Important Sample questions with answers for 3rd test

1) Factors that Affect Solid Waste Collection Components

i. Collection points: Depend on locality and may be residential, commercial or industrial
and affect crew size and storage, which ultimately control the cost of collection
ii. Collection frequency: In hot and humid climates, solid wastes collected at least twice
a week. Residential wastes containing food and other putrescible (rotting) material need
frequent collection. On site sealed or closed containers allow collection frequency up to
three days, open and unsealed containers may require daily collection. Optimal
collection frequency reduces the cost as it involves fewer trucks, employees and
reduction in total route distance.
iii. Collection crew: The increase in waste generation rate and quantity of wastes collected
per stop due to less frequent collection result in a bigger crew size. The collection
vehicle could be a motorised vehicle, a pushcart or a trailer towed by a suitable prime
mover (tractor, etc.). It is possible to adjust the ratio of collectors to collection vehicles
such that the crew idle time is minimized
iv. Collection route: An efficient routing of collection vehicles helps decrease costs by
reducing the labour, conserve energy, minimize working hours and vehicle fuel
consumption. The size of each route depends on the amount of waste collected per stop,
distance between stops, loading time, traffic conditions and barriers like railroad
embankments, rivers.
v. Storage containers: Proper container selection can save collection energy, increase the
speed of collection and reduce crew size. Containers should be durable, easy to handle,
and economical, as well as resistant to corrosion, weather and animals. In residential
areas, standardized metal or plastic containers are typically required for waste storage.
When mechanized collection systems are used, containers are specifically designed to
fit the truck-mounted loading mechanisms
vi. Transfer station: A transfer station is an intermediate station between final disposal
option and collection point serving as a preprocessing point, where wastes are
dewatered, scooped or compressed. A centralized sorting and recovery of recyclable
materials are also carried out at transfer stations. If the disposal site is far from the
collection area smaller collection vehicles transfer their loads to larger vehicles, which
then haul the waste long distances.

2) Stationary, Hauled and Communal Waste Storage Containers

i. Stationary Containers – These are used for contents to be transferred to collection
vehicles at the site of storage.
ii. Hauled Containers - These are used for contents to be directly transferred to a
processing plant, transfer station or disposal site for emptying before being returned to the
storage site.
iii. Communal Containers – Generally the containers used for waste storage are
communal/public containers. The use of communal containers is largely dependent on
local culture, tradition and attitudes towards waste. Communal containers may be fixed
on the ground (stationary) or movable (hauled). It is advisable to place the containers
100 – 200 m apart for economic reasons.

Characteristics of Storage Containers

• Low cost, size, weight, shape, resistance to corrosion, water tightness, strength and
durability
• For example, a container for manual handling by one person should not weigh more
than 20 kg, lest it may lead to occupational health hazards such as muscular strain, etc.

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 • Containers that weigh more than 20 kg, when full, require two or more crew members
to manually load and unload the wastes, and which result in low collection efficiency.
• Containers should not have rough or sharp edges, and preferably have a handle and a
wheel to facilitate mobility.
• They should be covered to prevent rainwater from entering into the solid wastes.
• The container body must be strong enough to resist and discourage stray animals and
scavengers from ripping it as well as withstand rough handling by the collection crew
and mechanical loading equipment.
• The material used should be light, recyclable, easily moulded and the surface must be
smooth and resistant to corrosion.

3) Collection Vehicles
i. Small-scale collection and muscle-powered vehicles - These are common vehicles
used for waste collection in densely populated areas with narrow lanes, and squatter
settlements with relatively low volume of waste generation. These can be small
rickshaws, carts or wagons pulled by people and are less expensive, easier to build and
maintain compared to other vehicles. Some drawbacks of these collection vehicles
include limited travel range of the vehicles and weather exposure that affect humans and
animals.
ii. Non-compactor vehicles - Non-compactor trucks are efficient and cost effective in
small cities and in areas where wastes tend to be very dense and have little potential for
compaction and where labour cost is high. It is generally required to cover the trucks in
order to prevent residue flying off or rain soaking the wastes. Trucks with capacities of
10 – 12 m3 are effective, if the distance between the disposal site and the collection area
is less
iii. Compactor vehicles – A compactor truck allows waste containers to be emptied into the
vehicle from the rear, front or sides and inhibits vectors (of disease) from reaching the
waste during collection and transport. The weight of solid wastes collected per trip is 2
to 2.5 times larger as the wastes are hydraulically compacted. It works poorly when
waste stream is very dense, wet, collected materials are gritty or abrasive, or when the
roads are dusty. Compaction vehicles are more common these days, generally having
capacities of 12 – 15 m3 due to limitations imposed by narrow roads.

