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Cognizing waste: a comprehensive quantitative and characterization analysis of municipal solid waste in Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, India

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Abstract

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a significant global concern with adverse environmental, socio-economic, and health effects. However, characterizing MSW in developing urban areas is limited. By 2030, global MSW is projected to reach 2.59 billion tons, with 90% being disposed of unsafely. This study aims to quantify and characterize MSW in the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) in India, which generates 800–1000 tons of MSW daily. MSW data were collected using a door-to-door survey approach and sorted according to the Solid Waste Management Rules (2016). The study found that the per capita waste generation (PCG) for CCMC is 0.310 ± 0.453 kg/person/day (skewness (γ) = 5.69), with the highest PCG observed in the East zone with 0.365 ± 0.504 kg/person/day (γ = 7.88). Additionally, the study estimated the PCG based on categories, the number of persons, and different income groups. The estimated overall MSW in CCMC is 909.85 ± 1329.55 tons/day where 68.26 ± 41.25% is biodegradable waste. The study provides policymakers and waste management authorities with valuable insights to develop effective and sustainable waste management strategies for CCMC and other similar urban areas.

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Acknowledgements

Arunachalam Manimekalan and L Arul Pragasan wish to thank Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation for funding (No. 13087/SWM/2006 Date.27/05/2020 and No. 13087/SWM/2006 Date: 27/04/2021) and for supporting us in various stages of the project implementation. Thulasi Radhakrishnan is grateful for “Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE) Phase – II (BU/DST PURSE(II)/APPOINTMENT/570 & Date.12/04/2021), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India”.

Funding

Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, No. 13087/SWM/2006 Date: 27/05/2020, Arunachalam Manimekalan, No. 13087/SWM/2006 Date: 27/04/2021, Arunachalam Manimekalan, No. 13087/SWM/2006 Date: 27/05/2020, L Arul Pragasan, No. 13087/SWM/2006 Date: 27/04/2021, L Arul Pragasan, DST—PURSE (Phase 2), BU/DST PURSE(II)/APPOINTMENT/570, Date: 12/04/2021, Thulasi Radhakrishnan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, TN, India

    Thulasi Radhakrishnan, Arunachalam Manimekalan, V. Naveen Kumar, Parthiban S. Meena & L. Arul Pragasan

  2. Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, Coimbatore, TN, India

    S. Prasanna Ramaswamy

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  1. Thulasi Radhakrishnan
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Contributions

Arunachalam Manimekalan: conceptualization, supervision, methodology, data curation, writing—review and editing. Thulasi Radhakrishnan: methodology, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft, visualization. S Prasanna Ramaswamy & L Arul Pragasan: writing—review and editing. V Naveen Kumar and Parthiban S Meena: investigation.

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Radhakrishnan, T., Manimekalan, A., Ramaswamy, S.P. et al. Cognizing waste: a comprehensive quantitative and characterization analysis of municipal solid waste in Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, India. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 26, 1840–1853 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-024-01933-7

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