Solid waste generation is a continually growing problem at global, regional and local levels. Solid wastes are those organic and inorganic waste materials produced by various activities of the society, which have lost their value to the first user. Improper disposal  of solid wastes pollutes all the vital components of the living environment (i.e., air, land and water) at local and global levels. Urban society rejects and generates solid material regularly due to rapid increase in production and consumption. The problem is more acute in developing nations than in developed nations, as their economic growth as well as urbanisation is more rapid. This necessitates management of solid waste at generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing, and disposal stages in an environmentally sound manner in accordance with the best principles of public health, economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetics and environmental considerations.  Thus, solid waste management includes all administrative, financial, legal, planning, and engineering functions (Ramachandra, 2006; Ramachandra and Varghese, 2003). The environmentally sound management of solid wastes issue had received  the attention of international and national policy making bodies and citizens (Subramanian, 2005). At the international level, the awareness regarding waste began in 1992 with the Rio Conference, where efficient handling of waste was made one of the priorities of Agenda 21. (http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/agenda21.htm).  

The Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002 focused on initiatives to accelerate the shift to sustainable consumption and production, and the reduction of resource degradation, pollution, and waste (http://www.un.org/esa/ sustdev/csd/aboutCsd.htm). Priority is being given to waste minimisation, recycle and reuse, followed by the safe disposal of waste to minimise pollution. 

The government of India has taken many initiatives and implemented new technologies and methods by giving loans for setting up composting plants to encourage proper management of solid waste since the 1960s (MoEF, 2005). The MSWM problem was compounded with rapid urbanisation. Due to increased public awareness of MSWM, a public litigation was filed in the Supreme Court, which resulted in the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000. Government, for the first time, now has included private organisations in providing this public service (DPCC, 2002).  

New methods of storage, collection, transportation, processing and disposal are being explored and implemented. It is necessary to evaluate the current process at this stage to understand if the methods being implemented are suitable for the Indian scenario and to identify the lacunae in the adopted methods. This requires an auditing of all functional elements of MSWM, considering the environmental constraints. An environmental audit of MSWM in Bangalore city was undertaken apart from evaluating the Indian MSWM scenario to understand the shortcomings. 

Environmental audit was introduced in India to minimise generation of wastes and pollution. In this regard, a gazette notification was issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on March 13th, 1992 and later amended on April 22nd, 1993. This applies to an industry, operation or process requiring  consent to operate under Section 25 of the water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 or under Section 21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 (14 of 1981), or both, or authorisation under the Environmental Protection Act, 1986 (29 of 1986) (Srivastava, 2003).  The notification requires that an Environmental Statement for the financial year ending on 31st March be submitted to the concerned State Pollution Control Board, on or before 30th September of the same year. The improvement of solid waste management is one of the greatest challenges faced by the Indian Government. The Government and the local municipal authorities have taken many initiatives towards the improvement of the current situation (The Expert Committee, 2000). The private sector has been included in the management of the MSW recently. To understand the level of success in the initiatives, it is necessary to carry out an audit. An audit will identify and bring out the lacunae and the loopholes in the current system with respect to the compliance with environmental regulations, occupational health, resource management, pollution prevention systems and occupational health and safety. This could be one of the best ways to increase awareness about the most suitable approaches to MSWM, the issues likely to be faced and the alternative measures that can be adopted, considering the local scenario.