4) Vehicle Routing Procedures

i. Macro-routing – Also called route-balancing, consists of dividing the total collection
area into routes, sized in such a way as to represent a day’s collection for each crew. The
size of each route depends on the amount of waste collected per stop, distance between
stops, loading time, traffic conditions and barriers like railroad embankments, rivers. As
much as possible, the size and shape of route areas should be balanced within the limits
imposed by such barriers.
ii. Micro-routing - Using the results of the macro-routing analysis, micro-routing can
define the specific path that each crew and collection vehicle will take each collection
day. Results of micro-routing analyses can then be used to readjust macro-routing
decisions. Micro-routing analyses should also include input and review from
experienced collection drivers.
iii. Districting - This is the other method for collection route design. For larger areas it is
not possible for one institution to handle it then the best way is to sub divide the area and
MSW collection districting plan can be made. This routing will be successful only when
road network integrity is good and the regional proximity has been generated.

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 iv. The heuristic route development process – It is trial and error process. It is a relatively
simple manual approach that applies specific routing patterns to block configurations.
The map should show collection, service garage locations, disposal or transfer sites, one-
way streets, natural barriers and areas of heavy traffic flow.

5) Types of Transfer Stations

i. Small to medium transfer stations - These are direct-discharge stations that provide no
intermediate waste storage area. The capacities are generally small (less than 100
tonnes/day) and medium (100 to 500 tonnes/day). Depending on weather, site aesthetics
and environmental concerns, transfer operations of this size may be located either indoor
or outdoor.
ii. Large transfer station - These are designed for heavy commercial use by private and
municipal collection vehicles. The typical operational procedure for a larger station is as
follows: When collection vehicles arrive at the site, they are checked in for billing,
weighed and directed to the appropriate dumping area. Collection vehicles travel to the
dumping area and empty the wastes into a waiting trailer, a pit or a platform. After
unloading, the collection vehicle leaves the site.

6) Design of Large Scale Transfer Stations

i. Direct discharge non-compaction station - Waste is dumped directly from collection
vehicle into waiting transfer trailers and is generally designed with two main operating
floors: In the transfer operation, wastes are dumped directly from collection vehicles (on
the top floor) through a hopper and into open top trailers on the lower floor. The trailers
are often positioned on scales to stop dumping when the maximum payload is reached.
A stationary crane with a bucket distributes the waste in the trailer and a cover or
tarpaulin is placed over the trailer top after loading. Some provision for waste storage
during peak time or system interruptions should be developed. Because of the use of
little hydraulic equipment, this station minimizes handling of waste.
ii. Platform non-compaction station – The collection vehicles dump their wastes onto a
platform using waste handling equipment, where wastes can be temporarily stored and
designed to have two levels. If desired, wastes are picked through for recyclables or
unacceptable materials and then the waste is pushed into open-top trailers, usually by
front-end loaders. They provide temporary storage, which allows peak inflow of wastes
to be levelled out over a longer period. Construction costs for this type of facility are
usually higher because of the increased floor space.
iii. Compaction station - In this type of station, the mechanical equipment is used to
increase the density of wastes before they are transferred. Wastes are fed into the
compactor through a chute, either directly from collection trucks or after intermediate
use of a pit and uses a hydraulically powered compactor to compress wastes.
Compaction stations are used when wastes must be baled for shipment, open-top trailers
cannot be used because of size restrictions and site topography or layout does not
accommodate a multi-level build.

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7) Key Issues in Waste Disposal
i. Municipal capacities: With the increasing volume of waste generation, collection of
wastes gets more attention than disposal. Furthermore, in India, only a few
municipalities seem to have the required experience or capacity for controlled disposal.
ii. Political commitment: SWM is more than a technical issue, as any successful
programme needs effective political and governmental support. This is rarely a priority
of government authorities, unless there is a strong and active public interest as well as
international interventions.
iii. Finance and cost recovery: Development of a sanitary landfill site represents a major
investment and it generally receives less priority over other resource demands. When
establishment costs are secured for a disposal site, recurrent costs to maintain it always
pose problems.
iv. Technical guidelines: Standards established for waste disposal in one country need not
necessarily be appropriate for another, due to reasons such as climatic conditions,
resources availability, institutional infrastructure, sociocultural values, etc
v. Institutional role and responsibility: A disposal site may be located outside the
boundary of a town and may serve more than one town. This necessitates the co-
ordination of all authorities concerned, and the roles and responsibilities of different
departments need to be clearly defined and accepted by all concerned.
vi. Location: The accessibility of a disposal site, especially its distance from town, is an
important factor in site selection, especially when staff and public do not have a strong
incentive to use it, when compared to indiscriminate dumping. Site selection is perhaps
the most difficult stage in the development of suitable disposal option.

