Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guide of Chapter 11 Classification and Sources of Waste, NBSE Class 9 Environmental Education textbook, which is part of the syllabus of students studying under Nagaland Board. These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
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Summary
Waste is something that people do not need anymore and throw away. It has always been part of nature. In nature, waste from one organism becomes food for another. But today, humans produce too much waste. This creates problems because nature cannot handle it all. An average person makes 300 to 500 kg of waste each year. Urban areas produce more waste than rural ones. Waste can be solid, liquid, or gaseous. Examples include garbage, sewage, and smoke.
Waste is classified into different types. Biodegradable waste breaks down in the soil. Microorganisms like bacteria help decompose it. Examples are fruit peels, leaves, and paper. These are divided into simple and complex biodegradable wastes. Simple biodegradable waste decomposes quickly. Complex biodegradable waste takes longer and can harm the environment. Non-biodegradable waste does not break down easily. Examples are plastics, metals, and glass. Some non-biodegradable waste can be recycled, but it is difficult to manage.
Biomedical waste comes from hospitals and clinics. It includes sharp tools, soiled dressings, and expired drugs. This waste is dangerous because it can spread diseases. Toxic waste harms living beings. It comes from industries, homes, and farms. Examples are pesticides, batteries, and chemicals. Non-toxic waste is less harmful. It includes paper, vegetable peels, and clothes. E-waste comes from discarded electronics like phones and computers. It is a big problem because it is hard to recycle.
Waste comes from many sources. Domestic waste is from homes. It includes kitchen waste, insecticides, and plastic items. Industrial waste is very harmful. Mining, factories, and refineries create it. Solid industrial waste includes mining debris. Liquid waste comes from tanneries and distilleries. Gaseous waste is from thermal plants and nuclear power plants. Agricultural waste comes from farming. It includes crop residue and animal waste. Pesticides and fertilizers also harm the land and water.
Commercial waste is from shops, restaurants, and construction sites. Hospitals and medical centers produce hazardous waste. Municipal waste includes garbage and sewage from homes and offices. Solid waste is dumped in landfills. Liquid waste is released into rivers or drains. Untreated waste pollutes the environment. Incineration is the process of burning waste in large furnaces. Recycling helps reduce waste. Composting turns organic waste into useful soil.
The chapter explains how waste affects life. It describes ways to handle waste better. People must think about reducing waste. They should reuse and recycle materials. Awareness about waste management is growing. Clean-up drives and educational campaigns help. Using recycled materials creatively inspires others. Reducing single-use plastic is encouraged. Students learn to minimize food waste through planning and composting. The text explains terms like herbicide, pesticide, and biodegradable. It gives examples to make learning easier.
Textbook solutions
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. Mining of uranium is risky because:
A. Methane gas is released during mining
B. Radon gas is released during mining
C. It is safe as no gas is released
D. Argon gas is released during mining
Answer: B. Radon gas is released during mining
2. The process of burning waste in large furnaces is called:
A. Incineration
B. Mining
C. Tailing
D. None of these
Answer: A. Incineration
3. On the basis of decomposition of waste, wastes are of ____ types.
A. 3
B. 2
C. 4
D. 1
Answer: B. 2
4. Wastes which cannot break down or decompose into soil are called:
A. Biodegradable
B. Non-biodegradable
C. Toxic wastes
D. None of these
Answer: B. Non-biodegradable
Very Short Answer Questions
1. What is tailing?
Answer : Tailing is the waste material generated after the extraction of mineral from the ore.
2. What are tanneries?
Answer : Tanneries are factories where leather is made from the skins of dead animals.
3. Which type of waste is generated from the agricultural activities?
Answer : Agricultural waste includes both natural (organic) and non-natural wastes. The main waste generated from agricultural activities includes crop residue or plant remains, straw and dust from threshing, and animal waste from dairy farming and poultry farming.
4. What is municipal waste?
Answer : Municipal waste refers to the waste generated from residential, commercial, and institutional sources within a community. It includes the solid and liquid waste generated by homes and offices.
5. What is incinerator?
Answer : An incinerator is a large furnace used for burning waste.
6. Define biodegradable waste.
Answer : Biodegradable waste refers to waste that breaks down and decomposes into soil.
Short Answer Questions
1. What is domestic waste? Give examples.
Answer : Domestic waste, also known as household waste, refers to the waste generated by households in their daily activities. Examples include paper, plastic goods, batteries, glass, packing materials such as cans, cartons, envelopes, fruit and vegetable peels, leftover food, insecticides, sharp-edged items like blades, knives, and scissors, cans of perfumes, batteries, human excreta, paint material, and ashes from using coal and wood as fuel.
2. What type of waste is released from the thermal plants?
Answer : Thermal plants release gaseous waste when coal is burnt, along with tons of ash left behind after burning, which is very fine and called fly ash.
3. What is alarming about the nuclear waste?
Answer : The alarming aspect of nuclear waste is that it remains radioactive for thousands of years and is capable of destroying life in the surrounding regions.
4. What type of biodegradable waste is generated from the kitchens?
Answer : The type of biodegradable waste generated from kitchens includes fruit and vegetable peels, leftover food, and other organic substances.
5. What are complex biodegradable wastes?
Answer : Complex biodegradable wastes are those materials that do not decompose easily and have resistance to breakdown, remaining in the environment for a long time and potentially proving harmful.
6. What are non-biodegradable wastes? Give examples.
Answer : Non-biodegradable wastes are materials that do not break down or decompose in the soil. Examples include plastic goods, polythene bags, synthetic clothes, metals, chemicals, and radioactive waste.
