With more than half of the humanity now living in urban areas, the world is facing an unprecedented challenge of managing the myriad of waste that are generated in modern society. Lessons learned from past mismanagement of waste and the resulting environmental problems including the high cost and long time needed for cleaning up contaminated sites, have brought to fore the pressing need for proper management of wastes. The symposium will address issues related to: management of solid, industrial/hazardous, nuclear, medical and e-waste, importance of geological sciences in siting of disposal facilities; remediation of contaminated sites, methane capture from landfills, waste-to-energy conversion, innovative technology to remediate contaminated aquifers, conversion of landfill leachate into valuable resource, recovery of precious and rare metals from discarded e-waste, and the ecological impact of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs).