Strategies to Control Environmental Pollution: Environmental pollutions are classified under different types depending upon where it is present, such as air, water, soil, and industrial pollution. Each of these has a severe effect on Earth and on the living and non-living things. It is important, therefore, to control the pollution or minimize it to reduce its effects through scientific planning and methods. Although reversing the effect might be impossible, controlling them by identifying the activities that cause them can prevent it. In this article, we will discuss various strategies to control environmental pollution.

What are the Strategies to Control Environmental Pollution?

Land, air, water, and noise pollutions can all result in immeasurable health issues and are a major threat to the environment. There are several ways in which they can be kept under control. Controlling the population growth and restricting deforestation can be some of the most immediate ways that can be employed. Vegetation, such as forests and greenery, can control pollution, and therefore, green belts can be developed in areas such as industrial areas and places with a lot of traffic to control the effects of pollutants from industries and automobile exhaust. Other than this, below are some of the strategies we can employ to keep a check on the pollution levels of an area.

Waste Disposal and Management

A large quantity of the waste generated from industries, household disposals, medical facilities, mining, common areas such as cinema halls and malls all can cause major environmental degradation if not segregated and disposed of correctly. For example, household wastes are usually a mixture of plastics and other items that needs to be managed efficiently by segregating them.

Hence, improper disposal of any garbage or waste, be it industrial, household, or otherwise, can cause serious pollution. Managing the disposal system efficiently can be a good way of controlling the pollution at the ground source.

Collection and Disposal of Waste

Both management and disposal of wastes are significant in mitigating pollution and its effects. There are larger systems that operate to dispose of the waste collected from the source. The municipality of a particular area collects the domestic wastes from individual households or communities, and these are transferred to larger bins. The community bins are then gathered and taken to the allotted disposal site well away from the cities. The garbage is then sorted, separated, and segregated as non-biodegradable and bio-degradable. The plastics, metals, and other non-biodegradable materials are sent for recycling, and the biodegradable wastes go to the landfill, where they can be converted into compost.

The wastes that are disposed of in efficient ways by segregating them at source (household, industries, eateries, etc.) are easier to manage. Therefore, it is recommended highly at individual levels to be conscious of the wastes getting disposed into the bins and separate out at source to make it easier for the municipal workers and the government to dispose of them as recommended to prevent them from causing any harm.

Often, the wastes go into sewers and other water bodies and land (roadside irregular disposals), which only do more harm to our environment. The bio-degradable wastes, especially plastics and polythene bags, cause severe harm to the land and aquatic animals and completely destroy their ecosystem. These disposals can also cause the disease-causing microorganisms to grow and spread, causing epidemics in the area. Proper and effective management of disposal of wastes is, therefore, a mandatory aspect of controlling environmental pollution.

Industrial Pollution and Environmental Degradation

While industries are a lifeline of a country, there are other problems such as wastes from the industries, the fumes released during the production, manufacturing, or preparation of materials, and so on, which results in a serious case of land water, and air pollution. Industrial wastes are usually toxic because they might contain substances such as cyanides, acids, alkalis, trace amounts of metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, etc. And, apart from primary pollutants from source, the secondary pollutants get formed in the air, soil, land, etc., when it comes in contact with other substances. Acid rain is an example of a secondary pollutant caused by nitrogen oxides and Sulphur dioxide. Another example is photochemical smog, resulting from primary pollutant nitrogen oxides.

These not only cause pollution to the surroundings when disposed of but can also be severely dangerous to the health of the people living nearby. And, many of these industrial effluents, solid wastes, and fumes are thrown or dumped out or just let out through the large vents and smokestacks.

Since the industrial wastes from the textile industry, engineering, pharmaceuticals, and FMCG all are mostly non-biodegradable and can stay up in the environment for long, it is even more essential to use suitable ways of management and treatment of sewage, fumes, and solid wastes generated before they can be let out into the environment or into the landfills. Use of environmentally friendlier synthesis methods and energy use, such as the use of natural light and heat such as solar panels for household and industrial lighting, is another way to control pollution.

Examples of pollutants from industries include:

• 1. Fly-ash from thermal power plants
• 2. Slags from blast furnace and steel melting
• 3. Mud and tailings from zinc, aluminium, and copper producing industries
• 4. Hazardous wastes or highly reactive substances from drug manufacturing industries, pesticide manufacturers and chemical industries.

Strategies to Control Industrial Pollution

There are several pollution control laws that are put in place by the government of India, and every industry has to adhere to them to ensure less or no pollution to the surrounding areas. The laws are stringent, and there are regular checks done by the pollution control board officials to analyze if the disposals are done correctly and according to the specified regulations. Apart from this, the reuse of the wastes can also help control pollution. One of the examples is the use of Fly-ash and slag generated from steel industries in cement manufacturing.

Recycling and Reuse of Wastes

Reduce, recycle, and reuse: this is the motto that needs to be used for controlling environmental pollution at all levels. There are many areas where one can use waste recycling to prevent pollution.

Waste Generated	Uses
Plastic waste from industries, household and others.	Manufacture of Green Fuel with high octane value and no lead content
Plastic Wastes generated from different sources	Clothes from recycled plastic wastes
Garbage and  wastes	After removing non-biodegradable materials, garbage is mixed with water, and a bacterial culture (methanogens) is employed to produce bio-gas (methane and \({\rm{C}}{{\rm{O}}_2}\)), which is used to produce electricity. Rest is used as manure.
Fly-ash from thermal power plants and others	Manufacture of fly-ash bricks

Reducing Environmental Pollution through Individual Efforts

Other than the efforts made at the industrial level or through the stringent application of environmental laws, there are many individual efforts that one can make to control environmental pollution.
1. Segregating wastes at home by their types, bio-degradable and non-biodegradable, can help in managing their proper disposal.
2. Thinking about alternative use of plastics or reusing plastics to avoid them from ending in landfills can be helpful.
3. Planting trees in the neighborhood and not polluting the common areas such as the roadside can stop the wastes from accumulating and causing pollution.
4. By applying to reduce, reuse and recycle wherever necessary, even in the household, can help in controlling pollution.
5. Educating children and others on the harmful effects of environmental pollution and how to control it.

When proper measures are adapted at individual levels, it can help in the efficient management of environmental pollution at a larger level.

Summary

Environmental pollution can be classified as land, water, air, noise, and industrial pollution, and if not controlled, it can be quite disastrous. There are several ways in which environmental pollution can be controlled, and the use of proper waste disposal methods and reuse and recycle of wastes are some of the efficient means of controlling it. There are many ways in which industrial wastes can be used to ensure they are utilized and not disposed of as waste.

FAQs on Strategies to Control Environmental Pollution

Q.1. How can we control environmental pollution?
Ans: Environmental pollution can be controlled through proper mitigative measures such as efficient waste disposal, controlling and segregating wastes at the source. Also, recycling wastes can help in controlling environmental pollution.

Q.2. What are the types of control strategies for pollution control?
Ans: Some control strategies for pollution control include proper waste disposal, waste management, recycle wastes efficiently, and so on.

Q.3. Which synthesis method is more useful to control environmental pollution?
Ans: The use of light as a synthesis method is highly recommended and researched. Examples include photoredox catalysis.

Q.4. What are environmental control measures?
Ans: Environmental control measures are those strategies that are employed to control all types of pollution occurring due to human activities.

Q.5. What are the ways to reduce environmental pollution?
Ans:  Environmental pollution can be reduced by employing efficient strategies to identify the source of such pollution and then employing methods to minimize it.

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