Page 90 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

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Part II

Municipal Solid Wastes

Waste management embraces the application of techniques and systems that ensure the proper stor-
age, collection, transportation, and disposal of a waste stream. State governments, industry, and cit-
izens continue to seek avenues to reduce the volume of waste, to reuse it, or to manage and dispose
of it properly. Integrated management of solid waste is one strategy that has been firmly embraced
by the U.S. EPA and other nations, for example, the European Union, for the appropriate manage-
ment of solid waste. In this management hierarchy, reuse and recycling are given high priority and
landfilling is considered to be the least favored option. Up to the present time, however, landfilling
continues to serve as the primary destination for the majority of U.S. solid waste.
The chemical, physical, and biological characterization of municipal solid waste is presented in
the following chapter. Most of Part II, however, addresses the processing and ultimate disposition
of the waste, including recycling, composting, incineration, and sanitary landfilling. Both conven-
tional and innovative technologies in these applications are presented. Discussion is primarily lim-
ited to wastes generated from residential and commercial sources.