3. Municipal solid waste characterisation
Waste is characterised in order to decide the best management option to adopt [8]. Characterisation also allows for the estimate of biodegradable organic carbon and to monitor the effectiveness of programmes designed to divert recyclable and compostable materials from landfills [36]. Typical characterisation of Malaysian MSW by different authors is presented in Table 2. The table shows the changing pattern of waste generation. The percentage of food waste has increased from 37% in 2004 to 59% by 2009. The amounts of paper and plastic have also reduced substantially except one investigator [26] who gave a high value for paper waste. The large percentage of biodegradable organic matter (food waste and paper) creates a favourable environment for landfill gas generation or composting. The factors for this increased waste generation have been attributed to the tremendous population growth, the rapid urbanisation process, the increasing urban population, the relatively young age structure of the population, rapid economic growth, and, the multi-racial nature of the society [34]. Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.