3. Background of the study

Madurai has an area of 52 km<sup>2</sup> with in an urban area now extending over as much as 130 km<sup>2</sup> and it is located at show location on an interactive map 9°56'N 78° 07<sup>0</sup> E/ 9.93°N 78.12°E 19.93; 78.12. It has an average elevation of 101 m above mean sea level [48]. In Madurai city the daily generation of waste escalated from 360 tonnes in 2001 to 543 tonnes in 2011 [49]. The semi-urban waste generation per day 67 tonnes [50, 51]. Table 1 shows that Avaniyapuram generates the highest waste generates among the major semi-urban areas in Madurai. Madurai city has a

