State the differences between biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes.
Differences between biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes:
|Biodegradable wastes||Non-biodegradable wastes|
|1. These wastes can be broken down into non-poisonous substances by the action of microorganisms like bacteria and earthworms.||1. These wastes cannot be broken down into harmless substances by any biological processes.|
|2. Biodegradable substances change their form and structure over time and become harmless.||2. Non-biodegradable substances remain unchanged over a long period of time.|
|3. They do not pollute the environment.||3. Some of them remain inert and begin to accumulate in our surroundings, while others cannot be made less toxic easily and hence keep on polluting the environment.|
|Examples: Spoilt food, vegetable peels, tea leaves, wood, grass, paper, leather, cotton, cattle dung etc.||Examples: Glass bottles, metal cans, polythene bags, synthetic fibres, radioactive wastes, plastics and pesticides like DDT etc.|