Affiliations: Department of Biotechnology, J.J. College of Arts and
Science, Pudukkottai – 622 404, Tamil Nadu, India | Department of Biology, Gandhigram Rural University,
Gandhigram – 624 302, Tamil Nadu, India
Abstract: The physical characterization of the municipal solid waste (MSW) was
carried out by hand sorting and the individual components were identified as
food wastes, paper, cardboard, plastics, glass, metals, rags, rubber, leather,
plant residues, wood wastes, miscellaneous organics, construction wastes, ash
and dirt. The procedure for standardization of the minimum sampling size of the
MSW was carried out by the reducing square method. Only the
6^{th} level of gradation, i.e., approximately 40.625 kg of
MSW, contained all the representative components. Based on the mean deviation
percentage of all the physical components between two squares, minimum
acceptable sample size was standardized as 81.25 kg of well mixed municipal
solid waste for physical characterization.
