Do wet wipes biodegrade? How wet wipes harm the environment. Is it okay to throw this down the toilet?

It is no secret that some companies abuse the concepts of “eco-friendly”, “green”, “biodegradable” to downplay the impact of materials and the negative effects that arise after an item ends up in a landfill. In reality, decomposition can take many decades. We invite you to study popular myths about so-called biodegradable things and find out what to choose if you want to really take care of nature.

Compostable VS biodegradable

First, let's figure out what the difference between the words is"compostable" And "biodegradable". The first means that the product is most likely completely safe for nature and after some time it will continue to exist in the cycle of substances, turning into carbon dioxide and water.Compostableproducts are often made from natural materials such as cellulose, corn and potato starches, and other plant-based materials.

It’s a completely different matter with a “biodegradable” thing, destroyed in nature with the help of bacteria and fungi - here the manufacturer has a lot of ways to evade the question: “When will it decompose?” The decomposition period of some goods can reach 300 years, since the landfill simply does not have the conditions that ensure this process.

It would seem, why is this worse than ordinary bags or disposable plastic goods? Because the production of things from starch and other “biodegradable” materials is irrational in countries where it is impossible to properly compost and recycle them. Also spent on productionmuch more resources – to ensure rapid decomposition of such plastics, special additives are used (for example, d2w), which accelerate the decomposition of the material under the influence of sunlight, heat and oxygen. Such plastic products break down into plastic fragments, which over time turn into microplastics, which penetrate the soil and water and begin to travel along the food chain, ending up in living organisms, including human bodies.

Myths as they are

Myth No. 1. A paper bag is more environmentally friendly than a plastic one.

If after the purchase and the first or second transportation of goods it would not tear, and you could use it for many more years - perhaps! Often this opportunity disappears with the first wetness; the bag easily tears, leaks and goes in the trash. It will not bring any benefit to nature.

Why? After all, this is not plastic, and it will decompose faster.

Yes, indeed, it will decompose much faster than plastic and, after it becomes garbage, will cause less harm to the environment. But let's take a broader view. To create one paper bag leaves about the same amount of energy as three plastic ones. Paper production is one of the most polluting industries. Except large quantity energy, it also requires huge amounts of water, which is seriously polluted by chemicals. The service life, durability and practicality of this bag are inferior to plastic ones, so buying them for a large amount is pointless.

What are the options?

The best option is to use reusable items. A fabric bag that will last for many years is a really effective way to reduce waste and take care of the environment.

Myth #2: Disposable take-out drink cups are made of paper and are environmentally friendly.

Every morning, thousands of coffees are poured into disposable to-go cups, called paper cups. However, few people realize that to ensure integrity and waterproofness under the influence of a hot drink, there is a thin plastic film on the inside. According to the company I-Marketing , annually Russian networks use approximately6 billion“paper” cups, which inevitably end up in landfills and spoil the environment. In addition, the lid of the cup, made of polystyrene, when heated, can release carcinogenic substances that enter our body along with the hot drink.

And remember: if you throw a “paper” cup into the recycling bin, not only will you be making the recycling plant staff do double work (they will have to sort the cup and landfill it for you, since the film makes it unrecyclable), but you will also You will stain clean waste paper! In addition, polystyrene plastic, from which lids for “paper” cups are made, is accepted for recycling in a limited number of cities in Russia, which can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

But this problem also has a solution. And you already know him.If you like to drink on the go, get a reusable thermal mug or a small thermos. Zero waste - zero problems.

Movement to eliminate disposable cups in favor of reusable alternatives"My cup, please" explains why it's important to use your own thermos mug and provides a map for finding places where you can definitely pour coffee or other drinks into it. Find out exactly how to achieve this from

Myth No. 3. Wet wipes are made from natural materials and do not harm the environment

Wet wipes certainly make our lives easier - they can be used to wipe away dirt from the body when there is no water or soap nearby, some have antiseptic properties and are used to treat wounds. But very often people abuse this product and use it even when they can simply wash their hands.

What is the problem? Cloth napkins won't hurt anyone.

The main material used to make wet wipes is synthetics. Even in developed countries There are problems with proper disposal and recycling of synthetics, so they are sent to unsorted garbage and landfills. Also, their antibacterial impregnation greatly poisons the soil, and animals can choke on the napkin itself.

