Municipal Solid Waste Management : Processing - Energy Recovery - Global Examples

One of the big challenges that today's growing cities are coping with is the delivery of effective and sustainable waste management, together with a good sanitation. This volume provides a comprehensive presentation and overall picture of municipal solid waste management, including waste generation and characterization, waste reduction and recycling, waste collection and transfer and waste disposal. It analyses how these aspects are practiced in developing and developed countries.

The traditional method of disposal – composting at different scales – is discussed, including the benefits of compost. 'Energy-from-waste-technologies' are amply discussed, with comparisons between developed and developing countries, and with parameters and conditions for successful operation of these technologies. Moreover, the construction and operational aspects of landfills – to maintain environmental safety and the health of the residents nearby – are described in depth. In addition to a chapter with case studies of several countries and cities in every continent, a special chapter is dedicated to municipal solid waste management in India, including legal provisions, financial resources, private participation and citizens' rights and obligations, and the status in three major cities.

By presenting different elements that constitute a sustainable procedure, including the recovery of clean energy, this volume will serve as a guide to students in science and engineering and to key players in waste management services and policies.

Dr. P. Jayarama Reddy is an energy consultant to the solar photovoltaic industry and has made it his mission to promote the application of renewable energy initiatives. He serves as a board member on several international renewable energy companies that work on solar module fabrication, power generation from biomass, and municipal solid waste. Dr. Reddy is retired as a professor of Physic and has devoted a large part of his life to crystal physics and the application of advanced materials in the semi-conductor and thin film industry. He has worked in the various big research laboratories, under which those at Cornell University (US), Imperial College (UK), Charles University (Czech Rep.) and Stuttgart University (Germany). The recipient of several awards and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK), Dr. Reddy has published a number of books on renewable energy, including 'Science and Technology of Photovoltaics' (BS Publications / CRC Press).