Humans have always produced trash and have always disposed of it

in some way, so solid waste management is not a new issue. What

has changed are the types and amounts of waste produced, the
methods of disposal, and the human values and perceptions of what
should be done with it. Solid waste management is the one thing
just about every city government provides for its residents. Solid
waste management is arguably the most important municipal service
and serves as a prerequisite for other municipal action.

Solid wastes have both a direct and an indirect impact on our

environment and welfare. Direct effects include the impact on
animal and plant life and the effects on human health and the
environment. Indirect impacts are mostly long-term such as climate
change and ecosystem contamination that may have a profound impact
on some regions in the world, because people in these areas depend
on some of the natural systems for survival (Woodwell GM, 1970).

Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 RA 9003 describes

solid waste management as a discipline associated with the control
of generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport,
processing, and disposal of solid wastes. The manner by which these
activities are conducted shall be in accord with the best
principles of public health, economics, engineering, conservation,
aesthetics, other environmental considerations, and public
attitudes. The Act provides for a comprehensive ecological solid
waste management program by creating the necessary institutional
mechanisms and incentives, appropriating funds, declaring certain
acts prohibited, and providing penalties.

The problem is further aggravated by the lack of financial as well

human resources trained in SWM practices in the sphere of
collection, transportation, processing and final disposal. Whereas
aspects like recycle, reuse and recovery of the solid waste is
grossly demand and supply driven or disorganized in most cases.
In this scenario, the responsible persons or agencies concerned
with the public health and environment protection face the crisis
of ineffective MSWM. The waste generated in the developing
countries is similar in composition, the variation between regions
being dictated by the climatic, cultural, and industrial,
infrastructural and legal factors.

In the past, refuse was typically discarded in the most convenient

manner possible with little regard to its effects on human health
or the environment. Before modern notions of hygiene developed,
city streets were typically open sewers that bred diseases such as
cholera and dysentery. Even until the middle of the twentieth
century, household trash was commonly disposed of and burned in
open dumps that were neighborhood eyesores, emitted offensive
odors, and attracted rats and other vermin. Chemical wastes were
often haphazardly stored in on-site industrial piles or treatment
ponds. Particularly noxious waste might be buried, but few controls
existed to keep the toxic substances in them from seeping into
nearby surface water or contaminating groundwater.

Over the past few decades, humans have become increasingly

concerned about not only the management and disposal of waste but
also the difficulty of balancing the benefits of a healthy
environment with the economic costs of achieving those benefits.
Conflict often arises over what disposal methods should be used,
whether costs of certain disposal methods outweigh benefits (or
vice versa), and who should bear the economic burden. Many factors
must be considered when discussing the topic of waste management:
Economic, political, environmental, personal, and ethical issues
all play major roles in the decision-making process.
The growth of population and rising standards of living means that
the consumption of goods and energy is increasing. On the one hand,
consumption leads to an increase in the generation of waste. On
the other hand, the correlation between increased wealth and
increased energy consumption is very strong as well.

The municipal solid waste (MSW) is defined as all waste generated

within the municipalities (cities and villages) by the activities
of its inhabitants (households) and businesses (e.g. trade waste),
which is separated into its components and transported to waste
treatment facilities, where it is recovered or disposed.

An overview of various aspects of the municipal solid waste (MSW)

is provided comprising all domestic and non- hazardous wastes in
the rural areas of the above countries with emphasis on the
generation and composition of MSW, management needs, collection
systems practiced, transportation and disposal systems used.

Solid waste management (SWM) is an integral part of the rural

environment and planning of the rural infrastructure to ensure a
safe and healthy human environment while considering the promotion
of sustainable economic growth.