Shaping and Delivering Tomorrow’s Sustainable Municipal Solid Waste Management System: Proposal for a Structured Data Management Infrastructure

Abstract

The monitoring and collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) data have been a daunting task. The development of a digital mapping, data collection, and data reporting system, allows for ease of data management and creation of a standardised system. This study develops a waste mapping and tracking system based on a structured ontological framework for an improved waste management system. The ontology is based on a four-level data framework in a zoned waste management system within a municipal area, regional or national boundaries. The waste flow system is designed to connect all facilities and activities in the zone and flexible to allow inter-zonal access to facilities that are existing outside a zone. Data tagging and collection strategies are developed to provide the vocabulary and standard for data encoding and recording of all knowledge-based information to help in the decision-making rules.