Computer model for municipal solid waste treatment in developing countries

Many integrated solid waste management (ISWM) models are available but are of little use to developing countries such as India since they do not take into account typical developing countries municipal solid waste characteristics such as high organic content, poor performance of formal sector control and support, high activity of scavengers and waste pickers, etc. The goal of this study is to create a computer program to determine the least cost treatment and disposal system for a given solid waste management problem. To demonstrate its applicability, the model was applied to the Indian city Amritsar. A typical Indian city like Amritsar generates about 500 ton of MSW/d with 45% moisture content, 30% volatile matter, and calorific value of 1500 kcal/kg. The computer model was run for various technologies. Results showthatfor Amritsar city incineration an expenditure of U.S. dollars (USD) 6.62 is incurred, whereas landfilling, composting, and biomethanation digester give an income of USD 0.13, USD 0.20, and USD 0.23 per ton of MSW, respectively. This empirical exercise not only reveals the model's strengths such as highlighting important interdependencies in the waste management sector but also its requirement for quality data.