Municipal solid waste generation in municipalities: quantifying impacts of household structure, commercial waste and domestic fuel

Waste management planning requires reliable data concerning waste generation, influencing factors on waste generation and forecasts of waste quantities based on facts. This paper aims at identifying and quantifying differences between different municipalities' municipal solid waste (MSW) collection quantities based on data from waste management and on socio-economic indicators. A large set of 116 indicators from 542 municipalities in the Province of Styria was investigated. The resulting regression model included municipal tax revenue per capita, household size and the percentage of buildings with solid fuel heating systems. The model explains 74.3% of the MSW variation and the model assumptions are met. Other factors such as tourism, home composting or age distribution of the population did not significantly improve the model. According to the model, 21% of MSW collected in Styria was commercial waste and 18% of the generated MSW was burned in domestic heating systems. While the percentage of commercial waste is consistent with literature data, practically no literature data are available for the quantity of MSW burned, which seems to be overestimated by the model. The resulting regression model was used as basis for a waste prognosis model (Beigl and Lebersorger, in preparation).     

'Stop pub': can banning of junk mail reduce waste production?

According to the new regulations on junk mail management to be adopted in France, both producers and distributors must participate in the recycling process. This case study was carried out in 2000 in four sectors in the Departement of Charente in the south west of France. This report presents the quantities of junk mail in residual waste and in separate collections. The conclusion is that the new regulations may reduce overall domestic waste production by 2-4%, with the impact on separately collected paper being some 20%.     

Medical waste production at hospitals and associated factors

This study was conducted to evaluate the quantities of medical waste generated and the factors associated with the generation rate at medical establishments in Taiwan. Data on medical waste generation at 150 health care establishments were collected for analysis in 2003. General medical waste and infectious waste production at these establishments were examined statistically with the potential associated factors. These factors included the types of hospital and clinic, reimbursement payment by National Health Insurance, total number of beds, bed occupancy, number of infectious disease beds and outpatients per day. The average waste generation rates ranged from 2.41 to 3.26kg/bed/day for general medical wastes, and 0.19-0.88kg/bed/day for infectious wastes. The total average quantity of infectious wastes generated was the highest from medical centers, or 3.8 times higher than that from regional hospitals (267.8 vs. 70.3Tons/yr). The multivariate regression analysis was able to explain 92% of infectious wastes and 64% of general medical wastes, with the amount of insurance reimbursement and number of beds as significant prediction factors. This study suggests that large hospitals are the major source of medical waste in Taiwan. The fractions of medical waste treated as infectious at all levels of healthcare establishments are much greater than that recommended by the USCDC guidelines.     

Estimating the impact of the "digital switchover" on disposal of WEEE at household waste recycling centres in England

Using Hampshire County Council (HCC) as a case study, this paper evaluates and discusses the estimated impacts of the so-called digital switchover (DSO) (scheduled for 2012 in Hampshire) on Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) in England and the UK. Two public surveys of Hampshire residents were used to collect data on their preparedness for and awareness of the switchover and its implications. The survey also sought to establish the quantities of televisions (TVs) and TV related devices that are ready for the DSO. The quantities of TV and related devices that are likely to be disposed via HCC’s collection network have been established and compared to the County’s current handling capacities for waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE). Best and worst case potential net disposal scenarios have been established and the latter compared to Government projections. In addition, the potential environmental, logistical, financial and legal impacts of the WEEE arising as a consequence of the switchover have been identified and discussed. The results indicate that the majority of TVs both in Hampshire and the UK are digital ready and that awareness of the switchover is high. In contrast, most recording devices in Hampshire are not ready for the DSO. Awareness of the timeframe of the event remains modest however and about half of Hampshire households were not aware that TV recording devices will be affected by the switchover. A significant proportion of waste TVs and related equipment would be taken to HWRCs in contrast to smaller items such as remote controls that would more likely be disposed with normal household waste. Projected figures for the DSO year show that if Hampshire maintained its current collection capacity for WEEE it would experience a handling shortfall of around ∼100 K for TVs and recording devices, respectively. The most important finding of the study is that the UK Government may have substantially underestimated the quantities of TV and related devices that will be disposed during the switchover. The potential impacts for local and national WEEE management have been discussed. The paper concludes by making recommendations to address identified issues.     

