Solid Waste: Assessment, Monitoring, and Management

Dear Colleagues,

In 2018, 247 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) was treated in the EU. Of this, 23% was disposed of through landfill, 30% was recycled, and 17% was composted. A further 47% of the waste was disposed of through either simple incineration or incineration with energy recovery. Between 1995 and 2018, landfilling fell by 61% and recycling increased from 17% to 47%. Waste management practices vary between countries because of past legislation and institutional differences. In 2017, in the U.S, 268 million tons were produced with 35% recycled or composted, 52% was landfilled, and 13% was combusted with energy recovery. There is a wide divide concerning how MSW is managed in developed countries and low- income countries. Over 90% percent of waste in low-income countries is still openly dumped or burned.

Two major problems in the MSW industry are the increase in plastic and e-wastes and the need to develop new markets for recycled products. In 2016, the world generated 242 million tons of plastic waste (12% of MSW). This plastic waste is choking our oceans. China’s National Sword policy in 2018 banned the import of several recyclable materials from all countries including mixed paper and mixed plastics and reduced the level of contamination in scrap and recyclable materials not banned to 0.5%.

For this Special Issue on “Solid Waste Assessment, Monitoring, and Management” we are interested in case studies and research on food waste, recycling, economics, waste-to-energy systems, anaerobic digestion, sustainable solutions to waste management in developing countries, new developments in materials recovery, e-wastes, and plastic waste, among others.

Prof. Dr. William Frederick Ritter
Guest Editor

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• recycling
• sustainable
• plastics
• greenhouse gases
• material recovery facilities
• contamination