Waste disposal has always been one of the major issues of human beings. People never find permanent solutions to get rid of their waste. Waste incineration is one of the methods that is used in our society, country and the world on the whole to decrease the amount of waste produced.  And yes waste burning does decrease the amount of waste to a large extent but have we humans ever seen it the other way round.

Incineration of waste according to me is the act of collecting garbage that includes plastics, food scraps, metals, papers, etc. and converting it into ash, bottom ash or fly ash by burning it ignoring its side effects. Waste incinerating in context of a few countries can be applicable as they use incinerators that control pollution to some extent but in context of Nepal waste burning is totally unsuitable as waste is burnt placing it in a tin barrel. We don?t even have proper container for burning waste so the dangers that we will face will be comparatively be more critical than the other countries.

 Incinerating waste decreases the amount of waste to a large extent and there is no need to worry for space for land filing. Another major advantage of incinerating waste is the energy that is released by burning can be used to light up houses and factories. Also the ash that is obtained after burning the garbage can be used by construction companies. Incineration of waste also solves the problem of leachate that is produced by land filling. Incineration along with having a few advantages has a long list of disadvantages.

Waste incineration on the first place produces a large amount of smoke that includes gases like carbon dioxide, dioxins, furans, carbon monoxide, halogenated hydrocarbons, ash, cadmium, chromium, barium, lead, sulfur dioxide, arsenic, mercury, etc. It also emits acid vapors and carcinogenic tars. Ash that is produced can cause irritation in the eye and throat and disrupt our visibility. It can also impair our lungs and cause diseases like bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer, asthma and certain allergies.

Burning of waste leads to emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), Nitrous oxide (N₂O), water vapour, etc. which causes global warming. The highly responsible gas is carbon dioxide .It is quite surprising that the emission of carbon dioxide from vehicles and power plants just adds about 5 percent to the global carbon dioxide emission. But the carbon dioxide that is radiated from trash burning occupies a larger portion in the global CO₂ emission. It is estimated that 40 to 50% of garbage that is burnt is made up of carbon by mass so it?s obvious that burning garbage will lead to uncontrolled emission of carbon dioxide in our surrounding which is a supporter of global warming. After the Industrial Revolution, the amount of CO₂ in our environment has been rising every minute due to which global warming is increasing which leads to the melting of ice caps and Polar Regions, drastic change in climate, intense hurricane and cyclone in coastal areas.

Here comes another reason why we shouldn't burn waste. While burning garbage huge quantity of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides are released (NO_X). These gases reach the atmosphere react with oxygen, water and other chemicals to emit acidic compounds and fall on the earth as acid rain. Acid rain is completely ill-suited in Nepal because Nepal has plentiful heritages and this acid rain can totally disfigure our heritages. It makes the architectural buildings look grotesque and unalluring.  

Burning of leaves also oozes toxic gases including carbon monoxide and benzo(a) pyrene. Carbon monoxide binds with the haemoglobin in our blood and diminishes the amount of oxygen in our blood and heart. It can be fatal to young children and people having respiratory problems. Benzo(a)pyrene causes cancer in animals and is considered to be one of the major factors in lung cancer caused by smoking cigarette.

Backyard burning that we people do in our homes are seriously fatal. Incinerating polystyrene polymers like egg container, yogurt, meat tray, foam cups, etc. releases styrene. Styrene can be easily absorbed by our skin and lungs. Styrene can disturb our eyes and mucous membrane. Long term exposure to styrene vapour can affect the central nervous system. It also leads to weakness, fatigue, headache and depression. By burning garbage in the backyard of our houses we are risking our lives as well as our neighbours? lives.

Burning of waste also includes burning of plastics bags, container and films. Burning of any sort of plastic discharges toxic and cancer causing chemicals into air which is certain to be inhaled by humans and animals. The residue that is obtained by burning the plastics can be deposited in the soil and can also be absorbed by underground water which can penetrate in human life through crops and livestock. Certain chemicals that are released during plastic incineration can compile in the fats of animal and can later rack up in humans during consumption of meat, fish and dairy products. Burning of plastics also lets off benzo(a)pyrene (BAP) and polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) which leads to cancer. If a plastic is burnt with other substances, then additional toxic chemicals may be released due the interaction between the plastic and other chemicals. This can be really hazardous to the human society as well as our mother earth. In addition to this the unburned fragment of plastic may become trash on the ground. As it is non degradable, animals may eat the portions of unburned plastic and become sick. Also large pieces of plastic may serve as breeding places for insects like mosquitoes by trapping water.

We people are very well aware of the consequences of burning waste and in spite of knowing its effects in our environment we burn our wastes. It seriously ruins our health and talking about our environment it totally degrades and deteriorates the resources that are present in our mother earth. But being a concerned citizen and the lover of nature I cannot see my mother earth being exploited and misused. So what can we do what can we youths do? This comes as a big question. We youths play key role in alleviating the effects of waste incineration. We?re youths and we rule the country. When we rule the country it becomes our responsibility to protect the resources for the present generation as well as the forthcoming generations.

We youths should firstly create awareness between other youths of our country and work as a team in reducing the effects of waste burning. Each youth should start from his/her society. They should educate and aware all the members of the society about the consequences of burning waste. Then youths should educate every family in the society about the ways to segregate our garbage. First of all recyclable products like plastic bags, bottles, etc. should be reused. Then the biodegradable products like leftovers of tea, leftover foods, vegetable peel, should be converted into compost fertilizer and can be used in the kitchen garden or flower pots.

 After educating the society and the families the youths should start putting pressure on the government to adopt no-burn/ no-bury resolution that has already been adopted by 31 countries so far. The government has always been asleep and it will continue to sleep unless we youths the nation builders wake them up. We should enlighten government by giving them ideas about adopting system of giving garbage burning license. Only few people should get garbage burning license from the government. Government should implement strict rules regarding waste burning and the one who negates the rules should be strictly punished. The government should find alternatives to dispose off the waste produced and if burning is the only option left then the government should burn the waste in authorized plant, incinerators or boilers from which sufficient energy can be obtained. The government should always promote the use of alternative source of energy as burning of fossil fuels discharges gases which are dangerous for our earth.

While shopping for goods we must always carry our own cloth bag which can be easily reused. Shopkeepers should use paper bags to give goods. As far as possible re-use and re-cycle materials should be kept in our house. Also we should send waste for recovery than for disposal.

 These are just the seeds and the seeds must be sown in order to relish the harvest. My meaning to say is these are just the plans and the plans must be executed effectively in order to enjoy fruits of development. If one youth is filled with so many views and opinions we can imagine how many brilliant ideas can we compile from youths all over the country. I would just like to conclude myself by saying nothing is impossible and if we work together we can definitely find an alternative to waste burning.