The functional elements of solid waste management are as follows:

1. Waste generation: Those activities in which materials are identified as no longer being of value and are either thrown away or gathered for disposal.

2. Storage: Those activities associated with the handling, storage and processing of solid waste wastes at or near the point of generation.

3. Collection: Those activities associated with the gathering of solid wastes and the hauling wastes after collection to the location where the collection vehicle is emptied.

4. Transportation: Those activities associated with the transfer of wastes from the smaller collection vehicle to the larger transport equipment and the subsequent transport of the wastes, usually over a long distance to the disposal site.

5. Processing and recovery: Those techniques, equipment and facilities used both to improve the efficiency of the other functional elements and to recover usable materials, conversion products or energy from solid wastes.

6. Disposal: Those activities associated with ultimate disposal of solid wastes including those waste collected and transported directly to the landfill site, semisolid waste from waste water treatment plants, incinerator residue, compost or other substances from various solid waste processing plants that are of no further use.