The composition of municipal solid waste (MSW) varies depending on the
collection time of the day, region, income levels, number of inhabitants, economic
activities, and pattern of consumption. Therefore, the definition of organic
fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is different depending on the
location/country. For example, in the United States of America, the OFMSW is
composed of food, garden wastes and paper, while in the European Union (EU), it
is composed of wastes from parks, gardens and kitchens. According to the World Bank
study in 2018, two billion tons of MSW are generated annually in the world. As
per this study, the organic waste represents 44 % of the total waste generated
globally. This percentage varies according to the income level of the
countries, as it can be observed in Table 1. Thus, for high, medium and
low-income countries, the food and green wastes represent 32, 53 and 57 % of
the total waste generated, respectively. The elemental composition of OFMSW
from different countries is presented in Table 2. This table indicates that an
average of 46 % of the OFMSW is carbon that can be recovered to be used instead
of being released to the atmosphere.
From a holistic viewpoint, waste management comprise of the measures taken,
technologies used, and all other activities involved from the collection to
dumping of solid wastes. Some of the eco-friendly practices of waste management
are segregation, recycling and composting. The 4Rs namely refuse, reduce, reuse
and recycle is an efficient way of managing solid waste by reducing the amount
of waste generation. However, the policies related to the management of MSW
varies among different countries.