Using plastic bag waste to assess the reliability of self-reported waste disposal data

Direct waste analysis (DWA) and the material flows approach are the two standard methods to quantify aggregated waste streams and analyze waste composition. Yet, with the increasing application of producer responsibility measures, product-based waste data rather than aggregated waste data are becoming important. It is over this requirement that both approaches fail to some extent in delivering the type and quality of information that is needed. This study uses plastic bag waste as an illustration to show how self-reported questionnaire survey data may be used to assess disposal quantities of product-based waste types. The estimates from a large-scale questionnaire survey with over 4,100 completed cases were verified against DWA data of the same year in Hong Kong. It was found that self-reported data give systematically lower figures (on the order of 1.3-5 times) than those obtained from standard methods such as DWA for Hong Kong and the UK. However, it is demonstrated that self-reported data can be internally consistent. Also, the magnitude of underestimation may not be as considerable as it appears since the data from DWA are not themselves entirely accurate owing to the difficulties in obtaining a pure load of waste for field analysis and the variable moisture contents or contamination levels in waste material.     

Healthcare waste management: a case study from the National Health Service in Cornwall, United Kingdom

This paper looks at steps taken towards the development of a 10-year strategy for the management of healthcare waste from the National Health Service (NHS) in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The major issues and challenges that affect the management of waste by the NHS, including its organisational structure and collection infrastructure, are outlined. The waste flows of the main acute medical site are detailed, using waste audits of domestic and clinical bags, redundant equipment, bulky waste, and special waste. Some of the common barriers to change, such as staff habits and public perceptions, are also identified. Recommendations are made with respect to improvements in the overall organisational infrastructure and increased localised control. The recommendations also centre around the formation of strategic partnerships, within the site, between sites and at the broader level between the NHS and its surrounding community. An important challenge to be overcome is the need to progress from the concept of "waste management", to one of sustainable decision making regarding resource use, including methods of waste minimisation at the source and recycling. Staff training and awareness underpin several of the short and medium/long term solutions suggested to reduce the waste at the source and recover value from that produced. These measures could potentially reduce disposal quantities by as much as 20-30% (wt.) and costs by around 25-35%.     

Quantifying the waste reduction potential of using prefabrication in building construction in Hong Kong

As Hong Kong is a compact city with limited available land and high land prices, the construction of high-rise buildings is prevalent. The construction industry produces a significant amount of building waste. In 2005, about 21.5 million tonnes of construction waste were generated, of which 11% was disposed of in landfills and 89% in public filling areas. At the present rate, Hong Kong will run out of both public filling areas and landfill space within the next decade. The government is taking action to tackle the problem, such as by introducing a construction waste landfill charge, and promoting prefabrication to reduce on-site waste generation. This paper reports an ongoing study on the use of prefabrication in buildings and its impact on waste reduction in Hong Kong. A questionnaire survey was administered to experienced professionals, and case studies of recently completed building projects were conducted. The results revealed that construction waste reduction is one of the major benefits when using prefabrication compared with conventional construction. The average wastage reduction level was about 52%. This implies that a wider use of prefabrication could considerably reduce construction waste generation in Hong Kong and alleviate the burdens associated with its management.     

Estimating the quantity of solid waste generation in Oyo, Nigeria.

The study established waste multipliers that could be used in conjunction with the population figure of a city to estimate the quantity of solid waste generation in the developing world. Oyo, a traditional city in Nigeria was the focus of the study. Two sets of data were collected. The first was the information on the socio-economic attributes of residents obtained from 648 households through questionnaires administered using a systematic random sampling technique. The second was the measurement of waste generated in 25% of the households for a week in each of the 12 months of the year. The study established that 23.3% of the residents surveyed have educational qualifications beyond secondary school, with 51.2% engaged in occupations requiring very little or no formal education and 50.9% were in the low-income group. The daily per capita solid waste generation was 0.129 kg. The highest (9.8%) and lowest (6.5%) of the annual quantities of waste were produced in October and February, respectively. Similarly, 20.2% of the weekly generation was produced on Saturday and the 10.2% produced on Thursday was the lowest. Animal dung, which accounted for 18.0%, constituted the highest component of the total solid waste generated. The study further established that the organic component of the waste generation was 75.4%. The results of the regression analysis R2 significant at 0.001 showed that income, household size, social status, occupation, education and season of the year explained 88.8% of waste generation in Oyo. It was established that 50.90 tonnes of solid waste was generated per day in the city in 2005, and the daily generation in the year 2008 is estimated to be 55.20 tonnes. The study concluded that with an average annual population growth of 13 000 people for the town, an additional 1.3 acres of land will need to be legally acquired annually, implying that 10.92-19.68 hectares ill be required as dump site(s) over the next 20-30 years.     

