ES 315: Solid Waste Management – Basic
Principles and Technical Aspects
Prof. Anurag Garg
Environmental Science and Engineering Department, IIT Bombay
2025-26
Syllabus
• Municipal solid waste (MSW) composition and characteristics
• Collection and transfer of MSW
• MSW processing using biological processes
• Thermal treatment methods for MSW
• MSW landfilling
• Plastic waste management
• E-waste management
• Biomedical waste management
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Evaluation Scheme
• Total Marks – 100
✓ Class tests (Total 2) – 15 marks
✓ Term paper (in group) - 10 marks [Presentation + Extended Abstract]
✓ Class assignments – 10 marks
✓ Mid semester exam – 25 marks
✓ End semester exam – 40 marks
Please note 75% attendance is necessary.
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Tentative timeline
Activity Date
Quiz-1 25/28th Aug
Term Project Presentation 13th and 16th Oct
Quiz-2 23rd Oct/27th Oct
References
• CPHEEO Manual, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India
• Tchobanoglous, G., Theisen, H. and Samuel, V. A. Integrated Solid Waste
Management – Engineering Principles and Management Issues
• Masters, G.M., Introduction to Environmental Engineering and Science,
Prentice Hall, New Delhi.
• Reading material
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Key Learning
• Waste generation and composition
• Status of waste management in India
• Duties of waste generators
• Classification of municipal solid waste
• Integrated municipal solid waste management
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Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
• The term municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is generally used to describe the
non-hazardous waste from a city, town or village.
• Solid or semi-solid domestic waste, sanitary, commercial, institutional,
catering and market waste and other non residential wastes, street
sweepings, silt removed or collected from the surface drains, horticulture
waste, agriculture and dairy waste, treated bio-medical waste excluding
industrial waste, bio-medical waste and e-waste, battery waste, radio-
active waste (Solid Waste Management (SWM), Rules, 2016)
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MSW Generation and Disposal in India (CPHEEO, 2016)
1.3 • Population in 2016
billion
62 • MSW Generated
million
tonnes
43
million • Waste collected
tonnes
12
• ~20% is processed or
million treated
tonnes
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Composition of MSW in Different Countries
Average MSW composition (as % wet basis)
USA UK China Thailand India
Type of Waste
(USEPA, (Burnley, (Zhang et (Nithikul et
(NSWAI)
2009) 2006) al., 2010) al., 2011)
Compostable (Yard
27.8 33.2 52.6 42.1 48
trimmings, Food scraps)
Paper 28.2 20.2 6.9 14 8
Plastics 12.3 10.2 7.3 16.2 9
Rubber, leather and
8.3 5 4.7 8.3 -
textiles
Metals 8.6 7.3 0.5 0.44 1
Wood 6.5 - 6.9 12.7 -
Glass 4.8 9.3 1.6 2.2 1
Miscellaneous 3.5 16.7 19.5 3.9 33
Moisture content (%) 30 – 40 32.4 56.50 50.8 40-60
Ash content (%) 25 – 35 22.3 19.2 10.8 -
Lower calorific value
11.0-12.0 10.1 3.0- 6.7 5.9 - 6.1 3.4 - 4.6
(MJ/kg) 9
MSW Composition In Indian Metro Cities
(in percent and on wet basis)
MSW components Delhi Mumbai Chennai Kolkata
Biodegradable fraction 38.6 62 47.24 55.06
Paper 5.6 7.5 6.45 6.07
Plastic 6.0 10 7.04 4.88
Glass 1.0 0.7 - 0.34
Metals 0.2 0.2 0.03 0.19
Inert (stones, bricks etc) 34.7 15 34.65 29.6
Miscellaneous (leather, cotton 13.9 4.6 4.59 3.86
rubber, bones etc)
Moisture 49 54 47 46
C/N 34.87 39.04 29.25 31.81
High calorific value (HCV) 7.53 7.47 10.84 5.02
(MJ/kg)
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MSW Composition…
MSW components Hyderabad Bangalore Ahmedabad Pune
Biodegradable fraction 40.00 72 40.00 55.00
Paper 7.00 11.6 6.0 5.0
Plastic 1.3 6.2 3.0 5.0
Glass - 1.4 - 10.0
Metals - 0.2 - -
Inert (stones, bricks etc) 50.00 6.5 50.00 15.0
Miscellaneous (leather, 1.7 2.1 1.00 10.00
rubber, bones etc)
Moisture 46 55 32 63
C/N 25.90 35.12 29.64 35.54
High calorific value 8.23 9.97 4.93 10.57
(HCV) (MJ/kg)
Talyan et al. (2008), ** URL 1, *** Jha et al. (2008), † Chattopadhyay et al. (2009),
‡ Sharholy et al. (2008), †‡ Lakshmikanta (2006) , *† URL 2 11
Classification of MSW
MSW components
Organic Inorganic
(e.g. metals, inerts)
Biodegradable Non-biodegradable
(e.g. plastics)
Readily degradable Slowly or partially
(e.g. food waste) degradable (e.g. paper,
textile)
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Important Terms
• Garbage – Biodegradable matter (e.g., food waste)
• Rubbish – Combustible as well as non-combustible fraction
and doesn’t include garbage
• Trash – Combustible portion of rubbish
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Existing Generalized MSW Management System in India
(Srivastava et al., 2015)
Collection system (House
MSW to house and/ or by
sweepers
Junkyard/ community
Ragpickers
dustbin
Processing of waste
Transportation by
for material recovery
vehicle
and energy recovery
Landfilling in low lying
areas
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Existing MSW Recycling System in India
