• Principles of Environmental Management.
• Principles of Ecology, Environment & Environmental Management.
• Policies and Legal Aspect of Environmental Management.
• Overview of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
• Environmental Audit.
• Life Cycle Assessment as EM Tool.
• Environmental Management Systems Standards: ISO 14000 (EMS).
• Related Issues in Environmental Management.
• Environmental Design.
• Environmental Economics.

Due to unplanned developmental activities as well as ever-increasing population, which has caused enormous strain on the environmental resources, societies across the world face several problems of environmental degradation. However, it is imperative to maintain a balance between the capacity of the environment and the quantum of sustainable utilisation. This is only possible by understanding the environment in its totality and the principles of its scientific management.

Environmental management (EM) has become one of the most used terms in recent times. But, what exactly does the term mean and entail? Different individuals belonging to different disciplines approach EM differently and therefore it is difficult to find a single, comprehensive view of EM. However, we will discuss in detail the various issues relating to EM in the ten Units that constitute this Course.

We will first discuss the fundamentals of EM and ecosystem in Unit 1 and, subsequently, the various environmental policies, legislations and international treaties in Unit 2. In Units 3 and 4, we will deal with the concept of environmental impact assessment (EIA) and the preparation of EIA report, respectively. We will discuss the methodology and processes of environmental auditing in Unit 5. In Unit 6, we will introduce you to life cycle assessment (LCA) in the context of EM. In Unit 7, we will explain the various EM system standards. We will then take up the issues and techniques relating to EM in Unit 8. Finally, we discuss environmental design and economics in Units 9 and 10, respectively.

• Municipal Solid Waste Management: An Introduction.
• Generation and Characteristics of Waste.
• Waste Collection, Storage and Transport.
• Waste Disposal.
• Waste Processing Techniques.
• Source Reduction, Product Recovery and Recycling.
• Recovery of Biological Conversion Products: Composts and Biogas.
• Incineration and Energy Recovery.
• Hazardous Waste: Management and Treatment.
• Integrated Waste Management (IWM).

Due to rapid increase in the production and consumption processes, societies generate as well as reject solid materials regularly from various sectors – agricultural, commercial, domestic, industrial and institutional. The considerable volume of wastes thus generated and rejected is called solid wastes. In other words, solid wastes are the wastes arising from human and animal activities that are normally solid and are discarded as useless or unwanted. This inevitably places an enormous strain on natural resources and seriously undermines efficient and sustainable development. One of the ways to salvage the situation is through efficient management of solid wastes, and this is the focus of this Course, Management of Municipal Solid Waste. In the 10 Units that constitute this Course, we will discuss the processes involved in the management of solid wastes – from waste generation to final disposal.

In Unit 1, we will describe solid wastes and introduce you to the classification of solid wastes and the functional elements, such as waste generation, storage, collection, transport, processing, recovery and disposal, in the management of solid wastes. In Units 2 to 7, we will explain with the support of case studies each of these functional elements. In Unit 8, we will explain the treatment of solid wastes by incineration and energy recovery from the incineration process. Subsequently, in Unit 9, we will deal with the treatment and management of hazardous (biomedical) wastes. Finally, in Unit 10, we will discuss the concept of integrated waste management.