Solid Waste Management

Solid Waste
 Material which arises from various human activities and which is
normally discarded as useless or unwanted
 It consists of the highly heterogeneous mass of discarded
materials from the urban community as well as the more
homogeneous accumulation of agricultural, industrial and mining
wastes

Classification
Solid wastes may be classified based partly on content and partly on
moisture and heating value
Garbage
Useless solid waste constituents produced during the preparation or
storage of meat, fruit, vegetables, etc. These wastes have a moisture
content of about 70% and a heating value of around 6×106 J/kg.
Rubbish
Non-putrescible solid waste constituents, either combustible or non-
combustible. Combustible wastes would include paper, wood, scrap,
rubber, leather etc. Non-combustible wastes are metals, glass
ceramics etc. These wastes contain a moisture content of about 25%
and the heating value of the waste is around 15 ×106 J/kg.
Pathological Wastes
Dead animals, human waste, etc. The moisture content is 85% and
there are 5% non-combustible solids. The heating value is around
2.5 ×106 J/kg.
Industrial Wastes
Chemicals, paints, sand, metal ore processing, flyash, sewage
treatment sludge, etc.
Agricultural Wastes
Farm animal manure, crop residues, etc.

Principal Sources
 Domestic
 Commercial
 Industrial
 Agricultural activities
Urban Wastes
 Domestic and commercial wastes are considered together as the so-
called urban wastes
 The main constituents of urban wastes are similar throughout the
world, but the weight generated, the density and the proportion of
constituents vary widely from country to country, and from town to
town within a country according to the level of economic
development, geographic location, weather and social conditions
 The solid refuse generated in urban areas contains articles of
various sizes and types and consists of dust, vegetable leaves, waste
paper, large paper-board cartons, glass bottles, worn out tyres,
carcasses of animals and night soil
 The amount of refuse collected from urban areas in India is of the
order of 0.3 kg to 0.5 kg per person per day excluding night soil
Industrial Activities
 Manufacturing industries produce wastes which are solid or semi-
solid
 These wastes can be pyrophoric (self-igniting), explosive, toxic or
radioactive
 Chemical process industries (CPI) generate a variety of wastes,
both organic and inorganic, which are mixtures with a wide range
of component concentrations
 Most of the industrial wastes generated in cities come from small
scale operations and these are usually disposed off along with the
city refuse
 Large industries are often located outside the cities and the
disposal of their waste is primarily the responsibility of the
industries themselves
 Some of the industrial wastes are often recycled (scrap metal and
paper) while others can be utilized as an energy source for specific
processing plants in some regions
Agricultural Wastes
 In India, agricultural wastes amount to around 2 kg per person
per day
 Animal and vegetable wastes contain valuable minerals and
nutrients.
 Humus from agricultural wastes contains nitrogen, phosphorus,
potash and trace elements which are vital to the fertility of the
soil and optimum plant growth

Public Health Aspects

 Improper handling of solid wastes is a health hazard and causes
damage to the environment
 The main risks to human health arise from the breeding of disease
vectors, primarily flies and rats
 Public Health Aspects (continued)
 The refuse dumps also serves as a source of food for rates and
small rodents which quickly proliferate and spread to neighboring
areas
 Rats destroy property, infect by direct bite and spread various
diseases like plague, endemic typhus, salmonellosis, trichinosis
etc.
 The hazardous wastes are injurious to human health; some have
acute effects while others pose a health hazard after prolonged
period of exposure
 The environmental damage caused by solid wastes is mostly
aesthetic in nature
 Uncontrolled dumping of urban wastes is the danger for water
pollution when the leachate from a refuse dump enters surface
water or ground water resources
 Uncontrolled burning of open dump can cause air pollution
Solid Waste Management
Defined as the application of techniques that will ensure the orderly
execution of the function of collection, processing, and disposal of
solid waste. These functions are called the three basic functional
elements of solid waste management.
Collection
Refers to the gathering of solid wastes from places such as
residences, commercial, institutional and industrial establishments,
and public places.
Processing
Refers to the activity applied to solid waste to prepare it for
subsequent operation
Disposal
Refers to the placing of solid waste in its ultimate resting place.
 Solid Waste Collection and Transportation
Collection is the first fundamental function of solid waste management
Methods of collection
Hauled-container system
 The container is hauled from the collection point to the final point
of disposal, processing facility, or transfer station
 The refuse is delivered to fixed storage bins usually built from
concrete blocks, having capacities between 100 and 500 liters and
placed at intervals 50 to 200 meters.
 The refuse is stored in the bins till it is collected for disposal by a
vehicle
 The refuse is usually removed using a shovel and a basket from the
bin and dumped into the waiting vehicle bye the workers
Stationary-container system
 The container is emptied into collection vehicles at the point of
collection
 The waste is brought in containers by individuals to a waiting
vehicle which travels a regular route twice or thrice a week
 The containers are emptied by the vehicle crew and returned to the
individual
Transportation
 Various types of vehicles from hand carts to modern mechanized
vehicles are used for transportation of solid waste
 Hand cart collection is the best mode of transport from congested
and narrow places
 Large vehicles with some form of mechanical compression to
increase the density and, hence the pay load are suitable for some
well-planned city centers in India.
 If the disposal site is situated far off from the loading points the
collection crew waste a lot of time traveling to and from the
disposal site
 In a relay system the collection can be made in trailers employing a
lesser number of tractors, or two vehicles can be employed for one
unit of crew (2:1 relay)
 In the second alternative, the crew stays at the collection site and
the unloading at the disposal site is done mechanically
 When the transport time is approximately half of the time required
to collect a full load, a 3:2 relay can be used

