Solid waste

Solid waste is the unwanted or useless solid materials generated from human activities
in residential, industrial or commercial areas. It may be categorised in three ways.
According to its:

 origin (domestic, industrial, commercial, construction or institutional)

 contents (organic material, glass, metal, plastic paper etc)
 hazard potential (toxic, non-toxin, flammable, radioactive, infectious etc).

Solid Waste Management reduces or eliminates the adverse impact on the environment
& human health. A number of processes are involved in effectively managing waste for
a municipality. These include monitoring, collection, transport, processing, recycling and
disposal. The quantum of waste generated varies mainly due to different lifestyles,
which is directly proportional to socio economic status of the urban population.

Types of Solid Waste

It can be classified into different types depending on their source:

 Municipal Solid Waste (MSW): It consists of household waste, construction and

demolition debris (CnD), sanitation residue, and waste from streets, generated
mainly from residential and commercial complexes. As per the MoEF it includes
commercial and residential waste generated in municipal or notified areas in
either solid or semi-solid form excluding industrial hazardous wastes but
including treated bio-medical wastes;
 Industrial Solid Waste (ISW): In a majority of cases it is termed as hazardous
waste as they may contain toxic substances, are corrosive, highly inflammable,
or react when exposed to certain things e.g. gases.
 Biomedical waste or hospital waste: It is usually infectious waste that may
include waste like sharps, soiled waste, disposables, anatomical waste, cultures,
discarded medicines, chemical wastes, etc., usually in the form of disposable
syringes, swabs, bandages, body fluids, human excreta, etc. These can be a
serious threat to human health if not managed in a scientific and discriminate
manner.

Solid waste management

1. Centralised method: This method involves collection of municipal waste from all
over the local area and by means of landfilling, dump outside the city/nagar
panchayat limits. This process looks at door-to-door collection of solid waste by
waste pickers who hand over to the collection team who then discard the
collected waste in the landfill. The waste pickers are employees of the Municipal
Corporation or Nagar Panchayat. The collection team is generally contracted out
by a tendering process.
 2. De-centralized method: This is a model seen in a few places like Suryapet in
Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore in Karnataka. The waste is collected ward-wise
and is segregated at source into bio-degradable and non-biodegradable. The
biodegradable waste is composted at a nearby facility by different methods of
aerobic and anerobic composting. The non-biodegradable waste is further
categorised into paper, plastic, metal and other waste and then further collected
by recyclers for up-cycling or downcycling of products

SOURCES AND TYPES OF SOLID WASTES

Source Typical waste generators Types of solid wastes

Residential Single and multifamily Food wastes, paper,

dwellings cardboard, plastics, textiles,
leather, yard wastes, wood,
glass, metals, ashes, special
wastes (e.g., bulky items,
consumer electronics, white
goods, batteries, oil, tires),
and household hazardous
wastes.).

Industrial Light and heavy Housekeeping wastes,

manufacturing, fabrication, packaging, food wastes,
construction sites, power construction and demolition
and chemical plants. materials, hazardous
wastes, ashes, special
wastes.

Commercial Stores, hotels, restaurants, Paper, cardboard, plastics,

markets, office buildings, wood, food wastes, glass,
etc. metals, special wastes,
hazardous wastes.

Institutional Schools, hospitals, prisons, Same as commercial.

government centers.

Construction and demolition New construction sites, road Wood, steel, concrete, dirt,
repair, renovation sites, etc.
demolition of buildings

Municipal services Street cleaning, Street sweepings;

landscaping, parks, landscape and tree
beaches, other recreational trimmings; general wastes
areas, water and wastewater from parks, beaches, and
treatment plants. other recreational areas;
sludge.

Process (manufacturing, Heavy and light Industrial process wastes,

etc.) manufacturing, refineries, scrap materials, off-
chemical plants, power specification products, slay,
plants, mineral extraction tailings.
and processing.

Agriculture Crops, orchards, vineyards, Spoiled food wastes,

 dairies, feedlots, farms. agricultural wastes,
hazardous wastes (e.g.,
pesticides).

Generation of Solid Waste:

The generation of solid waste is the inevitable consequence of all processes

where materials are used. Extraction of raw materials, manufacture of products,
consumption, and waste management all generate wastes. The rate of material
use today is so large, both with regard to the total amounts and seen as a per
capita average, that the waste generated will impact on the environmental
quality and human health worldwide if it is not managed properly.

A few centuries, or even decades ago, the solid waste generated was a small
fraction of what it is today, the drivers of the generation are primarily the
increased availability of energy and secondly the population growth.

Waste generation is also related to urbanization and global trade. Archeologists

derive information of old times through the wastes that most old cities are built
on. From the subsurface strata, it is possible to learn that waste generation has
varied much over time, increased...

Classification of Solid Waste:

There are several different ways of classifying solid waste. As you have seen, one way
is to classify it by where it is generated. Another way is based on whether the waste is
biodegradable or not.
Biodegradable solid wastes are those thatcan be broken down (decomposed) into their
constituent elements by bacteria and other micro-organisms. Food waste, manures and
waste from producing crops are the main biodegradable wastes. If the decomposition
process takes place in the absence of air (anaerobically), methane gas can
form. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and can explode if enough of it
accumulates and an ignition source (such as an electrical spark) is present. The
decomposition may also produce offensive and irritating smells.

However, controlled anaerobic decomposition can produce biogas – a useful fuel for
heating, cooking and even power generation that you learned about in Study Session
5– as well as fertilisers and soil conditioners. Waste that decomposes in the presence of
an adequate air supply (aerobically) under controlled conditions can produce compost,
which can be used to improve the quality of soils.

Non-biodegradable (also sometimes called inorganic) solid wastes are those thatdo
not decompose by microbial action. These wastes include plastic containers, scrap
metal, food and drink cans and plastic bags.

Materials in solid wastes can also be classified as combustible or non-combustible,

depending on whether they will burn or not.

Depending on the inherent dangers associated with its physical and chemical
properties, solid waste can be classified as either hazardous or non-
hazardous. Hazardous wastespose substantial or potential threats to public health or
the environment. For example, toxic, infectious and corrosive (acidic or alkaline)
substances are all likely to be classed as hazardous. Non-hazardous wastes are those
that do not possess hazardous characteristics, although they can still be harmful to
people or the environment.
Properties of Solid waste:
 MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE

Characterization of municipal solid waste

The Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) report describes the national waste stream. It
includes data on waste generation, recycling, and disposal as well as data on per capita generation
and discard rates. Information is also presented on materials (e.g., paper, glass, metals, plastic) that
comprise MSW and products found in the waste stream (e.g., durable goods, containers,
packaging). Aggregate data on the infrastructure for MSW management, such as the number of
curbside recycling programs and landfills are also included.

To identify the exact characteristics of municipal wastes, it is necessary that we analyse them using
physical and chemical parameters.

Physical characteristics

Physical characteristics of solid wastes are important for the selection and operation of equipment and
for the analysis and design of disposal facilities.

(i ) Density:

• It is a critical factor in the design of a SWM system, it is essential for the design of all elements of the
solid waste management system viz., community storage, transportation and disposal.

• For example in high income area, considerable benefit is derived through the use of compaction
vehicles on collection routes, because the waste is typically of low density.

• To explain, an efficient operation of a landfill demands compaction of wastes to optimum density.

• Any normal compaction equipment can achieve reduction in volume of wastes by 75%, which
increases an initial density of 100 kg/m 3 to 400 kg/m 3.

Biological Characteristics