Waste treatment refers to the activities required to ensure that

waste Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste pr ...

has the least practicable impact on the environment. In many countries various forms of waste treatment are required by law.

Solid waste treatment

The treatment of solid wastes is a key component of

waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitorin ...

. Different forms of solid waste treatment are graded in the

waste hierarchy Waste hierarchy is a tool used in the evaluation of processes that protect the environment alongside resource and energy consumption from most favourable to least favourable actions. The hierarchy establishes preferred program priorities based ...

Waste water treatment

Agricultural waste water treatment

Agricultural wastewater treatment is treatment and disposal of liquid animal waste, pesticide residues etc. from agriculture.

Industrial wastewater treatment

Industrial wastewater treatment Industrial wastewater treatment describes the processes used for treating wastewater that is produced by industries as an undesirable by-product. After treatment, the treated industrial wastewater (or effluent) may be reused or released to a s ...

is the treatment of wet wastes from factories, mines, power plants and other commercial facilities.

Sewage treatment

Sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding en ...

is the treatment and disposal of human waste.

Sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from reside ...

is produced by all human communities. Treatment in urbanized areas is typically handled by centralized treatment systems. Alternative systems may use composting processes or processes that separate solid materials by settlement and then convert soluble contaminants into biological sludge and into gases such as

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane ...

Radioactive waste treatment

Radioactive waste treatment Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons re ...

is the treatment and containment of radioactive waste.

References

{{Waste Waste management Waste treatment technology