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Pollution is waste that is harmful to the environment. Life has always produced waste but in biological systems one organism's waste is a food source for another organism. In this system all waste is biological in source and is recycled. Humans are continually creating waste that is non-biological (synthetic chemicals, radio-active waste, etc) and cannot be biodegraded, the world is becoming more and more polluted as these wastes accumulate in the soil, waterways and in organisms themselves.
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Waste heirarchy
The following diagram shows the various methods for managing waste. They have been arranged in a hierarchy of most resource effiicient to least resource efficient. The ultimate goal would be to have no need for waste disposal because all waste is either eliminated or diverted to other uses.
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