Estimation of Municipal Solid Waste Generation – A Case Study

Abstract

A trend of significant increase in municipal solid waste generation has been recorded worldwide. This has been found due to over population growth rate, industrialization, urbanization and economic growth. Consumerism speed has been found very high covering around more than 50% of total population since last decade due to higher economic growth, which has ultimately resulted in increased solid waste generation. Municipal solid waste generation showed different trend and a positive correlation with economic development in term of kg/capita/day solid waste generation at world scale. This paper reports the result of municipal solid waste analysis undertaken in Kovvur city. Field surveys were carried out in various activity zones that are representative samples of the city to understand the practice and identify the lacunae. The results show that the solid waste generated in the city contained more garbage (3274.5 Kg) concentration and with less concentration of polythene (44.22 Kg) and paper (47.57 Kg).