Municipal Solid Waste Characteristics and Management in Kolkata, India

This paper presents a general over view of the current municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Kolkata province, India. In order to characterize the solid waste stream in the Municipality of Kolkata, a long-term study was conducted over a 56-week period between the winter of 2010 and the winter of 2011. In this study, percentage of components and specific weight of the MSW, the composting parameters (moisture content, total organic carbon, total nitrogen and pH), organic matter content, calorific value and heavy metal concentrations (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Fn, Mn, Co) of the compostable waste sorted from the mixed MSW were determined and evaluated. Kolkata city generates approximately 5114.76 ton/d i.e., 1.10 kg/cap-d of MSW daily. Approximately 700 ton of MSW were collected and stored in every day. Approximately 30% of the MSW generated is compostable wastes and yearly mean moisture content, organic matter content, C/N ratio and pH of these are 46%, 31.81%, 21.6 and 8.07, respectively, and approximately 15% of the MSW consists of recyclable materials. The recommended system deals with maximizing recycling and minimizing landfilling of the MSW. Keywords— Physical and Chemical Characteristics, quantities, recommended model, sources, waste analysis.