ISI Journals

Development of a Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) plan is a complex process. As a foundation and prerequisite for efficient MSWM plan, quantification and prediction of Solid Waste (SW) generation is very much essentials. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) prediction cannot be done directly and depends on so many factors. In actual practices, due to uncertainties and unavailability of sufficient data, modelling methods are needed for prediction of MSW generation. A number of researchers have predicted SW generation using various modeling methods. The main objective of this paper is to review such models related to MSW generation using economic, socio-demographic or management-orientated data and identify possible factors that will help in selecting the crucial design options within the framework of mathematical modeling. Five characteristic classification criteria, namely, modeling method, area covered, time series, independent variables and waste streams are focused in this review. The entire published models are diverse in nature for application from whole country to households. Successful modeling depends significantly on selection of waste stream. From the review and discussion of models the research aims to identify the limitations of previous models which will help in identifying the crucial design options within the framework of modeling. The study is concluded with a few fruitful suggestions.