Solid waste has recently emerged as a recognized sub-discipline within environmental engineering, yet comprehensive coverage in academic programs is scarce. Most graduate environmental engineering curricula include only one introductory course on waste control, with a few excellent texts available to address this gap. Recent challenges in solid waste management have highlighted the need for alternatives beyond traditional control methods, leading to the concept of resource recovery, which focuses on extracting materials from waste for beneficial reuse. While several books have explored various approaches, they often draw from other disciplines and fall short in addressing the unique aspects of solid waste processing. This work aims to present waste processing as a study of unit operations suitable for graduate-level university study. The study of unit operations is a common focus in environmental engineering, but the unit operations in this context differ significantly. The material is designed for students from diverse backgrounds, assuming familiarity with basic waste control principles, typically acquired through introductory courses, as well as a solid quantitative foundation. This work seeks to fill a critical gap in the literature.
