LECTURE 3

PART 1: MUNICIPAL
SOLID WASTE
CHARACTERISTICS
& MANAGEMENT
Miss Nurul Nadzirah Mohd Yusof
Email: nadzirah@unimap.edu.my
 CO 1

Course Outcome 1
Ability to ANALYSE the suitable physical, chemical
and biological treatments of industrial and
domestic food wastes
Course Outline
01 Municipal Solid Waste Characteristics

Physical, Chemical & Biological Characteristics

02 Effective Management Of Solid Waste

Why need effective management system?
How to achieve?

03 Functional Elements of Solid Waste Management

The six (6) stages of solid waste management processes.

 Municipal
S o l i d
W a s t e
( M S W )
Characteristics
S O L I D
W A S T E
Any solid (except solid that
dissolved in wastewater)
or liquid that exist in the form
of sludge.

Include: Does not include:

Garbage, sludge, and other
discarded solid materials
resulting from industrial and
commercial operations and
from community activities.
Dissolved solid/material in
domestic sewage or other
significant/common pollutants
in water resources (TS,TDS,
TSS in wastewater effluent)
 Categories/Types of Solid Waste

Municipal
Hazardous & Solid Waste Agricultural
Universal (MSW) Waste
Waste

Industrial Radioactive
Waste Waste
SOLID
WASTE
Medical Construction
Waste & Demolition
Debris
MSW Solid Waste Characteristics

01 02 03
Physical Chemical Biological

3R & Waste to Composting

Landfilling Energy (WtE) & Landfilling
Physical
Characteristics
• 3R (Reduce, reuse, recycle)
• Important for landfilling purpose

Specific Weight Moisture Particle Size and

01 (Density) 02 Content 03 Distribution

Permeability of
04 Field Capacity 05 Compacted Waste
 Defined as weight of material Specific Weight (Density)
(kg or lb)/unit volume (m3 or ft3).

Important to predict storage vol.:

• compaction in a collection truck
• compaction within a landfill cell

The density of MSW depends on:

• Degree of compaction
• Moisture content
• Component composition

 Density increase as physical irregularities

decrease
 Compaction increase by reducing
irregularities
 Shredding, bailing and size reduction
techniques will increase the density
 Shredder for MSW

Waste balers for MSW

 Moisture Content
The moisture in a sample is
expressed as percentage of the
wet weight of the MSW material

The wet-weight method is most

commonly used in the field of solid
waste management.
The size and Example
distribution of the
components of wastes
are important for the For example,
recovery of materials, ferrous items
especially when which are of a
mechanical means are large size may be
used, such as trommel too heavy to be
screens and magnetic separated by a
separators. magnetic belt or
drum system.
Particle Size &
Electromagnetic
Distribution
Trommel Screen Magnetic Separator
Particle Size Distribution Effect on
Chemical Reaction

Improving the rate of chemicals reactions:

• In decomposition of solid organic matter

• Increasing the rate of combustion in an
incinerator

 Smaller particle size, greater surface area

 Rapid reaction with microorganism in a
compost pile
 Rapid combustion in an incinerator.
 Field Capacity
The field capacity of solid waste is
the total amount of moisture that
can be retained in a waste sample
subject to the downward pull of
gravity

This is critical in determining the

formation of leachate in landfills

Water in excess of the field capacity

will be released as leachate
Chemical
Characteristics
• Important in evaluating the alternative processing and recovery
options.
• Used primarily for combustion and waste to energy (WTE)
calculations.
• Can also be used to estimate biological and chemical behaviors.
• If solid wastes are to be used as fuel, the four most important
properties to be known are:
Proximate Ultimate
01 analysis 02 analysis
Energy Fusion point
03 analysis 04 of ash

Waste to Energy
 Proximate Analysis
Measure the elements of moisture,
ash, volatile combustible matter
and fixed carbon.
• Volatile matter and fixed
carbon: indicators of the
combustion capability of MSW
• Moisture content & ash:
noncombustible component of
MSW
Energy Content
The energy content of solid waste
can be determined by:
1) Combusting samples in a full-scale
boiler – measure the steam output
2) Laboratory bomb calorimeter –
measure heat release at a cont. temp
from the combustion of a dry sample
3) Calculate the elemental
composition
Ultimate Analysis
Total elemental analysis of the
chemical components of solid
WASTE.
Produce more comprehensive
results than the proximate
analyses as it represents each
individual element (C, H, O, N, S)
present in a sample.
Fusion Point of Ash
The temperature in which the ash
from waste combustion forms
solid (clinker) by process of fusion
and agglomeration.
Fusion point are often measured
under reducing and oxidizing
conditions.
Typical fusing temperature (1100-
1200 C)
 Ultimate Analysis