7. Why is styrofoam harmful to the environment?
Answer : Styrofoam is harmful to the environment because it requires petroleum to make, is not recyclable, and releases toxic chemicals like styrene, especially when heated.
8. What is biomedical waste? Give two examples.
Answer : Biomedical waste is contaminated with infectious agents and is bio-hazardous, capable of causing the spread of several diseases. Two examples are sharp-edged tools like knives, scissors, razors, needles, and anatomical parts, soiled dressings, expired drugs, and cotton.
9. Name the places that generate the biomedical waste.
Answer : The places that generate biomedical waste include hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and other medical institutions.
10. What is e-waste?
Answer : E-waste, or electronic waste, is generated from discarded electronic devices like computers, cellphones, televisions, etc.
Long Answer Questions
1. Describe the waste generated from the mining operations?
Answer : Waste generated from mining operations includes a significant amount of material produced during the extraction of mineral deposits. To reach underlying minerals, large quantities of topsoil and overlying rocks are removed, releasing dust into the atmosphere. Tailings, which are the waste materials left after extracting minerals from ore, are another form of waste generated. Mining uranium is particularly risky due to the release of radon gas during the process. Additionally, cement factories produce substantial waste, primarily in the form of dust and gases released into the atmosphere.
2. Explain the waste released from thermal plants?
Answer : Thermal plants release gaseous waste when coal is burnt, which includes smoke and other gases. A large amount of ash, often referred to as fly ash due to its fine nature, is left behind as waste after the burning of coal. This ash is a significant byproduct of thermal power generation.
3. Discuss the waste released from agricultural activities?
Answer : Agricultural waste refers to the byproducts or residue generated during agricultural activities, which include ploughing, sowing, harvesting, threshing, winnowing, poultry farming, and dairy farming. The agricultural wastes consist of both natural (organic) and non-natural wastes. After harvesting, the main waste generated is crop residue or plant remains. Threshing of food grains also produces a significant amount of waste, such as straw and dust, which severely affects asthma patients. Activities like dairy farming and poultry farming generate large amounts of animal waste. While agricultural waste is biodegradable and does not harm the environment significantly compared to industrial waste, the excessive use of fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals in agriculture can lead to land and water pollution. These chemicals can contaminate the soil and form harmful residues.
4. What are municipal wastes? Discuss their methods of disposal.
Answer : Municipal waste refers to the waste generated from residential, commercial, and institutional sources within a community. The municipal waste includes the solid and liquid waste generated by homes and offices. The solid waste is disposed of as garbage in containers, and liquid waste is released as sewage in pipelines or open drains.
The methods of disposal for municipal waste are: (i) Municipalities dispose of the solid and liquid waste in low-lying areas or water bodies. (ii) Solid waste is dumped in open dumps or landfills. Sometimes, the solid waste is disposed of in incinerators. (iii) The liquid waste or sewage is often released into nearby rivers or other water bodies or any low-lying area. (iv) Disposing of such untreated waste can pollute the environment and damage adjoining areas.
5. Differentiate between the biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes?
Answer : The differences between biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes are as follows:
- Biodegradable Waste :
(i) Biodegradable materials are those which degrade or break down in a natural manner.
(ii) The degradation process in biodegradable waste is rapid.
(iii) Biodegradable elements are organic substances.
(iv) Biodegradable waste is used to produce energy, manure, compost, and biogas.
(v) Biodegradable substances enter the biogeochemical cycles, which is eventually beneficial to the environment. - Non-Biodegradable Waste :
(i) Non-biodegradable substances are materials which do not degrade easily.
(ii) The degradation process in non-biodegradable waste is slow.
(iii) Most non-biodegradable materials are inorganic substances.
(iv) Non-biodegradable waste can be separated and recycled, but the process is very expensive.
(v) Non-biodegradable substances cannot become part of any biogeochemical cycles, making them toxic to the environment.
6. Describe the sources and difficulties in handling e-waste?
Answer : E-waste is generated from discarded electronic devices like computers, cellphones, televisions, etc. In many parts of the world, governments are not yet prepared to handle this type of waste. In most developing countries, the processing of e-waste causes serious health and pollution problems. E-waste is non-biodegradable, and most of this waste cannot be recycled either. Therefore, it is a source of worry all over the world.
The difficulties in handling e-waste include its non-biodegradable nature, the inability to recycle most of it, and the serious health and pollution problems caused by its processing in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries.
Extras
Additional questions and answers
1. Define waste?
Answer : Waste is a thing that is not required by the producer, processor, or owner. It is any material that is no longer needed by someone and is disposed of carelessly or thrown away.
40. Explain how pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture contribute to environmental degradation.
Answer : Pesticides are chemical substances used to kill or control pests, including insects, weeds, fungi, rodents, and other harmful organisms that damage crops or transmit diseases. Soil contamination occurs when pesticides persist and accumulate in soils, causing toxicity to soil organisms. Pesticides can also accumulate in animals that eat contaminated pests and soil organisms. Fertilizers, particularly those containing nitrogen, lead to increased runoff into surface water and leaching into groundwater due to their high water-solubility. This results in groundwater pollution. Excess use of fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals in agriculture generates waste that causes land and water pollution and contaminates the soil. Biopesticides, derived from natural materials like animals, plants, microorganisms, and certain minerals, are considered safer alternatives as they reduce overall agricultural pollution.
Additional MCQs
1. What is the most common non-biodegradable waste?
A. Metal
B. Plastic
C. Glass
D. Paper
Answer: B. Plastic
30. What alternative energy source for rural areas?
A. Solar panels
B. Animal dung
C. Crop residues
D. Wind turbines
Answer: B. Animal dung
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