Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal, managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environmentor aesthetics. Waste management is a distinct practice from resource recovery which focuses on delaying the rate of consumption ofnatural resources. All wastes materials, whether they are solid, liquid, gaseous or radioactive fall within the remit of waste management
Waste management practices can differ for developed and developing nations, for urban and rural areas, and for residential and industrialproducers. Management for non-hazardous waste residential and institutional waste in metropolitan areas is usually the responsibility oflocal government authorities, while management for non-hazardous commercial and industrial waste is usually the responsibility of the generator subject to local, national or international controls.
Waste management is vital to the healthy functioning of a society. Throughout history, sanitation issues have been to blame for disease outbreaks and epidemics in most populated regions of the world. Improper waste management has negative affects on individual health, and similarly it also negatively impacts environmental health. Positive waste management systems, however, can prevent the negative impacts waste has on the environment. Recycling, or reusing materials that have already been used once, is an environmentally friendly way of utilizing waste. Using the gas that decomposing organic materials give off in landfills as a source of energy is another possible way for waste management to function in a green way.
Once a substance or object has become waste, it will remain waste until it has been fully recovered and no longer poses a potential threat to the environment or to human health.
From this point onwards, the waste ceases to be waste and there is no longer any reason for it to be subject to the controls and other measures required by the Directive.
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