Environmental Hazards Associated with the Disposal of Municipal Solid Waste

Increasing urbanization, industrialization, and population growth result in increasing amounts of municipal solid waste (MSW), which proved to be one of the major threats to the environment and public health. This type of waste mainly comprises plastics, metals, organics, electronic waste, etc. As MSW contains various components such as microplastics, heavy metals, inorganic salts, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), it is regarded as a mixed source of various contaminants. The mismanagement of these wastes subsequently causes increased pollution around an area, degrading air, water, and land. The heavy metals that accumulate in the ecosystem, which endanger humans and biota, are lead, cadmium, and mercury. These are often derived from industrial and electronic waste. Such nutrients above cause eutrophication and disrupt ecosystems with plastics and microplastic carriers of pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes. MSW is well known for having VOCs and POPs about air pollution and public health, bioaccumulating along food chains. It is crucial to sink waste and to rehabilitate waste management. Recent approaches like recycling, energy recovery, and circular economy models emphasize cutting waste, recovering resources, and pollution prevention. Waste can also be tackled with energy production by incineration and anaerobic digestion methods. The ideals of sustainable development, which are concerned with environmental integrity, health risk reduction, and responsible consumption of resources, cohere with international efforts to shift sustainable practice. This synthesis stresses the urgent need for integrated approaches in the regulation-technical innovation-community combination to address the multifaceted challenges of municipal solid waste management and the welfare of people and the environment.