CHAPTER 1

SOURCES, COMPOSITION AND

PROPERTIES OF SOLID WASTE
PART I

DR. SAMSURI ABDULLAH

SCHOOL OF OCEAN ENGINEERING, UMT
Outline
1. Sources of SW
2. Types of SW
PART I
3. Composition of SW
4. Hazardous waste found in municipal SW
5. Physical, Chemical, Biological Properties of municipal SW – PART II
1. Sources of SW
• All solid or semi-solid materials that the possessor no longer
considers of sufficient value to retain.
• Management of SW: sources, types, composition, and rates of
generation
• Sources depend on land use and zoning.
• Sources: residential, commercial, institutional, construction and
demolition, municipal services, treatment plant sites, industrial, and
agricultural.
• Municipal Solid Waste (MSW): all wastes except industrial and
agricultural wastes.
2. Types of SW: Residential and Commercial
• Consist of organic (combustible) and inorganic (non-combustible)
solid wastes from residential areas and commercial establishments.
• Organic: food waste, paper, plastics, textiles, rubber, leather, wood,
and yard wastes.
• Inorganic: glass, crockery, tin cans, aluminium, ferrous metal, and dirt.
• Commingled residential and commercial MSW: mixture of organic
and inorganic wastes.
• Putrescible waste: waste that will decompose rapidly, especially in
warm weather- odours and flies.
2. Types of SW: Institutional
• Government centers, schools, prisons, and hospitals.
• Medical wastes are treated separately.

2. Types of SW: Construction and Demolition

• Wastes from the construction, remodelling, and repairing of individual
residential, commercial buildings, and other structures.
• Dirt, stones, concrete, bricks, plaster, lumber, shingles, plumbing, heating,
and electrical parts.
• Wastes from razed buildings, broken-out streets, sidewalks, bridges, and
other structures.
2. Types of SW: Municipal Services
• Other community wastes, resulting from the operation and
maintenance of municipal facilities and the provision of the other
municipal services
• Street weeping, road side litter, wastes from municipal litter
containers, landscape and tree trimmings, catch-basin debris, dead
animals, and abandoned vehicles.
• Referred as nonspecific diffuse source.
2. Types of SW: Treatment Plant Sites
• Solid and semi-solid wastes from water, wastewater, and industrial
waste treatment facilities.
• How about the sludge?
• Power plant (i.e. incinerator) produces ashes and residues.
• Ashes and residues: materials remaining from the combustion of
wood, coal, coke, and other combustible waste.
• Fine, powdery materials, cinders, clinkers, and burned and partially
burned materials.
2. Types of SW: Industrial, p.46-47
• Food and kindred products: meats, fats, oils, bones, offal, vegetables,
fruits, nuts and shells, cereals
• Petroleum refining: asphalt and tars, felts, asbestos, paper, cloth, fiber
• Printing and publishing: paper, newsprint, cardboard, metals,
chemicals, cloth, inks, glues

2. Types of SW: Agricultural

• Wastes and residues resulting from diverse agricultural activities –
such as the planting and harvesting of row, field, tree and vine crops;
the production of milk; the production of animals for slaughter; and
the operation of feedlots.
3. Composition of SW
• Describe individual components that make up a solid waste stream and
their relative distribution (%/weight).
• Significance: selection and operation of equipment and facilities, assessing
the feasibility of resource and energy recovery, analysis and design of
landfill, and management programs and plans.
• Residential and commercial ≈ 50-70 %
• Depend on several factors:
1. The extent of the construction and demolition activities.
2. The extent of the municipal services provided.
3. The types of water and wastewater processes that are used.
Materials Recovered MSW
• Aluminium
• Paper
• Plastics
• Glass
• Ferrous metals (Iron and steel) and Non-ferrous metals
• Yard Wastes
• Construction and demolition wastes
4. Hazardous waste found in municipal SW
• Wastes or combinations of wastes that pose a substantial present or
potential hazard to humans or other living organisms.
• Such wastes are nondegradable or persistent in nature
• They can be biologically magnified
• They can be lethal
• They may otherwise cause or tend to cause detrimental cumulative
effects.
• Ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, toxicity, and carcinogenicity.
Typical Hazardous Wastes
• Residential: household cleaners, personal, automotive, paint, and
garden products.
• Commercial: inks from print shops, solvents from dry cleaning
establishments, cleaning solvents from auto repair shops, and paints
and thinners from painting contractors.
• Management of hazardous wastes in MSW:
1. Handling and storage
2. Collection programs
3. Permanent collection site
Thank You
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