Sources and factors controlling the disposal of biodegradable municipal solid waste in urban and rural areas of Cyprus

An inventory of sources of biodegradable municipal soil waste (BMSW) was constructed for urban and rural areas in the EU accession region of Cyprus. Composition analysis was performed on source-separated BMSW collected from households in the rural Ergates Community and an urban area within the Agglanjia Municipality. The data were statistically scrutinized to identify the main factors influencing the quantities of BMSW disposed by urban and rural communities in Cyprus. The results were extrapolated to predict the quantities and types of BMSW disposed by the entire communities. Significantly more BMSW was disposed in the urban area compared to the rural community due to lower diversion rates for green waste and the disposal of food waste from commercial sources. The quantity of food waste collected from households was influenced by socio-economic (household size, income, percentage of children) and behavioural (feeding of food waste to domestic animals, consuming processed 'ready' food) factors, whereas garden size, the type of vegetation, the reuse of trimmings and home composting were the main factors controlling the disposal of green waste.     

Report on hazardous household waste generation in Japan.

Surveys of over 2000 households in Japan were conducted to investigate the characteristics of hazardous household waste (HHW) generation. In Japan, about 2.5 to 4.3 kg of HHW are produced per tonne of the residential waste stream. The percentage of used batteries in HHW was over 50%. Every household using spray (aerosol) cans had more than seven cans on average. The generation of HHW, in terms of both quantities and type of waste produced, appeared to vary with dwelling type. Detached dwelling residents tended to store HHW such as used batteries, whereas apartment residents tended not to store waste. The amounts of discarded HHW were larger at the end of the year in comparison with other months. The data accumulated were used to estimate the quantities of HHW disposed off annually, and the quantities and type of waste that might be received by a typical depot collection programme in Japan.     

Potentials for the prevention of municipal solid waste

Waste prevention has been assigned the highest priority under European waste management law. However, the initiatives which have been taken so far have not reduced the regular annual increase in total waste arising across Europe. The purpose of this paper is to quantify and analyze in depth the prevention potential for selected case studies (advertising material, beverage packaging, diapers, food waste, waste from events). Only such measures are considered, which do not require a reduction of consumption. The prevention potentials for household waste in theory are exemplified for the city of Vienna, also with a view to barriers that may reduce the achievable prevention potential. The results show that the prevention potentials for the analyzed individual measures can reach an order of magnitude of some 10% of the relevant waste stream (e.g., advertising material, beverage packaging), or rather 1-3% of municipal solid waste. The prevention potentials appear to be relatively small in relation to the total municipal waste quantities. Methodological shortcomings, such as the missing availability of basic data, make it difficult to exactly estimate the impact of waste prevention measures on waste quantities, which is only one of the effects of waste prevention among other ecological, social and economic aspects.     

Mobile phone collection, reuse and recycling in the UK

Mobile phones are the most ubiquitous electronic product on the globe. They have relatively short lifecycles and because of their (perceived) in-built obsolescence, discarded mobile phones represent a significant and growing problem with respect to waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). An emerging and increasingly important issue for industry is the shortage of key metals, especially the types of metals found in mobile phones, and hence the primary aim of this timely study was to assess and evaluate the voluntary mobile phone takeback network in the UK. The study has characterised the information, product and incentives flows in the voluntary UK mobile phone takeback network and reviewed the merits and demerits of the incentives offered. A survey of the activities of the voluntary mobile phone takeback schemes was undertaken in 2008 to: identify and evaluate the takeback schemes operating in the UK; determine the target groups from whom handsets are collected; and assess the collection, promotion and advertising methods used by the schemes. In addition, the survey sought to identify and critically evaluate the incentives offered by the takeback schemes, evaluate their ease and convenience of use; and determine the types, qualities and quantities of mobile phones they collect. The study has established that the UK voluntary mobile phone takeback network can be characterised as three distinctive flows: information flow; product flow (handsets and related accessories); and incentives flow. Over 100 voluntary schemes offering online takeback of mobile phone handsets were identified. The schemes are operated by manufacturers, retailers, mobile phone network service operators, charities and by mobile phone reuse, recycling and refurbishing companies. The latter two scheme categories offer the highest level of convenience and ease of use to their customers. Approximately 83% of the schemes are either for-profit/commercial-oriented and/or operate to raise funds for charities. The voluntary schemes use various methods to collect mobile phones from consumers, including postal services, courier and in-store. The majority of schemes utilise and finance pre-paid postage to collect handsets. Incentives offered by the takeback schemes include monetary payments, donation to charity and entry into prize draws. Consumers from whom handsets and related equipment are collected include individuals, businesses, schools, colleges, universities, charities and clubs with some schemes specialising on collecting handsets from one target group. The majority (84.3%) of voluntary schemes did not provide information on their websites about the quantities of mobile phones they collect. The operations of UK takeback schemes are decentralised in nature. Comparisons are made between the UK’s decentralised collection system versus Australia’s centralised network for collection of mobile phones. The significant principal conclusions from the study are: there has been a significant rise in the number of takeback schemes operating in the UK since the initial scheme was launched in 1997; the majority of returned handsets seem to be of low quality; and there is very little available information on the quantities of mobile phones collected by the various schemes. Irrespective of their financial motives, UK takeback schemes increasingly play an important role in sustainable waste management by diverting EoL mobile phones from landfills and encouraging reuse and recycling. Recommendations for future actions to improve the management of end-of-life mobile phone handsets and related accessories are made.     

Types of packaging waste from secondary sources (supermarkets)--the situation in the UK

Packaging waste is a contributing factor to the large quantity of waste that is sent to landfill in the UK. This research focuses on waste from the secondary packaging sector in the UK. In particular, supermarkets were investigated as they supply a large section of consumers with their grocery and other requirements and generate high quantities of packaging waste due to the high turnover within the store. In general, supermarkets use either metal cages or wooden pallets to transport products from depot to store. Investigation shows that packaging waste produced when using the wooden pallets is greater than for metal cages but the use of wooden pallets allows for greater versatility when in the store. The type of transit packaging used depends on what the products are initially packaged in and how the supermarket supply chain works. All cardboard and high-grade plastic is recycled but, depending on the facilities at the stores, the low-grade plastic can be recycled as well. This paper details types of packaging used within the supermarket secondary packaging sector and how waste can be reduced. To reduce the amount of packaging waste produced by the supermarkets, the products will have to be wrapped differently by the producers so that less packaging is needed in transit.     

An analysis of UK waste minimization clubs: key requirements for future cost effective developments

The UK waste strategy is based upon use of the best practicable environmental option (BPEO), by those making waste management decisions. BPEO is supported by the use of the waste hierarchy, with its range of preferable options for dealing with waste, and the proximity principle, where waste is treated/disposed of as close to its point of origin as possible. The national waste strategy emphasizes the key role of waste minimization and encourages industry, commerce and the public to move towards sustainable waste management practice for economic and environmental reasons. Waste minimization clubs have been used, since the early 1990s, to demonstrate to industry/commerce that reducing waste production can lead to significant financial savings. There have been around 75 such clubs in the UK and they receive support from a wide range of agencies, including the Environmental Technology Best Practice Program. The early Demonstration Clubs had significant savings to cost ratios, e.g. Aire and Calder at 8.4, but had very high costs, e.g. Aire and Calder at 400,000 pounds. It is acknowledged that the number of clubs will have to be approximately doubled in the next few years so as to have an adequate coverage of the UK. There are at present, marked regional variations in club development and cognizance needs to be taken, by facilitators, of the need for extensive coverage of the UK. Future clubs will probably have to operate in a financially constrained climate and they need to be designed to deliver significant savings and waste reduction at low cost. To aid future club design, final reports of all projects should report in a standard manner so that cost benefit analysis can be used to inform facilitators about the most effective club type. rights reserved.     

Costs of food waste along the value chain: Evidence from South Africa

In a previous paper (Nahman et al., 2012), the authors estimated the costs of household food waste in South Africa, based on the market value of the wasted food (edible portion only), as well as the costs of disposal to landfill. In this paper, we extend the analysis by assessing the costs of edible food waste throughout the entire food value chain, from agricultural production through to consumption at the household level. First, food waste at each stage of the value chain was quantified in physical units (tonnes) for various food commodity groups. Then, weighted average representative prices (per tonne) were estimated for each commodity group at each stage of the value chain. Finally, prices were multiplied by quantities, and the resulting values were aggregated across the value chain for all commodity groups. In this way, the total cost of food waste across the food value chain in South Africa was estimated at R61.5 billion per annum (approximately US$7.7 billion); equivalent to 2.1% of South Africa’s annual gross domestic product. The bulk of this cost arises from the processing and distribution stages of the fruit and vegetable value chain, as well as the agricultural production and distribution stages of the meat value chain. These results therefore provide an indication of where interventions aimed at reducing food waste should be targeted.     

Role of waste management with regard to climate protection: a case study.