8) Waste Disposal Options

i. Uncontrolled dumping: Most common method being practiced in many parts of the
world including India, where wastes are dumped at a designated site without any
environmental control. They tend to remain there for a long period of time, pose health
risks and cause environmental degradation.
ii. Sanitary landfill: Sanitary landfill is a fully engineered disposal option in that the
selected location or wasteland is carefully engineered in advance before it is pressed into
service. Operators of sanitary landfills can minimize the effects on environment from
leachate (i.e., polluted water which flows from a landfill) and landfill gas production
through proper site selection, preparation and management.
iii. Composting: This is a biological process of decomposition in which organisms, under
controlled conditions of ventilation, temperature and moisture, convert the organic
portion of solid waste into humus-like material. If this process is carried out effectively,
the final product is a stable, odour-free soil conditioner.
iv. Incineration: This refers to the burning of wastes, at a high temperature (roughly 1200
– 15000 C), which sterilizes and stabilizes the waste in addition to reducing its volume.
In the process, most of the combustible materials such as paper or plastics get converted
into carbon dioxide and ash. Incineration may be used as a disposal option, when land
filling is not possible and the waste composition is highly combustible.
v. Pyrolysis: This is the thermal degradation of carbonaceous material to gaseous, liquid
and solid fraction in the absence of oxygen. This occurs at a temperature between 200
and 900 C. The product of pyrolysis is a gas of relatively high calorific value of 20,000
joules per gram with oils, tars and solid burned residue.
vi. Gasification: This is the partial combustion of carbonaceous material (through
combustion) at high temperature (roughly 1000 C) forming a gas, comprising mainly
carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, hydrogen, water vapour and methane, which
can be used as fuel.

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 vii. Refuse-derived fuel (RDF): This is the combustible part of raw waste, separated for
burning as fuel. Various physical processes such as screening, size reduction, magnetic
separation, etc., are used to separate the combustibles

9) Components of Sanitary Landfill

i. Cell - Cell is the volume of material placed in one operating period, usually one day.
ii. Lift - Lift is a complete layer of cells over the active area of the landfill.
iii. Leachate - Leachate is the liquid that collects at the bottom of the landfill.
iv. Landfill Gas - Landfill gas is the mixture of gases found within the landfill. The bulk of
landfill gas consists of methane and CO2.
v. Landfill Liners - Landfill liners are materials that are used to line the bottom area of a
landfill.

10) Microbiological Stages in Generating Landfill Gas

i. 1st Phase: When initially placed, air trapped in the solid waste provides an aerobic
environment and aerobic microbes quickly consume the oxygen, producing carbon
dioxide, water, residual organics, and heat.
ii. 2nd Phase: As the landfill becomes anaerobic, a second phase begins, dominated by
anaerobic acid-forming bacteria, which hydrolyse and ferment complex organics
(primarily carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids) to form fatty acids, alcohols, carbon
dioxide, ammonia, and hydrogen.
iii. 3rd Phase: When the waste is totally depleted of oxygen, a third phase begins in which
methane-forming bacteria become dominant and has been observed to occur between

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 180 and 500 days after solid waste placement. The fraction by volume of methane
increases, with a concurrent decrease in carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
iv. 4thPhase: The fourth phase of landfill gas generation occurs one to two years after the
waste placement and gas production and composition approach steady-state conditions

11) Control of Leachate

i. Natural Liner: Include compacted clay or shale, bitumen or soil sealants, etc., and are
generally less permeable, resistant to chemical attack and have good sorption properties.
These generally do not act as true containment barriers, because sometimes leachate
migrates through them.
ii. Synthetic Liner: These are typically made up of high or medium density polyethylene
and are generally less permeable, easy to install and relatively strong and have good
deformation characteristics. These sometimes expand or shrink according to temperature
and age.

12) Environmental Effects of Landfill

i. Wind-blown litter and dust are continuous problems of the ongoing landfill operation
and a nuisance to the neighbourhood.
ii. Noise from movement of waste collection vehicles, emptying of wastes from them,
compactors, earthmoving equipment, etc.
iii. Inaesthetic appearance of an operating landfill, where equipment and waste are exposed
iv. Polluted leachate appears shortly after disposal of the waste and it causes groundwater
pollution and pollution of streams through sub-surface migration.
v. Surface run-off, which has been in contact with the landfilled waste, may be a problem
in areas of intense rainfall.
vi. Landfill gas released, as a result of degradation or volatilization of waste components,
causes odour, flammability, health problems and damage of the vegetation (due to
oxygen depletion in the root zone)
vii. Disease vectors carried by birds (e.g., scavengers), vermin, insects and animals attracted
to the landfill for feeding and breeding.