What+is+solid+waste

Solid waste, also known as litter, is the trash that people abandon in their environment. Trash is left behind on land by average citizens, but it is also illegally dumped into the ocean by fishermen. Litter includes everyday household items including tin cans, Styrofoam, plastic, cardboard, batteries, and paint. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, US residents produced over 490 million pounds of trash in 2005—that’s 4.5 pounds of trash per person every day. As populations increase, the amount of trash rises with it.
 * What is Solid Waste?**

Solid waste is divided into three categories:


 * 1.** Household trash is called **municipal waste**. It is mainly generated by residential and commercial complexes. The change in design of containers to tin, plastic, and Styrofoam, for example, has created more hazardous litter.


 * 2.** Industrial trash is called **hazardous waste** because it may contain toxic materials. Hospital and household trash can also be considered hazardous to humans, animals, and/or plants. Usually, they are highly flammable and chemically react when they are exposed to certain substances. Paint tins, medicine, batteries, and shoe polish are examples of hazardous household waste. Metal, chemicals, paper, pesticides, dye, refining, and rubber are all hazardous industrial waste. Sometimes, the chemicals in hazardous waste can be fatal.


 * 3.** Medical and hospital trash is called **infectious waste**. It includes products and equipment used in the medical field on humans and animals. Syringes and bandages are common waste products that are harmful to people and the environment when they are improperly thrown away.

http://edugreen.teri.res.in/EXPLORE/solwaste/types.htm (edited by Caitlin)
 * Litter Degeneration**
 * **Type of Litter** || **Degeneration Time** ||
 * Organic Waste such as fruit and vegetable peels || 1-2 weeks ||
 * Paper || 10-30 days ||
 * Cotton cloth || 2-5 months ||
 * Wood || 10-15 years ||
 * Woolen items || 1 year ||
 * Tin, aluminum, and other metal objects || 100-500 years ||
 * Plastic bags || 1 million years? ||
 * Glass bottles || undetermined ||
 * The chart above shows the time it takes for different materials to** **degenerate. Some materials take such a long time that we have** **not been able to determine how long it takes them to degenerate yet.**

Solid Waste