The  complexity  of  issues  involved  in  municipal  solid  waste  management  necessitates development  and  application  of  new  tools  capable  of  processing  data  inputs  of  varying formats, numerical models and expert opinions in multi objective decision making scenario. Decision Support Systems (DSS) are among the most promising approaches to confront such situations. After adoption of Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 in India, the necessity of development of an environmental decision support system (EDSS)
has further increased. Most DSS for solid waste management (SWM) constructed in the past deal with one or a few components of the whole process. This segmented approach does not provide a complete view of the interactions and effects of all functional elements in the whole complex system. In constructing the DSS, various elements must be integrated and optimized as per the required regulative, technical and social framework to produce a viable model that has  practical  applications.  The  DSS  models  should  ideally  be  integrated  with  geographical information  system  (GIS)  to  optimize  collection,  transportation,  processing  and  disposal
processes.  This  paper  attempts  to  present  an  overview  of  DSS  in  the  area  of  solid  waste management  with  specific  reference  to  their  development  and  applications  in  India.