Urbanization Challenges in Emerging Economies

Abstract

Rapid urbanization, industrialization, and change of life style of people has increased the rate of solid waste generation by leaps and bounds in the developing countries. Municipal solid waste generation varies with place to place and the standard of living of the people residing in cities. Solid waste consists of organic matter, which undergoes degradation and produces foul smell, if not properly managed. Therefore management of the garbage had reached a very critical stage and now emphasis has been given to its collection, treatment, and final disposal. Generally in Indian cities, waste is collected and simply dumped outside the cities which are called as landfill sites. Any method of disposal other than composting will be uneconomical, required skilled person, and also pollute air, water, and soil. Large quantity of plant nutrients gets wasted in other methods of disposal. Composting is not a method of waste disposal but it is a method of recycling the waste. Municipal solid waste is one of the potential organic nutrient residues, which upon recycling leads to a valuable compost, which is vital for growth and development of plants. Sewage sludge is rich in micro-organisms, organic content, as well as nutrient elements. So in this study co-composting of municipal waste with sewage sludge has been taken up to conserve nutrients. In the present work studies were conducted on municipal solid waste, mixed with sewage sludge in different proportion, to check the technical viability of the integrated system of composting. Addition of sewage sludge to waste for composting not only increases decomposition rate and fertility value, it also solve the problem of sludge disposal from treatment plant. It will save the cost of sludge treatment. Municipal waste compost can be regarded as being valuable in soil management practices because of their organic matter content. © 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.