02 Jan These are some shocking facts about the global waste problem and how to solve it

We dump 2.12 billion tonnes of waste every year on the planet. They would travel 24 times around the globe if all of this waste were put on trucks. There are many processes involved in waste disposal, including collection, transportation, recycling and sewage treatment.

Which waste is dumped

The oceans are where the waste is dumped.

• Construction waste
• Industries waste
• Household waste
• Plastic waste
• Electronic waste
• Radioactive waste
• Sewage
• Run-off (fertilizers and pesticides as well as oil from farms) can run off into groundwaters, rivers, or oceans.

Dumping waste has been a method to “solve” the huge problem of global waste. Or it will spiral out of control.

This is due to 99 percent of what we buy being thrown away within six months.

Europe produces a lot of waste.

Our consumption patterns and production habits are closely tied to how much waste we produce. Another challenge is the sheer volume of products that are on the market. Demographic changes such as an increase in one-person households can also impact the amount of waste that we produce (e.g. packaging goods in smaller units).

It is difficult to keep track of all the waste produced and whereabouts due to the wide range of waste types and complicated waste-treatment pathways (including illegal). Although data is not available for every type of waste, there are some.

How much waste are we generating?

The EU Data Centre on Waste compiles data on waste at European level. Data for 2010, which covers 29 European countries (i.e. According to data for 2010, 29 European countries (i.e. EU-28 and Norway), approximately 60 % of all waste was mineral waste and soil. This is a result of construction, demolition and mining. Each type of waste, including metal, paper, cardboard, chemical, medical, and animal and vegetal, accounted for 2 to 4 percent.

Around 10% of Europe’s total waste is made up of what’s known as “municipal waste”. This refers to waste that’s generated mainly by households and smaller businesses as well as public buildings like schools and hospitals.

The 33 European Environment Agency member countries produced 481 kilograms of municipal solid waste per person in 2012. The slight decline in the number of municipal solid waste generated per person in 33 member countries of the European Environment Agency (EEA) can partly be attributed to the 2008 economic crisis that ravaged Europe.

Various Waste Disposal Problems

Too much waste is one of the biggest problems in waste disposal. America alone produces approximately 220 million tonnes of waste each year. For example, in 2007, the United States produced nearly 260 million tons municipal solid waste. This amounts to approximately 2.1 kilograms per person every day. Let’s not forget that these figures are for America. Let’s imagine what the waste is like around the world.

The World Bank report states that the global average municipal solid waste (MSW), per person, is approximately 1.2kg. This figure is expected to increase to 1.5 kg by 2025. This means that all states and local authorities are faced with the problem of waste disposal because of the excessive amount of waste. Problem is that today’s society is driven by throwaway consumerism. Companies and producers are trying to maximize their profits by creating one-off products, without considering reuse, recycling, or the use environmentally friendly materials.

Waste Dumping: The Effects

There are consequences to simply throwing waste onto the Earth. These are the consequences of waste dumping or poor waste management:

• Pollution of soil: The soil can be polluted by waste and then into our food.
• Air pollution: When waste is burned at landfills, it releases toxic substances into the atmosphere.
• Ocean pollution: Each year, 13 million tonnes of plastic endanger the oceans. If we continue to dump plastic into the oceans, there will be more plastic in the sea by 2050 than fish.
• Groundwater pollution: Every year, 280 billion tonnes of groundwater are polluted. That’s 9000 tons per second.

Animal behavior is affected by trash piles.

Daily headlines were dominated by coverage of the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. It covered everything from announcements about climate change to protestors thronging the streets. The New York Times reported that the enormous trash problems in the Scottish city were due to the talks. But the story included one tiny detail: a higher number of rats, which reportedly attacked sanitation workers and sent them to hospital for treatment.

It’s true that all cities have rats, as Susan Aitken, the Glasgow city council leader stated in response to the attacks. However, this does not change the fact that more waste attracts more scavengers that may decide to take out their anger.

Some rodents, who used to live off a lot of city food waste, are now showing “abnormal behavior” as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. New York City’s restaurants were shut down, and food supplies cut off. Rats began to starve. Forbes reported that outdoor dining opened up new avenues for interaction with hungry rats. New Yorkers are not strangers to rats. NYC is home to 2 million rats, making it the third-largest US rat population. However, human waste has a history in influencing animal behavior.

Movement Ecology published a 2016 study that found white storks in Portugal have changed their migration patterns because of the abundance of food waste in landfills. In Argentina, increased fishing activity could have led to a 37% increase in gull population, which may have resulted in an increasing number of attacks on whales by gulls. Evidence of gull attacks against whales has increased from 2% in 1970s to 99% over the past 30 years.

How to solve the waste problem in Ireland and Dublin

Rubbish Taxi, a Dublin-based specialist in junk removal and collection, is your best choice. Get your garden waste removed, rubbish collected in Dublin, furniture removal, old sofa removal, mattress removal and regular waste collection on request.

Fully serviced vans will travel the city and receive orders. They will then make their way to your home for domestic trash disposal in Dublin. There is no hassle since we do all the lifting. We will responsibly dispose of your rubbish professionally and collect it all.