Municipal Solid Waste Management in Developed Countries and India - An overview of current practices, challenges, opportunities, and threats

Abstract

Waste Management has become a burning issue all over the world for the last few decades. The repercussions of many years of unrestricted and irresponsible industrialisation, globalisation, and consumerism are being faced today. Many countries have started taking precautions to reduce the dire environmental and health effects caused by improper and irrational waste management. This paper's primary objective is to analyse the Indian municipal solid waste management systems (MSWs), their challenges, threats, current systems in place, and, more importantly, to understand the opportunities to improve and implement better strategies. However, it is also essential to understand how developed countries are faring with managing their waste and where India stands in comparison globally. In this paper, waste generation and the composition statistics of 5 selected countries - the USA, Canada, Germany, China, and India, are also evaluated with an overview of their respective management practices.