How should you deal with your old refrigerator, empty perfume bottles, cans, and broken cell phones? This waste should never be thrown away. Hazardous home garbage is created when common hazardous objects and products are no longer functional or no longer required and, as a result, are carelessly discarded into nature. Although hazardous trash takes up a small percentage of household waste, it contaminates other waste when mixed with it, resulting in a substantial volume of hazardous waste. Thus, hazardous products must not be disposed of with other domestic waste.
There is no way that waste that stays in nature for a long time does not have a harmful effect. Some of the consequences are pollution of air, land, and water, as well as emissions of harmful gases. Air pollution and emissions of harmful gases (CO2, CFCs) increase the greenhouse effect, which we can feel on our own skin.
To that end, we present you with some items that you should never throw in the trash!
Insecticides
Insecticides are very toxic products that are dangerous to your health. This is because they contain harmful substances that do not decompose. Therefore, care should be taken not to leave the contents in the packaging and it should not be thrown in the ordinary waste bin. Instead, it is correct to dispose of the packaging in a specially approved place, whereby it is then managed as a dangerous product in accordance with which it is specially treated.
Old mobile phones
An outdated mobile phone is an item many toss away just because they want a new one.
However, be cautious about where you throw it. The battery, which includes pollutants, is the only part of the cell phone that cannot be recycled. Although most are lithium-ion, there are still some old nickel-cadmium or nickel-metal hydride batteries on the market, which are made of metal with extremely polluting qualities.
On the other hand, the remaining components can be recycled for up to 95%. To that end, e-waste disposal should be taken special care of. To that end, in most mobile phone stores, there is normally a container where you may safely dispose of your old phone.
Batteries
Although per se a single battery is not dangerous, it contains chemicals in high concentrations that can harm the environment. Fortunately, there are many places dedicated solely to the disposal of batteries. They’re usually found in stores and educational establishments. Afterward, the batteries are carried from the container to the recycling plant, where they are sorted according to their original application, and then the recycling and material recovery process begins. The majority of the metals in them can be recovered and repurposed.
Electronic devices
Tablets, laptops, fax machines, printers, mice, speakers, and music gadgets become obsolete just a few months after purchase due to rapid advances in science.
They frequently include potentially dangerous elements such as lead, mercury, or hexavalent chromium, which, if not properly disposed of, can poison the environment. On the other hand, they include valuable substances such as silicon, gold, silver, or copper, which are becoming increasingly scarce in nature and whose manufacture has major environmental effects.
Recycling obsolete products allows for the return of the materials indicated above, allowing for the conservation of natural resources and energy. In the same way, dangerous compounds accumulating in landfills are avoided. To that end, take the old appliance to a collection location or dispose of it in the container provided when replacing an appliance.
From there, the trash is transported to a treatment facility where it is decontaminated and the original materials are recovered!
Radiograph
Everyone in the house has at least one radiography recording that they are unsure how to dispose of because it contains metals that should not be disposed of in landfills. Furthermore, some of these metals, such as silver, have monetary worth and may be retrieved, as can the plastic they contain, whereas the remainder of the material burns.
It is better to take the recording to an ambulance or hospital where it will be collected. In that way, some hospitals work on spreading eco-friendly awareness and conducting a collection campaign for radiographs, which will later be used to extract silver, which will then be sold at market value and used to fund other solidarity projects.
Thermometer
The mercury in thermometers and fluorescent lamps can be hazardous. As a result, they should be disposed of in the proper locations, where they will be transferred for treatment and processed for reuse in the chemical sector by distillation. However, if you don’t know where to dispose of it, take it to the local drugstore!
By carelessly throwing dangerous materials into our environment, in addition to endangering the lives of small children, we are also endangering the life of our planet. To that end, make sure you never throw away materials that are considered dangerous. Instead, recycle!
Working as a cyber security solutions architect, Alisa focuses on application and network security. Before joining us she held a cyber security researcher positions within a variety of cyber security start-ups. She also experience in different industry domains like finance, healthcare and consumer products.