Proximate Analysis
Ultimate Analysis/
Elemental Analysis
v
Biological
Characteristics
• Important for composting & landfilling purpose.
• Determine by organic fractions of MSW (biodegradable).
• The organic fraction of MSW (excluding plastics, rubber & leather)
can be classified as:
Water-soluble constituents Lignin (present in some
01 (sugar, starches, etc.) 05 paper products)

Hemicellulose (a product of Lignocellulose (combination

02 5 & 6-carbon sugars) 06 of lignin & cellulose)
Cellulose (a product of 6-
03 carbon sugar glucose) 07 Proteins (amino acid chains)

Fats, oils & waxes (esters of

04 alcohols & long chain fatty acids)
Biological
Characteristics
• The most important biological characteristic of the
organic fraction of MWS is:
• Almost all the organic components can be
converted biologically to gases and relatively inert
organic and inorganic solids.

• The production of odors and the generation of flies are

also related to the putrescible nature of the organic
materials. Highly of concern especially in technique of
landfilling.
E ffective
Management of
Municipal Solid
W a s t e
Effective Management of Solid Waste
Why need effective management?
• To ensure better human health.
• To generate an environment that is safe for workers
• Safeguard public health by preventing the spread of
disease
• Economically sustainable: It must operate at a cost
acceptable to community.
• Environmentally sustainable : minimize as much as
possible the environmental impact

How to achieve?
Requires implementation of six FUNTIONAL
ELEMENTS starting from the initial generation of
waste until waste disposal.
Food Waste Management
Functional
Elements of
Municipal Solid
W a s t e
Management
S y s t e m
Functional Elements
of Municipal Solid
Waste Management
System

Functional Elements
of Solid Waste
Management System
comprises of six
basic elements as
shown in the Figure.
Functional Elements of MSW Management

01 Generation of the
solid waste 03 Collection
05 Material and
resource recovery

02 On-site handling
& storage 04 Transfer &
transport 06 Disposal
1. Generation
of Solid Waste
• A result of natural, human and animal
activities.
• Knowledge of generation of solid waste is
important in the planning, designing and
operation of solid waste management
system.
• Generation has two aspects:

Quality of Quantity of
01 solid waste 02 solid waste
Include sources, types and Represents the generation
typical composition of solid rates and total quantities and
waste along with its volumes of waste generated..
properties
2. On-site
Handling & Storage
On-site handling
Sorting of waste components at source.

On-site storage
• Storage of waste in special containers
depending on type/capacity of solid waste.

• Increase costs (labor, workers compensation, fuel

and equipment costs) – modern technology has
opted for the use of large containers that can be
emptied mechanically using a vehicle equipped with
an articulated pick-up mechanism.
3. Collection
Includes gathering or picking up of solid
wastes from the various sources, and also
hauling of these wastes to the disposal site
or transfer station and unloading there.
While hauling and unloading are similar for
most collection system, the collection or
pickup of waste varies with facilities and
locations:
Hauled- container Stationary container
01 systems (HCS) 02 systems (SCS)
Containers are hauled to the Containers remain at the point
processing, transfer or disposal site, of waste generation except
emptied and returned to the original when moved for collection.
point or to some other location.
Two types: 1) tilt -frame container,
2) trash-trailer.
 Hauled- container Stationary container
01 systems (HCS) 02 systems (SCS)
4. Transfer
& Transport
Refers to the means, facilities,
appurtenances used to affect the transfer
of wastes from one location to another,
usually more distant location.

Typically, the wastes from relatively

small collection vehicles are
transferred to larger vehicles and then
transported to distant locations.
5. Resources
Recovery & Processing
Processing Types of separation(determine by type of
Involves separation of solid waste to SW):
reduce the volume and weight.
1) Density separation: Used to separate
light materials (i.e: paper and plastic from the
2 methods of reducing waste volume
heavier materials such as ferrous metal,
and weight:
based on the weight difference of the
.
Chemical & Biological material in an air stream)
01 transformation (composting/size 2) Magnetic separation: unit operation
reduction) whereby ferrous metals are separated from
non ferrous materials by utilizing their
02 Recycling
magnetic properties.
3) Size separation: by using trommel drum
5. Resources
Recovery & Processing
Recovery of Solid Waste

01 Recycling

02 Composting

03 Incineration
6. Disposal
Most of the organic content after
segregation may be subjected to bacterial
decomposition with an end product called
humus or compost.

The entire process involving both

separation and bacterial conversion is
known as “Composting”

Decomposition of solid waste may be

accomplished aerobically or anaerobically.