Transfer Station
 A transfer station is a facility where the wastes collected may be
stored temporarily or transferred from the small collection vehicles
to bigger transport vehicles for transportation to the destination
point
 There are two general types of transfer stations: direct discharge
transfer and storage transfer station
 In direct discharge transfer, collection vehicle dump their loads
directly into the larger transportation vehicles
 In storage transfer, the solid wastes are emptied into storage pits
or platforms. The wastes are then later loaded into big transport
vehicles for hauling to the destination point
 In order that the transfer station may be economically viable, the
total cost of collection, transfer and disposal must be less than
the total cost of collection, direct transport by collection trucks
and disposal
Two level transfer station
Economy viability of a transfer station
 Disposal Methods
The process of selection of the right solid waste disposal method is a
complex one due to the heterogeneity of the urban refuse, but an
appropriate selection can save thousands of rupees and avoid
future problems for the average municipality.
Methods:
 Open dumping
 Sanitary land filling (controlled tipping)
 Incineration
 Composting
Sanitary land filling is the main method used in the developed
countries and open dumping is very common in India
Open Dumping
 It is cheap and requires no planning
 It cause public health problems by encouraging the breeding of
flies, rats, mosquitoes, and other pests.
 It is also a source of objectionable odors and cause air pollution

Sanitary Landfill
It may be defined as a method of disposing refuse on land without
creating nuisances or hazards to public health or safety

Landfill operation
 Refuse is spread and compacted in thin layers within a small area.
This layered structure is usually referred to as a cell. For proper
compaction, the depth should not exceed about 2 meters
 The cell is then covered with a layer of soil which is spread
uniformly and then compacted
 To provide an adequate seal the cover should normally be at least
20 cm thick
 If the refuse includes large irregular objects it may be necessary to
increase the thickness of the cover
 On the other hand, a cover thickness of less than 15 cm may be
satisfactory if the refuse has been pulverized
 When a number of cell reach the final desired elevation, a final
cover of about one meter of earth is placed and it is again
compacted

