PH U. Government Printing Office Washington, D. These responsibilities include conduct of research and demonstra- tions for developing or improving solid waste handling and disposal methods.
The Bureau of Solid Waste Management has sponsored the present study to provide a comprehensive reference to currently available solid waste unit operations and processes. Information is offered on the reliability of processes, perform- ance data, economic factors, and range of commercially available equipment as an aid to researchers and those now engaged in solid waste management. The great diversity in physical form and chem- ical content of the thousands of tons of solid wastes produced makes it extremely difficult to obtain an over- all view of the disposal problem.
Add- ing to the complexity of the situation, various industries and municipalities, influenced by a wide range of geo- graphical, technical, and historical considerations, employ many different methods of treatment and combina- tions of equipment.
Intimately asso- ciated with the disposal of wastes, moreover, is a problem of equal sig- nificance: the conservation of the nation's natural resources. The importance and intricacy of the solid wastes disposal problem and the need to deal with it effectively and economically led to the state-of- the-art survey covered by this report.
The material presented here was com- piled to be used by those in govern- ment and private industry who must make or implement decisions con- cerning the processing of solid wastes and the recovery and utilization of the wastes that are salvageable. The survey involved a detailed review of the pertinent technical and trade literature, personal interviews with individuals knowledgeable in appro- priate fields, and questionnaires sent to the State health departments.
