What is Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)?

In a crowded place like the Earth, every product that raises standards eventually creates mountains of solid waste. Nowadays, this has become one of the most critical environmental challenges.

Just in the United States, municipal waste amount was 292 million tons in 2018! According to the World Bank, worldwide, 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste is generated annually! Hence, dealing with the solid waste problem is the responsibility of all humanity. First of all, more responsible habits must replace consumption frenzy, and individual awareness about waste has to grow.

On the other hand, handling such large waste requires more than citizen participation or traditional solid waste management. Almost all solid waste management steps are mainly the responsibility of local governments and municipalities. So, what can improper management of solid waste lead to?

Starting with Solid Waste System

What is solid waste? Solid state is one of the four common states of matter. Thus, solid waste is the wide range of waste materials that are discarded as unwanted and useless.

It is generated from industrial, residential, and commercial activities in a given area. This variation requires a significant capability to dispose of different waste types.

Types of Solid Waste

Garbage is mainly considered as a solid waste that contains household waste. So, it mainly involves food waste, wastes from offices, schools, etc. (municipal wastes), and wastes from factories and industries (industrial waste).

Other than that, oil, medical, and hospital waste are called hazardous solid waste. Also, the material forms the type of waste, such as paper, glass, plastic, metal, and organic waste. Yet, according to statistics, the biggest share of all is municipal solid waste. So, what is municipal solid waste?

Municipal Solid Waste

According to the municipal solid waste definition, it is primarily produced in houses. In other words, most municipal solid waste comes from household consumption. However, municipal solid waste includes also some commercial and industrial wastes.

Municipal Solid Waste Examples

The largest component of municipal solid waste is everyday items, such as:

• Packaging
• Grass clippings
• Bottles
• Furniture
• Clothing
• Food scraps
• Newspapers
• Appliances
• Paint
• Batteries

These come from our homes, businesses, schools, and hospitals.

As seen in the examples, almost everything humans do leaves some waste. Therefore, municipal solid waste reflects the culture and consumption patterns of those living in that area. You can learn a lot about a city by looking at the different municipal solid waste districts!

However, if proper waste management does not exist, the environmental damage of the global garbage crisis will be equally massive. Just like the loss of raw materials! 

Municipal Solid Waste Management

Globally, waste governance is becoming formal on a regional base. Now, waste management is an official task at a municipal or regional scale. There are many reasons for this necessity.

For example, the amount and effects of municipal solid waste emerging in industrialized cities are different, so localization is essential. Hence, municipalities have to provide an effective and efficient municipal waste system.

Though, they are often facing many problems beyond the ability of the municipal authority to handle the municipal solid waste. These troubles are generally due to:

• Complexity
• Lack of financial resources
• Organization problems
• Irregular operations
• Shortage of trackability
• Low digitalization level

Consequently, inefficient waste management causes modification of the ecosystems, including water, air, and soil pollution. In this way, improper municipal solid waste disposal and old style recycling pose a significant environmental threat.

How is Municipal Solid Waste Disposed?

There are helpful disposing methods for half of the annual worldwide municipal solid waste like:

• Composting
• Recycling programs
• Municipal solid waste landfill with advanced technology

Unfortunately, the remaining 50% of worldwide waste products lots of damages due to inappropriate management. This municipal waste is dumped in rivers, on land, and on seas. In the worst case, it is openly burned!

Critics of incineration of municipal solid waste against “quick-fix” supporters are right. Because incineration lets:

• Boosts the landfill volume.
• Harms natural resources.
• Expands landfill emissions by creating methane and adding more greenhouse gasses.
• Undermines recycling and sustainable development efforts against the climate crisis.
• Expensive, risky, and inefficient operations.

Thus, try to improve the quality of municipal solid waste treatment plants!

Municipal Solid Waste Pollution

One of the significant sources of environmental problems is incorrect collecting and disposing of municipal solid waste in urban areas. The waste streams originating from industrial commercial solid waste sources are different from the hazardous substances in household waste. For example, unfortunately, municipal solid waste may be mixed with regulated medical waste. This global issue can cause real problems for many industries, such as:

• Factories
• Farms
• Hospitals
• Hotels in case of carelessness.

Besides, improper disposal of municipal solid waste can cause unsanitary conditions. In turn, these conditions lay waste to human health and the environment, like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Consequently, living things’ lives are in danger due to many factors, from water pollution to large carbon emissions. So, proper solid waste collection, management, and disposal are essential for public health, safety, and environmental quality.

Future of Municipal Solid Waste Services

It’s vital to have a qualified municipal waste management solution. A municipal solid waste management system needs real-time data at every step. Either route optimization or safe transition to the circular economy, you need data.

Think about how to build effective communication or effective management of recycling facilities, for instance. You need effective management skills as well as technology-based waste management strategy. So, future management of municipal solid waste will be an integrated approach. Evreka products are designed for this and are constantly updated for cutting-edge technologies!

Always Better with Evreka

Companies that aren’t sustainable cannot survive. As a global waste management company, Evreka enlarged its SaaS mission with Sustainability as a Service motto. Hence, Evreka digital services can improve municipal solid waste management stages with end-to-end solutions. Thanks to customizable hardware and software solutions, you can get:

• Operational efficiency
• Real-time and historical data-supported strategies with cloud-based systems
• Easy recycled material production
• Cost, time, and energy-efficient management for sustainable waste management in every step.

How about examining some Evreka’s products together in detail?

Engagement

Evreka Engagement module provides effective communication between authorities and other stakeholders, most importantly for municipal solid waste, citizens and customers. Therefore, all stakeholders can:

• Learn the locations of the containers and get information about the selected ones.
• See the changes in the collection calendar, plans, and regions.
• Request a new service if it deems necessary.
• Track the tasks transparently with real-time data and alerts by integrating disparate data systems.

Asset Management

Thanks to Evreka’s Asset Management Module, authorities can reach complete control of assets at the collection of municipal solid waste. With the Fill Level Sensors, managers can learn the occupancy rate and location of the containers with real-time data. Also:

• Advanced inventory management is possible with the accurate and instant display of stocks.
• Thanks to the instant alerts, you can eliminate asset destruction and loss.
• Managers can establish accurate strategies with both the historical and new data.

Fleet Management

The Fleet Management module creates an eco-friendly route with real-time data and forecasting algorithms to achieve field service optimization. Waste man meaning gains a brand new way with digital solutions! This way, authorities can:

• Display vehicle-based, driver-based, and time-based status of the fleet.
• Achieve optimization of municipal solid waste collection and transportation.
• Make the necessary changes and increase agility with instant notifications.
• Add new vehicles to the fleet.
• Connect the related devices to the vehicles.
• Learn all the information about vehicles up to maintenance times for enabling total control of the fleet.

Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) Management

For municipal solid waste recycling to be effective, you need the best cutting-edge technology IoT systems. Evreka MRF Management module lets:

• Authorities achieve MRF’s full inbound and outbound control.
• Managers can display material flow data without error.
• Through mobile app, managers can view entire process.

Operations Management

This module combines almost all Evreka solid waste service solutions, including Route Optimization and EPR Management. So, it makes easier for managers with smart analytics. This way:

• Real-time data leads to revisions of plans and operational insights.
• Managers can view all notifications from fleet, citizens, customers, employees, and assets on a single screen.
• Reports and mobile app boost efficiency and productivity.