Municipal Solid Waste Recycle - An Economic Proposition for a Developing Nation

Attenuation of the world's reserves of conventional and nonrenewable energy has affected the industrial scene of the developing countries in a big way and stimulated the hunt for renewable and unconventional energy sources. In addition, treatment and disposal of huge tonnages of municipal solid waste ( MSW ) generated from the cities ( as a result of rapid urbanisation ) has emerged as a new environmental problem in the afore said countries. Recycle of MSW as a technique to create renewable source of energy and to solve the disposal problem in an environmentally acceptable manner is, DO doubt, an economic proposition. This article gives a comparative picture of the conventional methods with those of the recent ones, namely the incineration and pyrolysis ( recycling techniques ) for the treatment of the MSW in general and the salient features of the pyrolysis process in particular. Suitability of the waste recycle techniques in the context of a developing nation has also been discussed.