However, besides this, there is also many reasons , why there is no point in using wet wipes: they do not cleanse the skin well, clog the drain and can get into the stomachs of animals that mistake the wipes for food.

Are there any alternatives?

You can replace wet wipes with wet paper ordo it yourself reusable wet wipes. Better yet, don’t be lazy and wash your hands, or, as a last resort, use calendula tincture or bactericidal gel (after which bottle for recycling).

Myth #4: Biodegradable utensils and bags quickly end up in landfills.

Many companies are really thinking about protecting the environment by eliminating or replacing single-use plastic tableware with more environmentally friendly alternatives, such as starch. Spoons made of starch are not much more expensive than plastic ones and, it seems, should be less dangerous for nature and humans. Unfortunately, there are a couple of “buts”.

Firstly, this material is compostable in the presence of targeted collection and conditions for composting, since starch spoons, in addition to starch, also contain “fastening” compounds that are potentially hazardous to nature if they end up in a landfill. That is, by throwing such dishes into unsorted garbage, and not composting them at home, in the country or in a special place, we are sending to a landfill, again, a potentially dangerous thing, but also produced from food crops. This leads to the second “but”: starch is obtained from potential food - corn, potatoes, etc. These resources are also very valuable when there is a shortage of food in many places on Earth. The situation is the same with packages more difficult : Many stores offer “oxo-degradable” bags, which also pollute the environment with microplastics, but disintegrate into them within a couple of months.

But will all this fall apart in the end?

Yes, but it is unknown when and mixed with all the substances that pollute the soil and water. In this case, oxo-degradable bags will add even more dangerous microplastics to the mix.

What to do?

Influence delivery services, cafes and restaurants. Disposable tableware and bags should become a thing of the past, giving way to compact and durable reusable utensils that you want to take with you, and beautiful shopping bags.

Myth No. 5. Cotton swabs, pads and other hygiene items must be disposable

The production of cotton swabs annually costs about 32 billion liters water. This makes their one-time use irrational, because both the rod made of polypropylene and the soft synthetic material will take an extremely long time to decompose in a landfill, namely about 400 years.

How to clean your ears then?

You can purchase a bamboo or iron stick, on which it is convenient to wrap the required amount of cotton wool (ear cleaner or mimikaki). This device is much more convenient and possibly safer for your ears, although cleaning your ears with chopsticks and other foreign objects is not recommended. Also, it is worth purchasing reusable makeup remover discs and just rinse them well or wash them after use.

If polypropylene takes 400 years to decompose, can you also use disposable straws?

Yes, and it is also desirable refuse from disposable plastic tableware, cutlery, balloons and paper handkerchiefs. In many cafes, iron or glass straws (even from pasta) have begun to appear, which can be used many times. You can also buy them for yourself - it’s more pleasant to drink from such a straw, and the kit often comes with a brush to make cleaning easier. The production of other things, again, is irrational - the ball will burst very soon and end up in the animal’s stomach, forests are dying for the sake of making paper scarves and napkins.

Yes, perhaps it’s worth reconsidering your whims for the sake of saving nature, because such a consumer culture is useless will not lead to good .

Prepared by Marat Shakhgereev

Image source: Depositphotos

Incredible facts

The toilet is a part of our daily life.

Some of us use it for its intended purpose, while others use it as an additional trash can.

Of course, it is difficult to resist the temptation to flush something unnecessary down the toilet and forget about it forever.

However, the toilet and wastewater treatment system is not designed for anything other than toilet paper.

What items should not be flushed down the toilet, and what problems can this cause?

Can I flush this down the toilet?

Wet wipes are a fairly popular hygiene item. Although some manufacturers claim that they can be flushed like toilet paper, these wipes create clogs and clog drains.

Many people don't want to throw wet wipes into the trash if they are using them for hygiene purposes. However, the fibers in wet wipes are much thicker than toilet paper, and they do not dissolve in water.

They seem quite small and thin, but this latex product can contribute to the formation of so-called grease plugs in the drains. In addition, these products inflate easily, and if the condom is tied, it can fill with water and simply block the drain.

They are made of cotton, you think. In addition, they look very tiny and are unlikely to clog the pipes. Believe me, this is not true. Over time, they simply accumulate in the bends of the pipes, causing massive blockages.

