Discuss briefly the following:

A.>Radioactive wastes

Radioactive wastes are generated as a waste/side product in the utilisation of nuclear energy. The radiations given off by nuclear waste in extremely damaging to organisms due to its high rate of causing mutations.In lower doses, it can cause mutations leading to severe cancers while in heavier doses, the exposure to such radiations is lethal.Therefore, radioactive waste is considered a very potent pollutant. Its disposal has to be dealt with utmost care as lenient handling can be very harmful. It is stored in suitably shielded container within the rock after extensive pre-treatments, buried about 500m deep into the ground.

B.>Defunct ships and e-wastes 

Defunct ships are the abandoned or broken down ships which are in no longer use. These ships are a pool of scrap metal, along with other things, and disposing of such ships is quite a troublesome task. The sunken ships too add up to the waste. Proper techniques to utilise and dispose them should be adopted.Irreparable computers and electronic goods come under the category of electronic wastes. E-wastes are either dumped into the landfills or incinerated. Developed countries have specific facilities to take care of such wastes whereas developing countries adopt manual segregation. Recycling is the only option available for the treatment of electronic wastes. 

C.>Municipal solid wastes

Municipal solid waste refers to any waste that comes from schools, offices, homes, stores, and hospitals etc. that are collected by the Municipality. It comprises of food wastes, paper, plastic, glass metal, rubber, leather etc. It has to be dealt with proper care as the municipal waste has been observed to be increasing every passing day.Burning of such waste reduces the volume but produces large amounts for polluting gases. Landfills or sanitary landfills were adopted to cope with the ever increasing waste generation. The waste are buried in a depression or trench after compaction and covered with dirt.The best way to cope with the waste is to promote the 3R strategy- reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Also, segregating the waste based on whether they are biodegradable or non-biodegradable and then utilising the specific measures for each category can help reduce a lot of the municipal waste generated.