SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT (SWM)

Lecture - 1
Solid waste (old name: Municipal refuse)

Waste liquid waste

Gaseous waste

Solid Waste:
All waste arising from human, animal and plant
activity; which is solid, semi-solid or liquid in
containers and is discarded as useless or unwanted.
Solid Waste Management (SWM):
It is the discipline, which deals with the control of
generation, storage, collection, transfer &
transport, processing & recovery and disposal of
solid waste in accordance with best principles of
Engineering and Economics while taking care of
aesthetics and public attitude.
Six Functional Elements of SWM:
Generation

Storage

Collection

Transfer & Transport Processing & Recovery

Disposal
ration:
Generation:

Generation deals with quantity and quality of solid waste.

Quantity of waste is normally expressed as kg / capita / day.

Lahore 0.5 kg / C / D
New York 2.0 kg / C / D

Quality deals with

• Physical nature (food waste; paper; plastics; rags etc)
• Characteristics (organic / inorganic; Putrescible / non-
putrescible; combustible / non-combustible)
• Source (residential; commercial; industrial etc)
Storage: Two types of containers are used

a. Separate Containers b. Communal Containers

(used by individual premises) (used by community collectively)

Manually handled Mechanically handled

2.5 m3 (LAHORE) 12 m3

Good storage has following advantages (4Cs)

• Containment
• Convenience in collection
• Cover
• Contribute towards environment protection
Two-bin system

is sometimes encouraged at individual premises for the subsequent

ease in processing and disposal of SW.

• Wet waste
• Dry waste

Collection include the pick up from the storage unit and hauling (transport) to the

• Disposal site or
• Transfer station or
• Processing facilities

and unloading over there.

ration:
Three Bin System
Collection:
Two collection systems are in vogue.

Hauled container system Stationery container system

(HCS) (SCS)

2.5 m3
12 m3

Disposal

Disposal
Some other systems, used locally in Pakistan
• Tractor trolleys
• Open body trucks
• Animal carts
Problem:
A city has a population of 100,000 people. S.W generation rate is 0.4
kg /c /d. It is decided to use HCS in the city with a container size of 12 m 3.
Find the no of container required if density of S.W is 200 kg/m3 and each
vehicle used to haul the container will make two trips per day.
Solution:
Generation rate = 0.4 kg/cap/day
Density = 200 kg/m3
Population = 100,000
Total S.W = 0.4x100,000 = 40,000 kg
Volume of S.W = Weight = 40,000 = 200 m3
Density 200
No. of container = 200 / (12x2) = 8.33 = 9
9 containers are required
 Transfer & Transport:
4. Transfer and transport:
It refer to the means; and facilities used to effect the transfer of wastes from small
vehicles to large vehicles, which then transport the wastes to processing centers or
disposal sites.
Transfer stations are essentially used when disposal sites are located at long distances
and collection vehicles are small sized. Transfer stations should be located at a place
where there is minimum public inconvenience and environmental objection.

Small vehicle
big vehicle
 Processing & Recovery:
5. Processing and Recovery:
Processing refer to various techniques that are used to improve the efficiency
of other operations in S.W.M.
Whereas Recovery refer to recover the re-usable materials and products from
S.W.

Various processing and recovery techniques used are:

a. Compaction: to reduce the volume of solid waste.
b. Shredding: to reduce the size of S.W.
c. Component separation: manual or mechanical sorting.
d. Drying and dewatering: used for sludges to reduce their volume.

5. Disposal Methods:
S.W. can be finally disposed in three different ways.
Ways Usage Local practices
Sr. No.
i. Composting 10-15% Not done completely
ii. Incineration 5-10% Open burning
iii. Sanitary land filling 70-80% Open dumping
 i. Composting:
Suitability:
This method is very suitable for s.w containing large amount of
organic matter (like residues of fruits, vegetables, garden
cuttings etc). S.W. of Lahore contain upto 60% organic matter and
thus much suitable for composting.
Definition:
It is biological degradation of organic wastes under aerobic
conditions to an end product known as “compost”, which can be used
as manure or land conditioner. The process is accomplished by
microorganisms. It takes 2 months to complete entire process.
Preparation:
To prepare compost; organic component of s.w is separated and left
in the open land in the form of heap and turned every weak to
maintain aerobic conditions.
Uses:
Compost is considered to be the best manure and land conditioner.
It protect land erosion, keep land porous and aerated, retain moisture
in ground and reduce the requirement of chemical fertilizers. (a lot of
work is being done on composting in USA, Europe).
 II. Incineration:

It is a controlled burning process. Specific amount of waste is taken

against specific amount of air and fuel. Burning is carried out at high
temperatures (normally in the range of 700-800oC).

Incinerators are high technology and are costly to run and operate.
Non-availability of land for sanitary landfilling sometimes necessitates
the use of this method (e.g. Japan).

Shalimar Hospital and Shaukat Khanam Hospital are using

incinerators in Lahore.

III. Sanitary Landfilling:

It is an engineered method of disposing s.w on land, which protects

the public health and environment.
In this method, wastes are spread over the land in thin layers of about
6 inches.
 Final layer (2’ thick)

Clay layer
Compacted solid waste
At the end of days work; the S.W. is covered with a clay layer. This process continues till the
entire ditch is filled. Afterwards, a 2’ final cover again clay layer is provided at the tip of landfill.
Problem:
A city with a population of 5 lac person (500,000) has a solid waste generation rate of 0.5
kg/capita/day. A landfill site is selected at a distance of 5 km from the city. Estimate the area
required for sanitary landfill for a period of one year. Assume depth of landfill as 2m and density
of solid waste is 200 kg/m3.
Solution:
S.W.G.R = 0.5 kg/capita/day
Population, P = 500,000
H = 2m
Density, ρ = 200 kg/m3
Amount of waste = 500,000 x 0.5 x 365 = 91,250,000 kg
Volume = m = 91,250,000 = 456,250 m3
ρ 200
Area = volume / depth = 456250 / 2 = 228,125 m2
Area = 22.8125 hectors