Abstract: This paper summarizes the research status of municipal solid waste (MSW) constitutive models, which is very important to study geotechnical problems in landfills. MSW consists of a variety of inorganic and organic components and has high compressibility and biodegradability; and its physico-mechanical properties gradually change over time. In these existing models, it can be seen that MSW instantaneous deformation, mechanical creep, biodegradation, fiber reinforcement are taken into account. Unfortunately, various influence factors are considered in some models, respectively, or only are simply added in other models. The coupling effects of these factors are not taken into consideration. Furthermore, the future studies and development trend of MSW constitutive models are proposed based on the study of the constitutive models of soils. A variety of factors that influence the stress-strain behavior of MSW should be considered. Meanwhile, a breakthrough should be sought by combining the theories of geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering, chemical engineering and biological engineering. Finally, the theoretical framework for biodegradation, mechanical deformation, fluid flow and contaminant transport in MSW can be established.

Key words: municipal solid waste, biodegradation, constitutive model