Do you need extra medications? Many people choose to protect themselves or their household by flushing medications down the toilet. However, this habit is very dangerous.

Complex biological processes of breakdown of waste products occur in the sewer system, and medications interfere with these processes.

Antibacterial drugs create microbes that are resistant to antibiotics, enter reservoirs, lakes, rivers and seas and have a detrimental effect on the inhabitants of the water, and subsequently on humans.

Paper towels are much stiffer than toilet paper and do not dissolve in water as easily as toilet paper. Some types of paper towels are so strong they can hold a bowling ball, and even biodegradable types can cause major clogs.

Not only do they spoil the appearance when they float in the toilet water, but they also contain many toxic substances. chemical substances, including tar and nicotine, which then end up in the water supply and end up in our water.

Adhesive plasters are made of plastic that does not biodegrade. environment.

They also have the property of sticking to other objects in the sewer, and small lumps immediately turn into huge clogs. Throw them in the trash, that's where they belong.

Is it okay to throw this down the toilet?

From the outside it seems that it is just a thin thread, but it does not decompose. In addition, it also has one bad property.

When you flush it, it gets wrapped around other items in the drain, resulting in you having to call a plumber because of the clump that forms.

Almost all of us have flushed the fat remaining after cooking down the toilet, but this is a very bad habit. When the grease is hot, it looks like a liquid, but as soon as the greasy product enters the drain, it cools and solidifies, turning into a lump of fat that clogs the pipes.

Over time, the hole in the pipe will become narrower and narrower until there is nothing going through it at all.

Although you may think that litter has a place in the toilet, it should not be flushed down the toilet.

Just because your baby pooped in his diaper doesn't mean you can throw it in the toilet. Diapers contain toxic plastic that swells when exposed to water.

The chances of it slipping down the drain pipe are very low, and as a result, you will have to call a professional to remove the clog.

There's a good reason why you often see warnings against throwing feminine hygiene products down the toilet.

These hygiene items have absorbent properties and can expand in size, making it difficult to pass through the pipe. In addition, the material from which they are made does not decompose.

Oddly enough, although hair seems natural to us, it can play a cruel joke on your pipes.

Not only do they clog the drain, but they also trap other items, leading to unpleasant odors and slow drainage.

It seems that a few hairs falling into the toilet should not cause serious problems, but they tend to accumulate.

Is it possible to flush toilet paper down the toilet?

Toilet paper can sometimes cause a clogged toilet. This applies primarily to older, harsher types of toilet paper. Modern toilet paper typically dissolves in water and can be thrown into the toilet.

When is it okay to throw away toilet paper?

If the toilet is connected to the central sewer apartment building

If the toilet is connected to a local sewerage system that has a short route, where it is dissolved using active septic tanks.

When should you not throw toilet paper down the toilet?

The paper ends up in a storage tank and does not go straight down the drain.

The local sewer contains twists and turns on the way to the reservoir

The diameter of the sewer pipe is small (less than 10 cm) and the length of the pipe is more than 5 meters.

The toilet is a part of our daily life. Some of us use it for its intended purpose, while others use it as an additional trash can. Of course, it is difficult to resist the temptation to flush something unnecessary down the toilet and forget about it forever. However, the toilet and drain treatment system is not designed to handle anything other than toilet paper.

What items should not be flushed down the toilet, and what problems can this cause?

1. Wet wipes

Wet wipes are a fairly popular hygiene item. Although some manufacturers claim that they can be flushed like toilet paper, these wipes create clogs and clog drains.
Many people don't want to throw wet wipes into the trash if they are using them for hygiene purposes. However, the fibers in wet wipes are much thicker than toilet paper, and they do not dissolve in water.

Cotton buds

Medicines

Do you need extra medications? Many people choose to protect themselves or their household by flushing medications down the toilet. However, this habit is very dangerous.
Complex biological processes of breakdown of waste products occur in the sewer system, and medications interfere with these processes.
Antibacterial drugs create microbes that are resistant to antibiotics, enter reservoirs, lakes, rivers and seas and have a detrimental effect on the inhabitants of the water, and subsequently on humans.

Paper napkins

Cigarette butts

Not only do they look unsightly when they float in the toilet water, but they also contain many toxic chemicals, including tar and nicotine, which then end up in the plumbing and end up in our water.

