Municipal Solid Waste Management: Case Study on Smart City Tirunelveli

Introduction

The rapid population growth and economic development of developing countries over the last several decades has led to an unprecedented increase in solid waste production which in turn has led to rapid deterioration of environmental quality (Wang et al., 2018). The quantity and quality of the solid waste generated depends upon the livelihood of people, urbanization, commercial activities and socio-economic status. The generated solid waste consists of wet waste as well as dry waste. The wet waste is biodegradable and can be employed in the production of biogas and biofuels whereas the dry waste can be recycled or landfilled. The major problem encompassed by the city municipalities includes the collecting garbage, transporting and disposing it (Bharadwaj et al., 2016). Smart city by definition, has the following characteristic of smartness in administration, living, environment, transportation and economy (Perera et al., 2014). Smart city concept incorporates the information and communication technology (ICT), and various physical strategies connected to the network, called Internet of things (IoT). The Internet of Things is a combination of different hardware & software technology. The Internet of Things provides solutions based on the incorporation of information technology, which refers to hardware and software used to store, retrieve, and process information and communications technology which includes electronic systems used for communication between individuals or groups. This concept could optimize the efficiency of city operations and services. Smart city technology allows city executives to interact directly with public, to monitor the activities in city and to manage assets and resources efficiently. IoT plays a substantial role in reforming the livelihood of people with new technologies. IoT is widely used in various applications such as home automation, health care, environmental monitoring, manufacturing, energy management, agriculture and transportation. IoT reduces the challenges in waste management such as monitoring the garbage bins, transporting waste and processing. Waste management in smart cities mainly aimed on monitoring of waste, effective collection and separation with the benefit of IoT based solutions. This chapter deals with the waste management and the integration of IoT in waste management turns into smart waste management (SW) system in smart cities.