What is Solid Waste?

Solid waste management includes all activities that seek to minimize the health, environmental and aesthetic impacts of solid wastes.

Solid waste can be defined as material that no longer has any value to the person who is responsible for it, and is not intended to be discharged through a pipe. It does not normally include human excreta. It is generated by domestic, commercial, industrial, healthcare, agricultural and mineral extraction activities and accumulates in streets and public places. The words “garbage”, “trash”, “refuse” and “rubbish” are used to refer to some forms of solid waste.

Many people feel that solid waste management is a simple affair - simply putting waste into a vehicle and unloading it at a dump. If this were true, then why do so many towns suffer from uncollected refuse blocking streets and drains, harboring flies and rats, and degrading urban environments? Successful solid waste management is rarely achieved without thought, effort and much learning from mistakes.

One may feel that any engineer, without special training or experience, can solve solid waste management problems. There is much evidence to show that this is not true, perhaps mainly because solid waste management is much more than a technological issue - it usually involves managing a large workforce and working together closely with the public. Problems with maintenance and financial aspects are common. Engineers often make mistakes in the selection of equipment, since vehicles and machines that work well in industrialised countries are often grossly inadequate in developing countries.

The preparation and management of a good solid waste management system needs inputs from a range of disciplines, and careful consideration of local conditions.