Adhesive plasters

Adhesive plasters are made of plastic that does not biodegrade in the environment.
They also have the property of sticking to other objects in the sewer, and small lumps immediately turn into huge clogs. Throw them in the trash, that's where they belong.

Dental floss

From the outside it seems that it is just a thin thread, but it does not decompose. In addition, it also has one bad property.
When you flush it, it gets wrapped around other items in the drain, resulting in you having to call a plumber because of the clump that forms.

Looking ahead. On the proper disposal of the most “repulsive” fractions of solid waste, problematic from epidemiological and aesthetic points of view

Everything in a person should be beautiful: his face, his clothes, his soul, his thoughts...
A. P. Chekhov

Perhaps someone will accuse the author of an unhealthy interest in unearthing “all kinds of abominations,” of exaggerating a problem that is not so significant compared to other, more significant ones, of cleanliness and “an obsession with cleanliness and hygiene.” But I consider the problem of the “most vile” household waste to be very relevant in modern living conditions. In our poor rich industrial world, in search of physical and spiritual purity, aesthetics and harmony... However, look for yourself.

Introduction
Type 1. Waste hygiene and contraceptive products
Subtype 1.1. Toilet paper
Subtype 1.2. Used feminine hygiene products (pads and tampons)
Subtype 1.3. Baby diapers
Subtype 1.4. Used sanitary napkins (wet, non-woven)
Subtype 1.5. Used contraception (condoms)
Type 2: Used medical products (household medical waste)
Subtype 2.1. Used dressing materials (cotton wool, plaster)
Subtype 2.2. Used syringes (needles) for injections
Subtype 2.3. Other used medical products used on an outpatient basis for various diseases and pathologies
Type 3. Light industrial products and personal hygiene items that have lost their consumer properties
Subtype 3.1. Underwear
Subtype 3.2. Daily dental hygiene and skin care items
Summary

Introduction

Periodically, in publications of Greenpeace and other environmental public organizations There are discussions about how carelessly most city residents spend Natural resources on your hygiene procedures and level of comfort: long showers or regular soaking in the bathroom; brushing teeth and shaving with an unforgivably large volume of water leaking out in vain; flushing a full toilet tank when “a little bit could have been done”; wasteful consumption of gas and electricity to achieve room temperatures above standard and much more. Calls to limit consumption in everyday life, sometimes resulting in such extremes as agitation for a “zero” haircut in order to save resources on washing your hair, or refusal of hair removal for women for the same purpose, in my opinion, are rather one-sided. After all, each person not only consumes resources for hygiene and aesthetics, but also produces various biological waste, the further fate of which is not usually worried about, but which, if handled improperly, can pose quite a serious environmental, sanitary and epidemiological hazard and a negative aesthetic impact .
And what is the “aesthetic pleasure” for those involved in the conveyor sorting of waste, which is still carried out at some enterprises? You can often hear that the people working there are degraded, asocial, accustomed to everything and ready to do dirty, low-skilled work for pennies, which they immediately rush to spend on booze. But is it permissible, no matter what the contingent of workers, to create conditions under which the work of processing useful recyclable materials is inextricably linked with the obvious impurities that pollute it? And since a significant part of solid waste can be mixed with extremely unsightly components, the idea is strengthened in people’s minds that “this dirt and infection” should be buried somewhere far away (at a landfill or in a regular landfill), or burned (despite the danger air pollution from combustion products). The presence of used toilet paper alone in the general composition of household garbage is enough for a garbage container to be perceived as something disgustingly dirty and foul-smelling, and not as a container for 80% recyclable secondary raw materials.
The reader, perhaps accusing me of preoccupation with “toilet problems,” will certainly object that spoiled food products can also have a disgusting smell and appearance and pose a sanitary and epidemiological danger. Of course, the problem of organic fractions of solid waste is comprehensively important (in the EU there is a ban on dumping organic waste in landfills (solid waste landfills), in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is enshrined in law - Directive of the European Parliament and Council 2006/12/EC of April 5, 2006 on Waste), but the same fecal pollution initially carries a much greater sanitary and epidemiological danger than ordinary food waste, not to mention aesthetic aspects. For example, those few conscientious dog owners who pick up excrement from their pets while walking generally throw this organic “treasure” in a plastic bag into a general trash container or trash can.
Within the framework of the identified problem, I would like to present a classification of the most unpleasant elements of household waste (the problem of which is not only not solved, but, as a rule, is not even highlighted in the framework of consideration of the issue of introducing waste sorting), an analysis of the accepted in Russia and the best possible practices for their neutralization and disposal , a review of foreign practices for handling such problematic waste.
The text turned out to be quite long, therefore, for easier comprehension, it is divided into separate series.

