Waste treatment refers to the activities required to ensure that waste

Waste

Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...

 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

Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...

. Different forms of solid waste treatment are graded in the waste hierarchy

Waste hierarchy

The waste hierarchy refers to the 3 Rs of reduce, reuse, recycle, or and [ which classify waste management strategies according to their desirability. The Rs are meant to be a hierarchy, in order of importance...

.

Agricultural waste water treatment

Agricultural wastewater treatment

Agricultural wastewater treatment

Agricultural wastewater treatment relates to the treatment of wastewaters produced in the course of agricultural activities. Agriculture is a highly intensified industry in many parts of the world, producing a range of wastewaters requiring a variety of treatment technologies and management...

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

Industrial wastewater treatment

Industrial wastewater treatment

Industrial wastewater treatment

Industrial wastewater treatment covers the mechanisms and processes used to treat waters that have been contaminated in some way by anthropogenic industrial or commercial activities prior to its release into the environment or its re-use....

 is the treatment of wet wastes from manufacturing industry and commerce including mining, quarrying and heavy industries

Sewage treatment

Sewage treatment

Sewage treatment

Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...

 is the treatment and disposal of human waste. Sewage

Sewage

Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...

 is produced by all human communities and is often left to compost naturally or is treated using processes that separate solid materials by settlement and then convert soluble contaminants into biological sludge and into gases such as carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

 or methane

Methane

Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...

.

Radioactive waste treatment

Radioactive waste treatment is the treatment and containment of radioactive waste.

See also

• List of waste treatment technologies
• Food waste in the United Kingdom
  Food waste in the United Kingdom
  Food waste in the United Kingdom is a subject of environmental, economic and social concern that has received widespread media coverage and been met with varying responses from government. Since 1915, food waste has been identified as a considerable problem and has been the subject of ongoing media...