Characterization of municipal solid waste in Sunder Nagar, Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

The characterisation of Municipal Solid Waste is mandatory aspect for the evaluation of its suitability for different waste processing techniques. The paper presents physical characterisation of municipal solid waste for Sunder Nagar town of Himachal Pradesh and evaluation of the existing sanitation setup of town. The population of town is approximately 26,000. The total waste generation of the town is 20 tonnes per day and the waste generation rate for individual person in the town is 0.54 kg/day/capita. Physical characterisation of the study area revealed that the town is rich in organic waste and biomass resources hence prove advantageous for composting and incineration processes. It is revealed from the evaluation of existing sanitation setup of the town that solid waste management is very inadequate. Source segregation of waste is still not in process in the town. Various waste processing techniques such as recycling, composting, vermin composting are totally absent in the town. It is perceived from the study that a considerable amount of effort is required by the municipal corporation of the town and public to obtain remarkable outcomes in this direction.