ABSTRACT
The global contribution towards development has brought major challenges in the field of waste managementand there are massive hikes in waste generation as well as no signs of its reduction. Approximately 2.02 billion metric tonnes of solid wastes were generated in the year 2016, which is expected to rise to 2.59 billion metric tonnes by 2030 and 3.4 billion metric tonnes by 2050, which is about a 70% rise in three decades. The majority of wastes still go to landfill and only around 20% of waste is recycled per annum (Tiseo, I. 2018. “Projected generation of municipal solid waste worldwide from 2016 to 2050.” Statista. https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://www.statista.com">www.statista.com/statistics/916625/global-generation-of-municipal-solid-waste-forecast/; World Bank. 2018. Global municipal solid waste generation projection: 2016–2050. World Bank.). This huge pile of waste can create immense pressure on the municipal authority if it cannot be managed scientifically. A large amount of organic waste, paper waste, chemical wastes, industrial wastes, packaging wastes, e-wastes, etc., can lead to socio-economic and environmental problems, including air, land and water degradation (Bui, T., J. Tseng, M. Tseng, and M. K. Lim. 2022. “Resources, conservation & recycling opportunities and challenges for solid waste reuse and recycling in emerging economies: A hybrid analysis.” Resour. Conserv. Recycl., 177 (October 2021): 105968. https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105968">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105968; Sengupta et al. 2022). 100% recycling and recovery of solid wastes helps in ensuring the Zero Waste (ZW) concept. However, when there is immense dependence on natural resources and waste generation on one side, it becomes difficult to achieve the ZW objective. Consequently, most of the waste generated goes to landfill, especially in developing countries, though it is not preferred as the primary choice to manage waste. The motive of any waste producer should be to minimize the waste that is generated. But when the wastes are generated, reusing and recycling should be the next priority (Demirbas, A. 2011. “Waste management, waste resource facilities and waste conversion processes.” Energy Convers. Manag., 52 (2): 1280–1287. https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2010.09.025">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2010.09.025). The material recovered should be used till the end of life, after which it shall be sent for disposal, say in landfill. Moreover, there are options to divert waste from landfill so as to use it as a resource. Since the wastes generated are of different characteristics it would require different treatment techniques. This chapter analyzes the challenges and opportunities in converting waste into a resource, considering factors like type of waste and the recommended approaches for managing different types of wastes.
