Abstract: The changes in composition and characteristics of terminal municipal solid waste (MSW) were analyzed based on the monitoring data which collected in the last decade from a city in South China. The results indicated that food waste consistently constituted the highest proportion of wet-based components in MSW, ranged from 45.9% to 55.1%; followed by rubber and plastic, paper, and textiles, which were 21.1%-27.8%, 5.6%-14.5%, and 4.0%-10.5%, respectively; the proportion of all other wet-based components accounted for no more than 5.0%. The bulk density of MSW ranged from 197 kg/m3 to 278 kg/m3, and the moisture content ranged from 53% to 60%. The content of wet-based combustible changed little overall in the last 10 years, with an average value of 37%; the wet-based content of ash decreased from 11% to 6%. In the past 10 years, the wet-based low calorific value of MSW showed an overall upward trend, which increased from 5 571 kJ/kg to 6 361 kJ/kg. The content of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in the dry basis all showed an increasing trend in the last decade, the carbon content increased from 37.6% to 44.6%, the hydrogen content increased from 5.51% to 6.51%, and the oxygen content increased from 24.5% to 25.4%. Meanwhile, the content of nitrogen and chlorine in the dry basis both decreased, the nitrogen content decreased from 2.95% to 1.45%, and the chlorine content decreased from 0.51% to 0.45%, while the sulfur content increased from 0.15% to 0.22%. The research results could provide a reference for the selection of terminal treatment method of MSW and the optimization of terminal treatment facilities in this study area.

Key words: municipal solid waste, physical composition, calorific value, element