Source: Srivastava et al., 2015
Municipal Solid Waste
Household Hotels and
Parks Street waste Junkyard waste markets
Ragpickers Scrap dealers
Recycling Recyclers Scrap wholesalers
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Waste Hierarchy (CPHEEO, 2016)
At Source Reduction and
Reuse
Recovering energy before Recycling
final disposal of waste
(RDF, biomethanation, co-
processing of combustible
non-biodegradable dry Composting
fraction of MSW,
incineration)
Waste to
Energy
Co-processing of combustible non-biodegradable dry MSW means using the non-recyclable, high-calorific
part of city waste (like plastics and packaging) as an alternative fuel and raw material in industries
Landfill
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Solid Waste Management Rules
• Title: Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016
• Scope: Solid or semi-solid domestic waste, sanitary waste, commercial waste,
institutional waste, catering and market waste and other non residential wastes, street
sweepings, silt removed or collected from surface drains, horticulture waste, agriculture
and dairy waste, treated bio-medical waste
• Excluding industrial waste, bio-medical waste, e-waste, battery waste, radioactive
waste
• Segregate and store the waste generated in three streams: bio-degradable, non-biodegradable
and domestic hazardous wastes and handover these to authorised waste pickers
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Duties of Waste Generators (Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016)
• Should not burn or bury the solid waste on streets, open public spaces or in the drain or water
bodies
• All waste generators should pay user fee for solid waste management
• To organise a gathering of more than hundred persons at any unlicensed place, intimate the
local body, at least three working days in advance and ensure segregation at source and
handing over of waste
• Every street vendor shall keep suitable containers for storage of waste generated during the
course of his activity
• All gated communities and institutions with more than 5,000 m2 area, hotels and restaurants
should ensure segregation. The bio-degradable waste shall be processed, treated and disposed
off through composting or bio-methanation within the premises
Draft Solid waste Management Rules (2024) is uploaded on moodle.
Please understand the difference in Rules. 18
Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM)
• ISWM can be defined as the selection and application of
suitable techniques, technologies and management
programs to achieve specific waste management objectives
and goals
• It can be viewed as a combination of technologies to tackle
waste
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Integrated Solid Waste Management System
Stakeholders: NGOs, Local
and regulatory authorities,
service users
Public Environmental
health protection
ISWM
System
Elements: Generation and Aspects: Socio-cultural,
separation, collection, transfer, financial, policies and
treatment and disposal, implementation, Laws/
recovery, 3Rs Legislation, Political,
Institutional
Resource
management
Source: Srivastava et al., 2015
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Functional Elements of a Waste Management System
• Waste generation
• Waste handling and separation, storage and processing at
the source
• Collection
• Separation, processing and transformation of solid waste
• Transfer and transport
• Disposal
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Planning for ISWM (Tchobanoglous et al., 1993)
✓ Proper mix of alternatives and technologies
✓ Flexibility in meeting future changes
✓ Monitoring and evaluation
Future challenges and opportunities (Tchobanoglous et al., 1993)
✓ Changing consumption habits
✓ Volume reduction at source
✓ Safer landfills
✓ Development of new technologies
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Adverse Impacts of Unsustainable Waste Disposal
• Health impacts
✓Can cause direct and indirect impacts
• Environmental impacts
✓Soil
✓Water
✓Air
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Health Impacts
• Improperly operated incineration plants cause air pollution
• Improperly managed and designed landfills attract insects and rodents that
spread disease
• Landfill sites should be well lined and walled to ensure that there is no leakage
into the nearby ground water sources
• Certain chemicals if released untreated, e.g. cyanides, mercury, and
polychlorinated biphenyls are highly toxic and exposure can lead to disease or
death
• Coloured plastics are harmful as their pigment contains heavy metals that are
highly toxic
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Some Aspects (CPHEEO, 2016)
• Relation in Climate change and MSWM
• Informal sector integration in MSWM
• Gender equity in waste management
• Seven Step approach for MSWM in a city
• Full cost accounting (FCA)
• Potential sources of funds
• Centralized and decentralized waste management
• Waste collection – Primary and secondary
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