Type 1. Waste hygiene and contraceptive products

Things, or rather, hygiene consumables, from this section are used by everyone to one degree or another, regardless of gender and age. And try to give them up by switching to burdock leaf, lint and sphagnum!

Subtype 1.1. Toilet paper

In Russia...

This “unaesthetic” waste of consumption is perhaps the most widespread of its kind. In the introduction, in order to prepare the reader for the fact that we will not be talking about the most beautiful, but very necessary, I have already given an example of the obvious unaestheticness and sanitary and epidemiological problems of this waste.
In most households with plumbing, used toilet paper goes down the drain and eventually ends up as sludge at a wastewater treatment plant. Perhaps on this moment This is the most civilized way to dispose of this waste. In St. Petersburg, sludge from wastewater treatment plants is burned using modern equipment. And, although the environmental safety of most incineration technologies today is not at the highest level, for waste containing large amounts of pathogenic microflora, thermal neutralization is often the only acceptable option.
In gardens and dacha lands, as a rule, such waste is openly burned. Of course, this practice introduces a certain amount of pollutants into the atmosphere (nitrogen dioxide, soot and other impurities). But in the background of work traditional systems stove heating, as well as burning dry leaves and garden trimmings, emissions from burning toilet paper do not seem to be so significant.
In many public non-residential buildings, due to the large number of toilet users (for fear of clogging the sewer line), it is practiced to throw used toilet paper into the trash bin. I believe that I am not alone in my disgust when, entering a public restroom, I see the inscription “Do not throw toilet paper in the toilet!”, and next to this very plumbing device is a trash can filled to the brim with used pipifax. Where will the contents of this bucket go after the “cleaning” staff takes care of maintaining order in the booth? It's not hard to guess what's in the nearby trash container. From where it will most likely be poured into a landfill along with the rest of the “morphological composition of solid waste” and rolled on top by a bulldozer. And then, perhaps, monitoring soil samples will show that the soils in the immediate vicinity of the landfill are contaminated with E. coli and other pathogenic microflora. And the point here is not only and not so much about rats and seagulls, but about people.

But international hygiene product magnate Procter & Gamble is making clear its long-term commitment to reducing its environmental impact by using only human-grade products and packaging. reuse or recycling of materials, achieving a zero amount of consumer waste disposed of by landfill disposal, reaching a zero amount of industrial waste disposed of by disposal of landfills, etc. At the same time, today the lion's share of this company's products is in many countries ends up not only in landfills, but also in unauthorized dumps, mixed with large volumes of unclaimed secondary resources.

Subtype 1.3. Baby diapers

In Russia...

Probably, the current amount of such waste in Russia is quite comparable to the American situation 25 years ago (see below). And this percentage at the source of waste generation (in a container or garbage chute) is quite enough to complicate manual sorting of waste and make some potentially useful raw materials from other fractions unsuitable for processing.
Some particularly child-loving people will object that this type of waste is not so terrible, since it is produced by the “flowers of life”, which are “pure and infallible by definition.” Yes, it is possible that the risk of the spread of dangerous infections in such materials is somewhat lower than in the waste from the previous and subsequent paragraphs. But this does not mean that it does not exist at all. And this whole thing doesn’t “smell” of roses. I had to be convinced of this for certain and repeatedly at volunteer eco-cleaning days, cleaning up “picnic” sites for some uncultured young parents.
And, by the way, diapers are not only for children - if we remember the sad thing - for bedridden patients they are an indispensable means of hygiene.
This type of waste is disposed of in the same way as the previous one (1.2).

Abroad...