The land filling operation is essentially a biological method of waste

treatment. The refuse stabilization may be divided into five distinct
phases with the overall process.
Sanitary landfill operation
First Phase
Aerobic bacteria, which are dominant, deplete the available oxygen
and as a result of aerobic respiration the temperature increases
Second Phase
Anaerobic conditions become established and hydrogen and carbon
dioxide are evolved through acidogenic activity
Third Phase
Establishment of methanogenic population of bacteria and the
beginning of methanogenic activity
Fourth Phase
The methanogenic activity becomes stabilized
Fifth Phase
The methanogenic activity decreases representing depletion of the
organic matter, and ultimately the system returns to aerobic
conditions within the landfill
Products
 The end products of decomposition during phase three and four
are mostly CO2 and CH4, accompanied by small amount of H2S,
NH3 and water
 During first year the amount of N2 decreases as air cannot
penetrate the soil to the sealed cell
 Methane production can usually be observed around 200 days
after refuse placement, i.e., phase three of refuse digestion, but
the period of production of CH4 during phase four varies and is
often difficult to predict
 Escape vents for the gases are provided so that they do not build
up to the dangerous levels
 Landfill gas is a rich and renewable source of energy
Composition profile of main gases during refuge digestion in a
landfill
The advantages of a sanitary landfill, as opposed to an open dumps
are:
 The public health problem are minimized
 There is no air pollution from burning
 Fire hazards are minimal
Disadvantage
 There is a danger of ground water pollution from leachates
Incineration
 Incineration involves the burning of solid wastes at high
temperatures; leftover ashes, glass, metals and unburned
combustible amount to perhaps 25% of the original waste
 Incineration leads to air pollution, typical air pollutants from
incineration are flyash, SO2, hydrogen chloride, and organic acids
 Industrial solid wastes that are incinerated are mostly cellulose
type, and more often industries have to handle certain kinds of
chemical wastes in the form of either solids or sludge
 In chemical process industries incineration is most frequently used
to dispose of tarry and gummy petroleum and plastic intermediate
wastes and general refuse
 Waste combustibility is characterized by flammability limits, flash
point, and ignition temperature
 Multiple hearth, rotary and fluidized bed type incinerators are
finding wide applications in industrial waste disposal
 If incineration is to become an economical method for solid
waste disposal, useful material and energy must be recovered by
the process
 The heat recovered can be utilized for generating electricity or for
space heating purpose
 The solid waste has about one-third the heating value of coal, but
unlike coal it has a very low sulphur content
 The advantages of incineration include a wide range ability for
handling varying loads and small space requirement for ultimate
disposal
 Incineration requires fairly high level of maintenance and the
operating costs are higher than those for the operation of a
sanitary landfill
Compositing
 Compositing of refuse is an aerobic method of decomposing solid
waste
 Many types of microorganisms, already present in the waste,
stabilize the organic matter in the waste to produce a soil
conditioner
 The organisms include bacteria, which predominate at all stages,
fungi, which often appear after the first week, and actinomycetes,
which assist during the final stages
Process Steps
 The mesophilic bacteria which oxidize the organic matter in the
refuse to carbon dioxide and liberate heat. The temperature rises
to about 45oC and at this point the thermophilic bacteria take over
and continue the decomposition. Temperature further rises to
about 60oC
 Refuse is periodically turned over to allow sufficient oxygen to
penetrate to all parts of the material to support aerobic life
 After about three weeks, the compost is stabilized.
 The end point of a compositing operation can be measured by
noting a drop in temperature. The compost should have an earthy
smell and a dark brown color
 Excessive moisture makes it difficult to maintain aerobic
conditions while a dearth of moisture inhibits biological life. A
moisture content of about 55% should be established so that
biological activity may proceed at an optimum rate

Modern methods of composting fall into two broad categories:

