Title: Environmental audit of Municipal Solid Waste Management

Authors: T.V. Ramachandra, Shruthi Bachamanda

Addresses: Energy and Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India. ' Energy and Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India

Abstract: The management of municipal solid waste has become an acute problem due to enhanced economic activities and rapid urbanisation. Increased attention has been given by the government in recent years to handle this problem in a safe and hygienic manner. In this regard, Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) environmental audit has been carried out for Bangalore city through the collection of secondary data from government agencies, and interviews with stakeholders and field surveys. Field surveys were carried out in seven wards (representative samples of the city) to understand the practice and identify the lacunae. The MSWM audit that was carried out functional-element-wise in selected wards to understand the efficacy and shortfalls, if any, is discussed in this paper.

Keywords: solid waste management; environmental auditing; India; functional elements; composting; landfill sites; municipal solid waste; MSWM; solid waste compost.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2007.015152

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2007 Vol.7 No.3/4, pp.369 - 391

Published online: 18 Sep 2007 *

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