American researchers-garbologists (from the English garbage - garbage), who since the early 80s of the 20th century have conducted studies of large city landfills in order to study the morphological composition of waste and their impact on the environment, found that this type of waste, together with plastic fast food packaging and foam packaging constitutes no more than 3% of the total morphological composition of landfills.
The modern handling of baby diapers is similar to the handling of adult hygiene products. It is estimated that in the first 2.5 years of life, a child in developed countries, on average, uses a number of diapers that, in terms of environmental impact, is comparable to covering 2100-3500 km in a gasoline-powered car.
Some manufacturer websites also offer biodegradable (2/3 biodegradable - where the remaining 1/3 goes remains unclear) diapers, touting their dermatological and environmental benefits.

Subtype 1.4. Used sanitary napkins (wet, non-woven)

In Russia...

In the last few years, this product has been represented on the domestic market quite widely. On the shelves of household and hygiene departments of stores there are many colored packages: “wet wipes, refreshing”, “antibacterial”, “make-up remover”, “for intimate hygiene”, etc.
We have to admit that in many cases, when there is no way to properly wash your hands or something else, such consumables can be very convenient (the word “antibacterial” especially warms the soul; for example, after the same eco cleanup, even though you’re wearing gloves, you never know What). But. At every cleaning of recreational areas, these vile pieces of paper-rags, smeared with anything, are often found.
Once brought to the general garbage container, they will add to the overall morphological composition of solid waste a certain proportion, usually of a polymeric composition, contaminated organically and/or bacteriologically.
On the website of domestic manufacturers of such products, only manufacturing details for the customer are indicated and the packaging material is described in some detail: multilayer roll materials such as alumina laminate (paper, aluminum, polyethylene) and combined triplex (PET, aluminum, polyethylene). To make the napkins themselves, two types of material are used: crepe paper or non-woven material, impregnated with an unscented or fragrance-added cleansing lotion.
Obviously, such a composite can be classified as practically non-recyclable waste, taking into account its polycomponent nature, organic and possible bacteriological contamination. There are no special methods for processing and neutralizing this waste.

Abroad...

Not much foreign information could be found about wet wipes. It can only be noted that some manufacturers of wet wipes pay special attention to the biodegradability and environmental safety of their product.

Subtype 1.5. Used contraception (condoms)

In Russia...

This “good” is thrown away, perhaps not as much as a percentage, but on a regular basis. And I am not at all advocating that they should not be used for the sake of reducing the amount of unpleasant waste in the common container. Quite the contrary, it is precisely because of the neglect of basic means of contraception that our society acquires many additional problems. But this study is not about that.
Let's look at the most common and easy-to-use barrier contraceptives - condoms. Most of them are made from latex - a natural material containing the sap of Hevea (a genus of evergreen trees of the Euphorbia family), in other words, natural rubber. There are modifications made from artificial polymers, as well as rubber-based ones (remember “rubber product No. 2”).
Repeatedly discovering these used products at cleanup days in the forest and on the picturesque shores of the lake, in the bushes (obviously, romance in fresh air attractive, but for some reason many people are unable to clean up such piquant garbage), I wondered about their biodegradability. In the vastness of the Runet, information was found only about the environmental friendliness of balloons made of natural latex: “Careful studies have shown that a latex balloon is completely biodegradable in natural conditions in the same time that it takes for the decomposition of an oak leaf.” One blogger spoke in support of these words in a discussion of the component composition of the garbage collected at the cleanup. He said that once, during his student days, he was on duty to maintain cleanliness in the dormitory courtyard. Careless students threw used condoms right out of the windows there. And the one who was authorized to maintain cleanliness, not wanting to get dirty, raked it all into a pile with a fan rake and sprinkled it with autumn leaves. After winter, the unaesthetic garbage disappeared, mixed with rotted leaves.
However, this type of waste, due to its biological content, also falls under the definition of “ medical waste class B" specified in SanPiN 2.1.7.2790-10.
In addition, when disposing of such waste in an area summer holiday What makes this garbage “unaesthetic” is the packaging made of difficult-to-degrade or practically non-degradable materials, which clearly denotes the intimate leisure of uncultured fellow citizens.

Abroad...

