3. Municipal waste collection and transport mechanism
Once the waste is generated, the next step is waste handling, collection and transportation. This part of the waste management module will focus on the different types of collection and transport mechanism being followed in the current waste management practices.
As per a world bank report, It has been estimated that about 30-50% of the waste generated in developing nations is never collected.[11]
Once the waste is generated, the next step is its handling, collection and transportation. The collection and transportation of waste in a city includes the following steps:
1.Primary collection method :
This includes door-to-door collection of household waste and its transportation to a collection or a storage point. This step is mostly done in pull-carts or small collector vans from individual houses and is collectively stored at a ward-level storage point.
2.Secondary collection method :
The waste from the collection point is then transferred into a loader truck and sent to the transfer station (secondary storage point). This aggregated waste is then transported to a material recovery facility (MRF).
which is usually stationed at ward-level. The (MRF) ensures that the waste is processed for the recovery of material and energy (through composting, incineration or any other suitable technology) and does not get mixed with other kinds of waste.[12] This is where the waste is segregated and sent to the treatment plants or landfills.
3.Final disposal :
The remaining discarded waste or rejects which cannot be recovered as material or energy are sent to the landfill for disposal.
The flow of the entire process is depicted in the figure below.
