmedical and laboratory wastes are
subjected to burning processes.

8. Some of thewastes are also
recycled. In 2003, hazardous waste
management shifted to landfills and
open dumping as an answer to the
banning of burning. In a case
studyconducted in hospitals in the
Cagayan Valley Region, Northern
Luzon, the mostcommon method of
hazardous waste disposal in the area
is through dumping.Results indicated
that proper waste management is not
fully implemented due to budget
constraint (Bernardo, 2008).
A.
Threats and Impacts of Improper Waste
ManagementW i t h t h e i n c r e a s e o f
population comes too the
increase in consumption,
a n d consequently, in the amount of
wastes we generate. Through time,
problems resultingfrom improper and
irresponsible management of our wastes
have arisen and continuet o d o s o .
H u m a n a n d e c o s ys t e m h e a l t h
can be adversely affected by all
forms of w a s t e , f r o m i t s g e n e
ration to its disposal. Over t
h e y e a r s , w a s t e s a n d w a s t e ma
nagement responses such as policies,
legal, financial, and institutional
instruments;cradle-to-cradle or cradle-tograve technological options; and sociocultural practiceshave impacted on
ecosystem health and human wellbeing.Examples are evident in all
countries.A popular example of how
improper waste management and lack of
coordinationi n p o l i c i e s c a n b r i n g
huge environmental and human
impacts is the “Love
C a n a l Incident”. The Love Canal is
an area situated at Niagara Falls,
New York. In 1953, t h e H o o k e r
Chemical Company, then the
owners and operators of the
p r o p e r t y, covered the canal with
earth and sold it to the city for one
dollar.
In the late '50s, about 100 homes
and a school were built at the
site. Twenty five years after the
Hooker Chemical Company stopped
using the Love Canal as
an industrial dump,
82d i f f e r e n t c o m p o u n d s , 1 1 o f t h
em suspected carcinogens, have
b e e n p e r c o l a t i n g upward through the
soil, their drum containers rotting and
leaching their contents into the
backyards and basements of 100 homes
and a public school built on the banks
of the canal. What followed
was a catastrophe that
caused several deaths, birth defect
sand abnormalities, lawsuits and
ultimately, the evacuation of the
residents. Locally, here in the
Philippines, the 2001 Smoky Mountain
tragedy in the PayatasDumpsite is a
constant reminder of how disastrous the
country‟s waste management has been
regarding the case of that open dumpsite.
The collapse of that “mountain of trash”
due to the severe rainfall had claimed the
lives of many people, both young
andold.Aside from such disaster
caused by the irresponsible
management of a former dumping
site, wastewater discharges, as
shown by studies, can also bring
harmfulimpacts to coastal areas and
other bodies of water.In Fiji Island,
for example, it has been concluded

9. that the disposal of untreatedhuman
and domestic waste has been the
major contributor to the degradation
of theisland‟s marine environment.
Development to the island had brought a
shift in speciesdominance from hard
coral to macro-algae (Mosley and
Aalbersberg, 2005 as cited inthe 2005
WHO Liquid Waste Monitoring
Project).There is also no need to
mention the numerous incidences of
mine tail depositsand radioactive
discharges in many rivers, lakes and
shores that have undoubtedlycaused
detrimental effects to marine and
even human life.The list goes on and on.
VII. Initiatives for Liquid Waste Management
Waste management practices and
policies over the last three decade
have resulted
in p o s i t i v e r e s p o n s e s i n t e r m s o f
i m p r o v e m e n t o f e c o s ys t e m s . S o
m e p o s i t i v e i m p a c t s o f t h e respons
es identified are: (Information lifted from
Sridhar and Baker, 2004)
• Waste recycling activities have
been found to result in improved
resource conservation andreduced
energy consumption as well as reduction
of heavy metal contamination of water
sources.• In the Baltic Sea, the
mercury levels of fish caught were
reduced by 60% due to
stringent pollution control
measures.• M a j o r r i v e r s s u c h a s
the Thames have supported
biodiversity, as is evident fr
o m t h e reappearance of salmon
after rigorous pollution control
measures. The ten-year „„clean
river‟‟ program initiated by the
Singapore government in 1977 at a cost
of US $200 million has broughtlife back
to the Singapore River and the Kallang
Basin, with increased dissolved oxygen
levelsranging from 2 to 4 mg per liter
(UNEP 1997).• Phasing out of lead
from gasoline has reduced lead
emissions from vehicular sources.•
Wetlands have been widely reported to
absorb significant amounts of
anthropogenic pollutants.• F e r t i irrigation practices have signifi
cantly improved the economic b
a s e o f l o w - i n c o m e communities in
urban areas. In the tropical countries in
particular, controlled and judicious use
of aquatic weeds such as water hyacinth
(water hyacinth treatment plant for
wastewater) and blue andgreen algae
(waste stabilization ponds) for treating
small wastewater flows helped in
improvingenvironmental sanitation and
the by-products provided protein and
mineral needs of livestock.