Regarding environmentally sound handling of used condoms, some recommendations are given in the English-language article “Common Sense: Condoms and the Environment.” It is strictly not recommended to flush used contraceptives down the drain due to the risk of blockage. Even if clogging does not occur, the used remediate will end up on waste treatment plant screens or in sludge. That is, it will end up in the same composition of solid waste, delivering additional unpleasant emotions to the employees of the water treatment plant, or, having overcome the water outlet, it will pollute the reservoir. Attention is also drawn to the fact that condoms can be biodegradable (latex or calfskin, although, it seems to me, the latter is some kind of archaic exotic) and non-biodegradable (polyurethane and other polymer compositions). The author of the article does not recommend trying to compost biodegradable contraceptives on your own. open spaces, due to the attractiveness of this kind of “treasure” for various animals that will begin to dig up intimate garbage. It is considered optimal to wrap the used contraceptive in a piece of toilet paper or paper towel and throw it in the general trash. It is also noted that the packaging of these products is made of plastic and foil, which does not decompose.
Information about how carefully such problematic waste is handled in practice in developed countries is quite general. In Germany, for example, such waste ends up in the so-called. “other waste”, collected in black bins, the contents of which are removed every 2-4 weeks. Apparently, the management of such waste consists of its thermal destruction or burial in specially equipped landfills, depending on the adopted management scheme in a particular area. That is, separately collected recyclable materials in Germany and a number of other developed countries are largely separated from such unsavory waste already at the stage of their formation.
And only in one English-language article devoted to the communal problems of the Indian city of Pune (the city is located 150 km east of Mumbai and has approximately 5 million inhabitants), it was possible to find information about “unsightly” waste as a significant communal problem requiring a special solution. Thus, nine city sludge treatment stations report the problem of large quantities of used condoms entering wastewater treatment plants, especially on weekends and holidays. On average, the number of condoms collected at all water treatment plants per week is about 20,000, which have to be separated from the sludge and sent to a landfill. Representatives of the Pune government's environmental and sanitation departments have announced their intention to formulate a policy for the management of used condoms and sanitary absorbents, which are biomedical waste and should be disposed of separately from other types of household waste.

Type 2. Used products medical purposes(medical waste at home)

In Russia...

The rules for handling them are prescribed in the above-mentioned SanPiN 2.1.7.2790-10. These rules are quite general, universal in nature, and also do not take into account the need to introduce the best available technologies in this area. But even the basic requirements for the disposal of hazardous medical waste given in SanPiN medical institutions are often carried out unsatisfactorily: according to various estimates, only 1-3% of health care facilities in the Russian Federation have special installations for waste disinfection; other institutions neutralize infected waste using artisanal methods. Often, the total mass of medical waste of different hazard classes, without sufficient pre-treatment, is buried in solid waste landfills or landfills under the guise of low-hazard household waste.

Subtype 2.1. Used dressing materials (cotton wool, plaster)

It should be borne in mind that hazardous medical waste is generated not only in medical institutions. Obviously, even minor household injuries in absolutely or relatively healthy people cause the appearance of class “B” medical waste in a mixed trash bin: cotton wool, bandages, plasters soaked in blood and medicinal and disinfectant ointments. It seems like little things, but it’s unpleasant to find them in the volume of valuable recyclable materials. And if this slightly injured person is sick, say, with hepatitis B, then it’s still not safe.