1. Manual (Indore process and Banglore process)
2. Mechanical (The Buhler, The Dano, The Tollemache and The
Nusoil process)
Indore process
 Layers of vegetable waste and night-soil are alternated, each about
three inches thick to a depth of upto 1.5 meters in a trench or form
a mound above ground called a windrow
 The mixture is kept aerobic by turning regularly for two or three
months
 The compost is then left for another month or so without turning
Bangalore Process
 The material is placed in layers, as in the Indore process
 The material is not turned but is digested under essentially
anaerobic conditions whereby decomposition is complete in four to
five months
 The compost is free from pathogenic organisms and contain 1.5%
N, 1.1% P (P2O5) and 1.5% K (K2O) on dry basis and proves a
valuable nutrient for the soil
Buhler Process
 The material is ground in two stages in hammer mills; the non-
compostable inorganic materials are separated by strong sifting
action on circular swinging sieves
 The material is then decomposed aerobically in open windrows;
stabilization may take about two or three month
Dano Process
 The dano process uses a long rotating drum, called a bio-stabilizer
unit, for decomposing the refuse
 The rotating drum is inclined so that the waste flows from one end
to the other
 The refuse is partially decomposed in the drum and the outcoming
refuse is generally free from odor and pathogenic organisms
 It is then completely decomposed in windrows; the entire
operation may take about four week
Tollemache Process
 The refuse is pulverized in a vertical pulveriser and then passed
through a screening plant to screen out paper, plastics, etc.
 The pulverized-screened refuse is allowed to decompose in the
windrows for three weeks, with three to four turnings
 The compost is then cured for four to five weeks
Nusoil Process
 In this process the noncompostable material is separated from the
refuse which is then pulverized in a hammer mill
 The pulverized matter goes to a vertical digester where the
decomposition takes place. The digester is a circular unit having
seven sections; the refuse moves downward through each section of
the digester
 It is kept for about a day in each section, and air flow rate and
water addition is regulated so that decomposition takes place under
optimum condition.
Utilization
Many solid wastes generated by industry can be utilized directly
 Fly and bottom ash from power plants can be used commercially,
largely as cement substitute
 New uses are being developed for fly ash, e.g., to make bricks, to
dewater industrial wastewater sludge, as a land cover, etc.
 India produces about 6×106 tonnes of bagasse from sugar cane
annually. This bagasse can be utilized for the manufacture of paper
pulp which can be displace hardwood pulp of similar quality and
cost
Recovery and Recycling
 Solid wastes contain significant amounts of valuable materials like
steel, aluminum, copper and other metals which, if they are
recovered and reused, would reduce the volume of the waste to be
collected and at same time would yield significant salvage and
resale income
 Some important solid wastes that have been successfully reclaimed
are paper, glass, metals and plastics
Paper
 The paper industry treats the incoming waste paper according to
its source
 Waste paper contains grit, sand, ink, tar, paper clips, plastic
coatings, rubber bands, etc.
 Only a small fraction of recycled paper ends up as virgin paper
and, more commonly, used paper is made into paperboard,
insulation, paper bags, etc.
 Recycled paper can be used for printing only a few times,
because with each recycle the fibers become somewhat shorter
and more frayed, with the consequence that the recycled product
is weaker than similar product made from virgin fibers
 Perhaps the most promising use or reuse of waste paper is the
conversion of the material to energy
Glass
 Glass is a perfect product of recycling . It is clean, easy to
reprocess, and can be used in many ways
 The main problem in any reuse of glass is its separation from other
materials in the solid waste
 The typical glass separation methods include froth flotation, dense
media separation, and color sorting

Metals
 The metals arising as scrap include both ferrous as well as non
ferrous types
 The ferrous metals are separated first from nonferrous metals; this
can be achieved magnetically
 The principal nonferrous metals which are subject to recycling are
aluminium, copper and lead
Aluminium
 The methods used for the recovery of aluminium from solid waste
include gravity separation, electric or magnetic separation, and
chemical or thermal separation
 A typical gravity separator is the zigzag separator where high
pressure air is used to separate aluminium from heavy materials
 In the magnetic separation an aluminium magnet produces eddy
currents and the interaction of these currents with the magnetic
field is responsible for exerting a repellent force on the metal and
causing its separation from other materials like copper and zinc
 Chemical methods are also used for the separation of aluminium
from other materials. For example, “Sweating” which exploits the
differences in the melting points of metals has been used to
separate aluminium from lead and zinc
 High purity recycled aluminium can be reused as a substitute for
the pure virgin metal
Copper
 Copper is usually found in industrial wastes in the form of wire
and is often covered with insulation
 The insulation can be removed either by mechanical or thermal
methods
 Pure copper and its alloys may be melted for reprocessing and cast
into billets or ingots for various applications
Lead
 Lead scrap is readily melted in cast iron or steel kettles and
converted into alloys for cable sheathing
 The primary source of lead scrap are storage batteries, the contents
of which may be melted to produce lead carrying about 3% of
antimony
 More antimony is added to bring the final antimony content of
alloy to 7 or 8%, and then the lead is re-refined into new battery
plates
Plastics
 In India plastics form a rather small percentage of the total solid
wastes, but their use is increasing at an accelerated pace
 Plastics basically consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen but are
not bio-degradable
 One possible method of recycling plastic is to use it in the form in
which it was first manufactured, i.e., by mixing the raw plastic
during the production of new packs
 If we can not mix the raw plastics to new packs, then recycling may
be accomplished by reusing the plastic in another form like soft
waxes, greases, adhesives and tars as well as a range of gases
 Another idea which being carefully investigated is the total
decomposition of plastic materials
 Once the economic and technological problems are overcome,
recycling of waste materials will become an important way of solid
waste management