Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management and Recovery

Sustainability analysis of municipal solid waste (MSW) management is usually a complex issue as different type of factors are usually involved in. Source reduction, generation, recovery, and disposal constitute interactive elements of an integrated MSW management systems. The chapter aims to support both technicians and public authorities in order to design a sustainable integrated MSW management system. Starting from literature review about the application of sustainability concepts in MSW management, a comparison between strategies for more sustainable MSW management has been compared in order to point out common features and differences. Collection services have been evaluated as the most critical activity in the both context. Next, integrated MSW management systems that are the operational way for applying sustainability concept in MSW management have been deeply analyzed. Finally, a reference model for designing sustainable collection and recovery services is detailed.