Solid waste is generally known as trash or garbage in layman's parlance. In general it refers to domestic waste—waste generated from households that includes, among other things, food scraps, paper, newspaper, clothes, packaging, cans, bottles, grass clippings, furniture, paints, and batteries. In most developing countries, it is mixed with hospital waste, industrial waste, and other hazardous waste contaminating it. Different categories of waste include municipal solid waste, industrial waste, hospital waste, hazardous waste, and toxic waste.

Although the above definition defines waste as trash, in the world of entrepreneurship, one person's waste can be another person's treasure. Another apt definition of wastes is “matter in the wrong place,” implying that a material becomes waste only when a specific owner ceases to have a use for it. ...