Subtype 2.2. Used syringes (needles) for injections

There is also a significant contingent of people who constantly have to perform various medical procedures at home, and sometimes outside the home. These are not necessarily elderly bedridden patients. Often these are young, energetic people, teenagers, children, appearance whom one can hardly guess that they are “awarded” with the baggage of chronic diseases, live only thanks to replacement therapy with medications and various medical manipulations carried out so routinely and regularly, as “relatively healthy man»has the habit of brushing his teeth and taking a shower.
For example, in some diseases (insulin dependent diabetes, multiple sclerosis, various severe pain syndromes, etc.) people are forced to constantly inject themselves with vital medications. Obviously, the most hazardous household waste for individuals requiring such therapy will be injection devices with blood-contaminated needles. There is no need to believe in such a deep consciousness of people, exhausted by their own health problems, which will prompt them to take used materials that fall under the definition of “class B medical waste” for disposal at the nearest or attached health facility. And in almost no health care facility, even if they want to, this opportunity is not provided (remember: only 1-3 (!)% of health care facilities in Russia have the opportunity to safely dispose of highly hazardous and potentially hazardous medical waste on their territory, in accordance with SanPiN).
There is also another, asocial, contingent of people with whom the layman, illiterate in medical matters, primarily associates self-injections. These are, of course, injection drug addicts. It should be noted that waste from drug injection poses a much greater danger than waste from injection medicines, used for various non-infectious diseases (of course, there are also combined forms of diseases), since people who use intravenous drugs are a reservoir of pathogens of hepatitis B, C, D and HIV infection.
How many of you have never seen thin syringes with green rods scattered in the park, on the playground, in the front door...? Sometimes they show up in the mailbox. Never fumble around in a darkened drawer in search of a letter or receipt lying around: you may well stumble upon the needle of a contaminated drug syringe! True, infectious disease researchers have long established the fact that HIV is poorly resistant to environmental conditions and quickly dies outside the human body. However, for the purpose of preventing injection transmission of HIV, it should be assumed that a used syringe or hollow needle (unsterilized) may contain live virus for several days. Other dangerous viruses, such as hepatitis B, are much more resistant to external environment than HIV. In the external environment when room temperature The hepatitis B virus can persist for up to several weeks: even in a dried and invisible blood stain, on a razor blade, or the end of a needle.
It is obvious that with possible manual sorting of solid household waste, such inclusions not only cause extremely unpleasant emotions, but can also be very dangerous to health.

Subtype 2.3. Other used medical products used on an outpatient basis for various diseases and pathologies

In this group of waste, one can recall many unpleasant and even shocking objects for a relatively healthy average person. For example, fragments of an IV system, elements of dialysis units used at home, used test strips for determining the level of glucose and other substances in blood and other biological fluids, etc.
At the same time, even the simplest and most common devices, for example, for the treatment of ENT organs (pipettes, spray bottles) can be a source of foreign pathogenic flora.
What about disposable handkerchiefs thrown into the general trash? There you can probably find hosts of unpleasant living creatures from the microcosm: from the simplest ARVI to highly pathogenic influenza and even tuberculosis.
Or, for example, such small-scale waste as contact lenses that have reached the recommended wearing period? It seems to be a negligible waste of polymer material (is there such a thing as negligible waste of regularly produced products?), but at the same time it was in contact with the mucous membrane and lacrimal secretion of a person.
Perhaps, highlighting such waste against the background of other, global, problems with the same waste is “catching fleas” for modern stage technological development spheres of household waste management. But, on the other hand, it is impossible to deny the sanitary and epidemiological problems of the masses of solid household waste.

Abroad...

About materials on foreign experience I will tell you briefly how to solve this type of waste problem.
For example, the report "Municipal Solid Waste in the United States" categorizes medical waste generated by households as "other mixed nondurable waste." In 2005, the amount of such waste in the United States amounted to about 4.3 million tons or 1.7% of the total amount of solid waste.
The Colorado Department of Environment and Public Health issued a bulletin in 2005 regarding the management of healthcare waste (including used injection materials) generated in the home. It strongly recommends not throwing such waste into general garbage, but contacting specialized organizations for their disposal (however, it does not say how expensive the disposal of such waste is for citizens and what percentage of the population uses such services). This document also states that, if it is impossible to contact one of the specialized organizations, medical waste (especially those containing sharp points, contaminated with blood or other biological materials) should be packaged in a tightly sealed container made of thick plastic or tin. At the same time, it is not recommended to use a container made of recyclable material (it is likely that it may be mistakenly sorted at the station), and, if such containers are used, they should be clearly marked with information about the contents with a potential infectious hazard.

Type 3. Light industrial products and personal hygiene items that have lost their consumer properties

Subtype 3.1. Underwear

In Russia...

Such a common element of a woman's wardrobe as nylon tights and other hosiery, as a rule, very quickly loses its consumer properties, simply torn. Sometimes such a product is generally disposable. If you are a woman who at least sometimes wears a skirt outside the summer season, then you will probably remember how sometimes with annoyance you throw new tights or stockings into the trash bin, which accidentally got caught on the furniture the day you removed them from the plastic-cardboard packaging. IN Soviet time nylon products were in short supply and were worn more carefully, and holes and “arrows” were sometimes sewn up repeatedly. In everyday life, their recycling product “reuse” was also popular - knitted dishwashers and door mats made from old tights and stockings cut into strips (Fig. 3.1).

Rice. 3.1. Rug made of nylon tights (