MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE DYNAMICS AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT IN TAMIL NADU, INDIA

Abstract

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management has become a major environmental and public health challenge in rapidly urbanizing cities due to increasing population, changing consumption patterns, and expanding urban activities. This study analyzed the long-term trends in MSW generation, population–waste relationship, waste composition, and current waste management challenges in Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, Tamil Nadu, India, based on municipal records spanning the period 2000–2025. Waste generation dynamics and the relationship between population growth and waste generation were analyzed using trend analysis, compound annual growth rate (CAGR), per capita waste generation analysis, and linear regression. The results showed that MSW generation rose from 350 TPD in 2000 to 1237 TPD in 2025 with CAGR of 5.18% while the population growth was 3.71%. In addition, during the study period, per capita waste generation rose from 0.38 kg person-1 day-1 to 0.54 kg person-1 day-1, suggesting that the generation of waste is greater than the growth of population. The regression analysis showed a high positive correlation between population and waste generation (R² = 0.9185). Waste composition analysis revealed that 68.21% of the waste stream was made up of biodegradable waste, giving significant potential for composting and biomethanation. But, the underutilisation of treatment facilities, poor recovery of resources and the presence of legacy waste in the Vellalore dump site are still major problems. The study highlights the importance of strengthening source segregation, decentralised processing of organic waste, increasing recycling, and material recovery, and decreasing landfill dependency for sustainable MSW management in urban areas.