Municipal Solid Waste Management

Municipal Solid Waste
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Municipal Solid Waste
Sources and beneficial uses of Municipal Solid Waste
Residential areas generate Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in large quantities due to the population of residents disposing of different types of waste. A majority of the residential regions provide dustbins that enable the residents to dispose of any waste from their houses. This type of waste includes food waste, plastic covers, electronic devices, cardboards and glass. Apart from that, industries also produce MSW as the process or manufacture goods in large quantities (Abdel-Shafy & Mansour, 2018). Mass production generates wastes such as packaging materials, food waste and some forms of hazardous waste. Furthermore, commercial premises such as hospitals, restaurants and office buildings also produce waste.
Some forms of municipal solid waste can become reused and recycled to reduce the amount of landfill. For instance, plastics, rubber and glass can be recycled to produce new products. Furthermore, other types of wastes, such as electronics, can be used to gather spare parts to repair second-hand items (Ramachandra, 2006). Dry waste products can also generate electricity through incineration plants that burn them down to produce energy.
Differences between garbage, rubbish, and trash
Garbage refers to waste emanating from the kitchen, including organic matter such as food waste that can decompose. Rubish, on the other hand, refers to dry waste from the house, such as plastics, paper, clothing, etc. Trash refers to any other forms of bulky refuse products, including furniture, electronic waste, wood, etc. (Abdel-Shafy & Mansour, 2018).
Four characteristics of optimum routing of MSW collection trucks
The distance MSW collection trucks travel from the collection points of waste in residential areas to the points of storage affect the optimum routing. Longer distances result in delays in collection and increased costs. Apart from that, the number of collection trucks available and the number of trips undertaken by each truck affects overall routing procedures. Fewer trucks result in an increased number of trips to complete the collection of waste from designated points to the storage and disposal area. Another aspect affecting the optimum routing of collection trucks involves operative costs of the service concerning factors such as the amount of waste collected, maintenance of the trucks and related labor costs (Sulemana et al., 2018). Lastly, the scheduling process of the trucks requires proper planning to reduce the number of trips while choosing the most cost-efficient routes.
Purpose of transfer stations
Transfer stations offer temporary storage to municipal solid waste from different regions. Once collection trucks collect waste from their routes, they can unload the waste at a transfer station where it is kept as it awaits further transport to its final destination (Sulemana et al., 2018). Authorized parties can then transport the municipal solid waste from the transfer stations to landfills, disposal ...