SOLID WASTE

MANAGEMENT

Chapter 1
BASIC AND FUNCTIONAL
ELEMENTS OF INTEGRATED
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

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 Solid waste is material, which is not in liquid form,
and has no value to the person who is responsible
for it.
 Although human or animal excreta often ends up in
the solid waste stream, generally the term solid
waste does not include such materials.
 Synonyms to solid waste are terms such as
“garbage”, “trash”, “refuse” and “rubbish”.

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The term municipal solid waste, refers to solid
wastes from houses, streets and public places, shops,
offices, and hospitals, which are very often the
responsibility of municipal or other governmental
authorities.

Solid waste from industrial processes are generally

not considered "municipal" however they need to be
taken into account when dealing with solid waste as
they often end up in the municipal solid waste
stream.
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 Contents
A general overview
Functional elements of Solid waste
management systems
Integrated solid waste management
Planning for Integrated solid waste
management

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 Overview (cont’d)
• Solid waste management may be defined as
the discipline associated with the control of
generation, storage, collection, transfer and
transport, processing and disposal of solid
waste .

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 Overview(cont’d)
The first goal of SWM is to protect the health of the
population.

Other goals include

 promotion of environmental quality
 sustainability ,
 support of economic productivity and employment
generation. 6
 Overview(cont’d)
• The scope of SWM
encompasses

 planning and management systems,

 waste generation processes, and organizations,
 procedures and facilities for waste handling.

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 Overview(cont’d)
• The functioning of SWM systems depends on their
adaptation to particular characteristics of the
political, social, economic, and environmental
context of the respective community or country.

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 ii. Functional elements of WMS

This may be described as the activities associated with

the management of solid wastes from the point of
generation to the final disposal point.

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 Functional elements of WMS
1. Waste generation
2. Waste handling and separation , storage and
processing at source
3. Collection
4. Separation, processing and transformation of solid
waste
5. Transfer and transport
6. Disposal 10
 Functional elements of WMS
1. Waste generation

activities in which materials are identified as no longer

useful and are either thrown away or gathered together
for disposal.

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• Separation
this is grouping waste into various categories depending on
the nature of it e.g.
• Organics
• Paper
• Bottles
• Cans etc.
Important step in recovering materials for recycling and reuse,
and storage at source

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• Storage
On site storage important for the following reasons:
• Public health concerns
• Aesthetic considerations
Processing at source involves activities such
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as compacting and yard composting.
3. Collection
includes gathering of solid wastes and recyclable
materials , transport of these to the location where
collection vehicle is emptied
• location could be
processing facility
transfer station
landfill site etc

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4. Separation, Processing and Transformation
Usually takes place at material recovery sites, combustion
sites and disposal sites
Processing includes
separation of bulky items, separation by screens and
manual separation of waste components
magnets for ferrous metals
size reduction by shredding
volume reduction by compaction and combustion

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Developing Countries Have Recycling System Starting From
Curbside Collection System. Separate Colored Collections
Bins are Provided to Deposit Separate Waste Material
Separation of Recyclable and Placing Separately
• Transformation processes used
 to reduce volume and weight of waste requiring disposal
 to recover conversion products and energy
• transform organic fraction by
– biological process - aerobic composting
– chemical process – combustion
5. Transfer and Transport
 transfer from smaller collection sites to larger transport equipment
 a transfer station is a facility with a designated receiving area
where waste collection vehicles discharge their loads.
 usually over some distance to the processing or disposal site (i.e
when disposal sites are far from point of collection)

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6. Disposal
Land filling or Dumping
Incineration
Composting

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• Composting
• organic municipal solid waste are subjected to bacterial
decomposition, the end product
• remaining after dissimulator and assimilatory bacterial
activity is called compost.

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iii. Integrated Solid waste management
can be defined as:
 selection and application of suitable techniques,
technologies and management programs to achieve specific
waste management goals and objectives.
An effective ISWM System considers how to prevent ,
recycle, and manage solid waste in ways that most
effectively protect human health and the environment

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• ISWM activities and hierarchy are:

1. Waste prevention/ Source reduction

2. Recycling
3. Waste transformation(composting/
combustion)
4. Land filling

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 ISWM: Waste Prevention/source reduction
1. Prevent waste from being generated

Strategies:
• less packaging
• design products to last longer
• reuse products and materials

Helps reduce handling, treatment, and

disposal costs and ultimately the production
of methane
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 ISWM:
2. Recycling
Process involves
collecting, reprocessing and / or recovering certain waste
materials (e.g. glass, paper, metals plastics) to make new
materials or products
Environmental and economic benefits
jobs and income
supply raw material to industry
reduce demand on resources and amount of waste
requiring disposal by landfilling 26
 ISWM:
3. Waste transformation
• Involves
physical, chemical, or biological alteration of waste.
Techniques are applied to
Improve efficiency of SWM systems and operations
recover reusable and recyclable material
recover conversion products (e.g. compost) and energy
(heat and combustible biogas)
• results in reduced use of landfill capacity

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 ISWM:
4. Land filling
Activities used to manage waste that cannot be prevented or
recycled
waste is placed in properly designed, constructed and
managed landfills (disposal in the earth’s mantle)
Methane recovery (biogas)
Represents the least desirable means of dealing with
society’s wastes

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 iv. Planning for ISWM

Selection of a proper mix of alternatives and technologies to

meet changing local waste management needs while
meeting legislative mandates.

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 Planning for ISWM
Proper mix of alternatives and technologies
considerations
proper mix b/n
amount of waste separated for reuse and recycling
 amount of waste composted
amount of waste combusted
amount of waste to be disposed off in landfills

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 Planning for ISWM
• Further considerations
facilities
• to collect waste separated at source
• to separate waste components
• to compost organic fraction of MSW
timing for the application of specific technologies
how should decisions be made

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 Planning for ISWM
Flexibility in meeting future changes
Considerations
changes in quantities and composition of waste
stream
changes in specifications and markets for
recyclable material
rapid developments in technology

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 Planning for ISWM
• Monitoring and evaluation
ISWM is an on going activity that requires continual
monitoring and evaluation to determine if program goals
and objectives are being met.
– Developing and implementing a monitoring and
evaluation plan is essential for timely changes to be made
to reflect changes in waste characteristics new and
improved waste management technologies

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References
•http://rss-fukia.org/english/ipages/landfill.htm
•http://www.planning.ri.gov/swmp/SWP-Part1-3.PDF
•http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/External/Urban/UrbanDev.nsf/

•http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/UniqueKeyLookup
•http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dcp/html/fkl/ada/about/1_2.html

•http://www.wasteboards.nsw.gov.au/conferences

•Tchobanoglous, G., Theisen, H., Vigil, S. Integrated Solid Waste Management

Engineering Principles and Management Issues. McGraw-Hill, Inc, 1993.

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