Municipal solid waste

Municipal solid waste

The functional elements of Municipal Solid waste are as follows:

1) Waste generation:
Waste generation encompasses activities in which materials are identified as no longer being of value and are either thrown away or gathered together for disposal.

2) Waste handling and separation, storage and processing at the source:
Waste handling and separation involves the activities associated with management of waste until they are placed in storage container for collection. Handling also encompasses the movement of loaded containers to the point of collection. Separation of waste components is an important step in the handling and storage of solid waste at the source.

3) Collection:
The functional element of collection includes not only the gathering of solid waste and recyclable materials, but also the transport of these materials, after collection, to the location where the collection vehicle is emptied. This location may be a materials processing facility, a transfer station or a landfill disposal site.

4) Separation and processing and transformation of solid wastes:
The types of means and facilities that are now used for the recovery of waste materials that have been separated at the source include curbside collection, drop off and buy back centers. The separation and processing of wastes that have been separated at the source and the separation of commingled wastes usually occur at a materials recovery facility, transfer stations, combustion facilities and disposal sites.

5) Transfer and transport:
This element involves two steps:
i)the transfer of wastes from the smaller collection vehicle to the larger transport equipment
ii)the subsequent transport of the wastes, usually over long distances, to a processing or disposal site.

6) Disposal:
Today the disposal of wastes by landfilling or landspreading is the ultimate fate of all solid wastes, whether they are residential wastes collected and transported directly to a landfill site, residual materials from materials recovery facilities (MRFs), residue from the combustion of solid waste, compost or other substances from various solid waste processing facilities. A modern sanitary land is not a dump; it is an engineered facility used for disposing of solid wastes on land without creating nuisances or hazards to public health or safety, such as the breeding of rats and insects and the contamination of ground water.