Planning for urban solid waste management within the framework of sustainable development raises several intra-and inter-generational issues such as public health, livelihood of actors in the informal recycling sector, present and future cost to society, conservation of resources both renewable and nonrenewable, and environmental impacts of waste disposal. It is essential that planners seek to address the above issues 'interactively' by exploring various 'soft' alternatives, instead of 'preactively' extending conventional 'hard' solutions. Such an integrated approach, however, should be developed through consensus among various actors. This paper proposes a Critical Operational Research (COR) framework to facilitate consensus/conflict resolution among actors, and also aid in learning. The nonlinear goal programming model developed within the COR framework provides a platform for discussion among actors involved in urban solid waste management. Its utility as a 'learning' tool is demonstrated by applying it to a typical metropolitan city in India. The exercise highlights the limitations of techno-managerial solutions usually adopted in developing countries, and the scope for the informal sector in urban solid waste management. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.