Sustainable Waste Management Systems and Techniques

The accumulation of solid waste is increasing in the environment, and this accumulation affects the environment and health of people, causing pollution of the air, soil and water. Globally, there are decisive attempts to manage and thus decrease solid waste with the ultimate goal of reducing the potential impact on the environment and the lives of future generations. This indicates the concept of sustainable development. This chapter explains what sustainable development is, and the fields it involves; it also explains why the world is moving towards it—because through sustainable development, solid waste is disposed of and utilized without harming the environment or future generations. The chapter also explains some sustainable development techniques, such as gasification and ash melting, anaerobic digestion and composting. Additionally, it describes the most recent discoveries made by scientists regarding these methods, which support the goals of solid waste management's sustainable development. Moreover, this chapter includes how solid waste is disposed of in Malaysia and Malaysia's direction towards developing disposal technologies to maintain sustainable development.