What Is Integrated Solid Waste Management?
Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) is a comprehensive waste prevention, recycling,
composting, and disposal program. An effective ISWM system considers how to prevent,
recycle, and manage solid waste in ways that most effectively protect human health and the
environment. ISWM involves evaluating local needs and conditions, and then selecting and
combining the most appropriate waste management activities for those conditions. The
major ISWM activities are waste prevention, recycling and composting, and combustion and
disposal in properly designed, constructed, and managed landfills (see Figure 1). Each of
these activities requires careful planning, financing, collection, and transport, all of which are
discussed in this and the other fact sheets.