Municipal solid waste is not one material. It is a changing mixture of organics, plastics, paper, metals, glass, textiles, moisture and other fractions. Treatment decisions become more reliable when the composition is understood before the technology is selected.
Waste treatment begins long before a recycling plant, landfill or thermal facility. Reliable collection and separation determine what enters the downstream system and whether hazardous, recyclable, organic and residual fractions remain controllable.
Placing waste in landfill does not make the material disappear. It transfers it into a long-lived managed system where decomposition, gas generation, contaminated liquids, settlement and environmental control can continue for decades.