Municipal solid waste generation continues to grow globally. Today it is estimated that 3 billion urban residents generate 1.2 kg per person per day (1.3 billion tonnes per year. By 2025 that figure is likely to reach 4.3 billion urban residents generating about 1.42 kg/capita/day (3.1 lb/cap/day) of municipal solid waste (2.2 billion tonnes per year). The majority of the waste generated in the US is landfilled (~53.6 %); and over 40 % of the world?s MSW is landfilled.
This symposium is the annual meeting of the US and international experts in the area of solid waste management. These are critical meetings as the participant share their most recent findings in landfill operations, new research areas and future issue which may arise.
Another important aspect of Symposium such as this one is that it provides a forum for young faculty and students to participate and gain knowledge from those in the field. NSF funds would be used to provide deeply discounted registration fees for graduate students and attendees from developing countries. Therefore the discussions and findings of the symposium will provide training for next generation workers, primarily in environmental engineering and will deepen understanding of this area for countries that may entirely depend on landfills for waste management. The outcomes of the symposium include a webpage with a summary of all sessions and a published book of abstracts. Frequently, review papers are also a product of the symposium. The attendees represent many countries and are typically gender diverse. For example, the planning group is 50% female, includes one Hispanic male, and is composed of senior and junior faculty and a student.
