Agricultural, industrial, municipal, and forest wastes: An overview

Four groups of waste generated from the agricultural, forest, municipal, and industrial sectors are discussed. Corncob, oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB), rice husk, rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, and wheat straw were selected to represent solid wastes from the agricultural sector. The production of corncob, OPEFB, rice husk, rice straw, and sugarcane bagasse in 2017 and wheat straw in the crop year 2017/2018 reached approximately 230, 67, 136, 510, 510, and 640 million tons, respectively. Forest waste is produced from primary and secondary manufacturing processes of hardwoods and softwoods. Waste generation from hardwoods and softwoods reached about 58 million tons in 2013 and 166 million tons in 2016, respectively. Agricultural and forest wastes are lignocellulosic materials. Their utilization ranges from traditional to modern, where some of them end up in industrial applications to replace oil-based products. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is generated from households, commercial and trade activities, offices, construction and demolition, and medical wastes. It consists of recyclable materials, toxic substances, compostable organic matters, and soiled wastes. In 2011 the global production of MSW was about 1.7 billion tons per year. Treatment methods of MSW include open dumping, landfilling, recycling, composting, and energy recovery. Industrial waste is classified into nonhazardous and hazardous materials. In 2011 the global annual amount of industrial waste was estimated to be approximately 9.1 billion tons. © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.