Municipal solid waste management is the most
important service a city provides; in low-income
countries as well as many middle-income countries,
MSW is the largest single budget item for cities
and one of the largest employers. Solid waste
is usually the one service that falls completely
within the local government’s purview. A city that
cannot effectively manage its waste is rarely able
to manage more complex services such as health,
education, or transportation.
Poorly managed waste has an enormous impact
on health, local and global environment, and
economy; improperly managed waste usually
results in down-stream costs higher than what it
would have cost to manage the waste properly in the
first place. The global nature of MSW includes its
contribution to GHG emissions, e.g. the methane
from the organic fraction of the waste stream, and
the increasingly global linkages of products, urban
practices, and the recycling industry