Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Treatment and Disposal

Municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment and disposal is the proportion of solid waste across different treatment and final disposal methods, expressed as a percentage by weight of total solid waste generated that is managed through each pathway in a country or territory over a specific time period.

Open dump refers to unmanaged, uncontrolled dumping sites with no environmental protection measures. Controlled landfill includes managed landfills with some controls, but not meeting sanitary landfill standards. Sanitary landfill refers to fully engineered disposal sites with environmental controls such as liners, leachate management, and landfill gas control. Unspecified landfill refers to landfilling where the level of environmental control is not specified. Anaerobic digestion is the biological decomposition of organic waste in the absence of oxygen to produce biogas and digestate. Composting is the biological processing of organic waste in the presence of oxygen to produce compost or soil enhancements. Mechanical biological treatment (MBT) includes mechanical (e.g., sorting, shredding, screening) and biological (e.g., composting, bio-drying, anaerobic digestion) treatment to separate, stabilize, or prepare waste for further processing or disposal. Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is high-calorific waste that is processed into a fuel for use in industrial processes and power plants. Other includes treatment or disposal methods not covered by the above categories. Unaccounted for includes the remaining amount when disposal, treatment, and uncollected proportions do not add up to 100 percent.

Users can download the entire What a Waste 3.0 dataset along with individual data sources and explanatory notes here: https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/what-a-waste/.
To access the What a Waste 3.0 report as well as its summaries in English, French, Japanese, and Spanish, please visit https://hdl.handle.net/10986/44141.