Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management (IMSWM): A Critical Review of Sustainable Practices, Optimization and Environmental Review

Abstract

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is one of the rapidly growing urban and environmental challenges, associated with population explosion, rapid urbanization, waste management, population, and changing consumption patterns. Modern MSWM is moving from collection-and-disposal systems to the modern integrated approaches involving source segregation, recycling, resource recovery, optimized transportation, treatment and environmentally sound disposal. This paper critically reviews 26 technical studies covering metropolitan waste management, risk assessment, waste characterization, GIS-based route optimization, recycling, life-cycle assessment (LCA), mathematical modeling, facility-location planning, waste-to-energy, landfill management, environmental monitoring, economic instruments, policy and e-waste. The literature was thematically synthesized to identify major methodological developments, contributions and research gaps. The review indicates that individual MSWM components have been extensively studied, but their integration within a practical decision-support framework remains limited. Through this research an integrated framework combining waste characterization, GIS-based collection planning, route optimization, recycling and resource recovery, environmental assessment and economic evaluation is proposed. Such integration can support evidence-based and resource-efficient MSWM planning in rapidly developing urban areas.