Integrated Solid Waste

An effective ISWM system considers how to prevent, recycle, and manage solid waste in ways that most effectively protect human health and the environment. ISWM involves evaluating local needs and conditions, and then selecting and combining the most appropriate waste management activities for those conditions.

The major ISWM activities are waste prevention, recycling, composting, combustion, and disposal in properly designed, constructed, and managed landfills. Each of these activities requires careful planning, financing, collection, transportation, and processing of waste.