Environmental costs Inappropriately managed waste can attract
rodents and
insects, which can harbor gastrointestinal parasites,
yellow fever, worms, various diseases, and other conditions for humans, and exposure to hazardous wastes, particularly when they are burned, can cause various other diseases including cancers.
Toxic waste materials can contaminate surface water, groundwater, soil, and air, which causes more problems for humans, other species, and
ecosystems. A form of waste disposal involving
combustion creates a significant amount of
greenhouse gases. When the burned waste contains metals, it can create
toxic gases. On the other hand, when the waste contains plastics, the gases produce contain
CO2. As global warming and CO2 emissions increase, soil begins to become a larger
carbon sink and will become increasingly valuable for plant life.
Social costs Waste management is a significant
environmental justice issue. Many of the environmental burdens cited above are more often borne by marginalized groups, such as racial minorities, women, and residents of developing nations.
NIMBY (not in my back yard) is the opposition of residents to a proposal for a new development because it is close to them. However, the need for expansion and siting of waste treatment and disposal facilities is increasing worldwide. There is now a growing market in the transboundary movement of waste, and although most waste that flows between countries goes between developed nations, a significant amount of waste is moved from developed to developing nations.
Economic costs The economic costs of managing waste are high, and are often paid for by
municipal governments; money can often be saved with more efficiently designed collection routes, modifying vehicles, and with public education. Environmental policies such as
pay as you throw can reduce the cost of management and reduce waste quantities. Waste recovery (that is,
recycling,
reuse) can curb economic costs because it avoids extracting raw materials and often cuts transportation costs. "Economic assessment of municipal waste management systems – case studies using a combination of
life-cycle assessment (LCA) and
life-cycle costing (LCC)". The location of waste treatment and disposal facilities often reduces property values due to noise, dust, pollution, unsightliness, and negative stigma. The informal waste sector consists mostly of
waste pickers who scavenge for metals, glass, plastic, textiles, and other materials and then trade them for a profit. This sector can significantly alter or reduce waste in a particular system, but other negative economic effects come with the disease, poverty, exploitation, and abuse of its workers.
Affecting communities People in developing countries suffer from
contaminated water and landfills caused by unlawful government policies that allow
first-world countries and companies to transport their trash to their homes and oftentimes near bodies of water. Those same governments do not use any
waste trade profits to create ways to manage landfills or clean water sources. Photographer Kevin McElvaney documents the world's biggest e-waste dump called
Agbogbloshie in
Accra, Ghana, which used to be a
wetland. The young men and children that work in Agbogbloshie smash devices to get to the metals, obtain burns, eye damage, lung and back problems, chronic nausea, debilitating headaches, and respiratory problems and most workers die from
cancer in their 20s (McElvaney). In McElvaney's photos, kids in fields burning refrigerators and computers with blackened hands and trashed clothes and animals, such as cows with open wounds, in the dumpsite. There are piles of waste used as makeshift bridges over lakes, with metals and chemicals just seeping into the water and
groundwater that could be linked to homes' water systems. The same unfortunate situation and dumps/landfills can be seen in similar countries that are considered the third world, such as other West African countries and
China. Many are advocating for waste management, a stop to the waste trade, the creation of wastewater treatment facilities, and providing a clean and accessible water source. The health of all these people in landfills and water are human necessities/rights that are being taken away. == Management ==