According to the Kyoto Protocol and the burden-sharing agreement of the European Union, Austria is required to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during the years 2008 to 2012 in order to achieve an average reduction of 13%, based on the level of emissions for the year 1990. The present contribution gives an overview of the history of GHG emission regulation in Austria and identifies the progress made towards the realization of the national climate strategy to attain the GHG emission targets. The contribution uses Austria as an example of the way in which proper waste management can help to reduce GHG emissions. The GHG inventories show that everything must be done to minimize the carbon input due to waste deposition at landfill sites. The incineration of waste is particularly helpful in reducing GHG emissions. The waste-to-energy by incineration plants and recovery of energy yield an ecologically proper treatment of waste using state-of-the-art techniques of a very high standard. The potential for GHG reduction of conventional waste treatment technologies has been estimated by the authors. A growing number of waste incinerators and intensified co-incineration of waste in Austrian industry will both help to reduce national GHG emissions substantially. By increasing the number and capacity of plants for thermal treatment of waste the contribution of proper waste management to the national target for reduction of GHG emissions will be in the range of 8 to 14%. The GHG inventories also indicate that a potential CO2 reduction of about 500 000 t year(-1) is achievable by co-incineration of waste in Austrian industry.     

Assessment of medical wastes management practice: a case study of the northern part of Jordan

This study includes a survey of the procedures available, techniques, and methods of handling and disposing of medical waste at medium (between 100 and 200 beds) to large (over 200 beds) size healthcare facilities located in Irbid city (a major city in the northern part of Jordan). A total of 14 healthcare facilities, including four hospitals and 10 clinical laboratories, serving a total population of about 1.5 million, were surveyed during the course of this research. This study took into consideration both the quantity and quality of the generated wastes to determine generation rates and physical properties. Results of the survey showed that healthcare facilities in Irbid city have less appropriate practices when it comes to the handling, storage, and disposal of wastes generated in comparison to the developed world. There are no defined methods for handling and disposal of these wastes, starting from the personnel responsible for collection through those who transport the wastes to the disposal site. Moreover, there are no specific regulations or guidelines for segregation or classification of these wastes. This means that wastes are mixed, for example, wastes coming from the kitchen with those generated by different departments. Also, more importantly, none of the sites surveyed could provide estimated quantities of waste generated by each department, based upon the known variables within the departments. Average generation rates of total medical wastes in the hospitals were estimated to be 6.10 kg/patient/day (3.49 kg/bed/day), 5.62 kg/patient/day (3.14 kg/bed/day), and 4.02 kg/patient/day (1.88 kg/bed/day) for public, maternity, and private hospitals, respectively. For medical laboratories, rates were found to be in the range of 0.053-0.065 kg/test-day for governmental laboratories, and 0.034-0.102 kg/test-day for private laboratories. Although, based on the type of waste, domestic or general waste makes up a large proportion of the waste volume, so that if such waste is not mixed with patient derived waste, it can be easily handled. However, based on infections, it is important for healthcare staff to take precautions in handling sharps and pathological wastes, which comprises only about 26% of the total infectious wastes. Statistical analysis was conducted to develop mathematical models to aid in the prediction of waste quantities generated by the hospitals studied, or similar sites in the city that are not included in this study. In these models, the number of patients, number of beds, and hospital type were determined to be significant factors on waste generation. Such models provide decision makers with tools to better manage their medical waste, given the dynamic conditions of their healthcare facilities.     

Composition of source-sorted municipal organic waste collected in Danish cities

Source-sorted municipal organic waste from different dwelling types in five Danish cities was sampled during one year. The samples were from permanent, full-scale systems or temporary, experimental systems for collection of source-sorted municipal organic waste. Pre-treatment of the organic waste prior to biological treatment was used in all cities to remove foreign objects and provide size reduction. All sampling was performed after pre-treatment in order to obtain more homogeneous and representative samples. The sampling included both the pre-treated waste and the reject from the pre-treatment allowing for estimation of the composition of the original waste. A total of 40 waste samples were chemically characterised with respect to 15 parameters. The waste generally consisted of around 88% VS of which an average of 80% was easily degradable. The average content of N, P and K in the dry matter of the organic waste was 2.5%, 0.4% and 0.9%, respectively. A general analysis of variance was applied to show the influence of the collection system, dwelling type and annual season on the waste composition. The content of plastic and crude fibres in the waste differed the most among the samples, probably due to use of different bag types (plastic and paper) in the different collection systems. Variations in the ash content and the calorific value might be explained by differences in the sorting instructions (whether soil and cat litter are allowed in the organic fraction). Significant seasonal variations were seen for ash, S and Cl. Dwelling type showed no statistically significant influence on any waste components. A test for uniform distribution of the p-values from the analysis of variance (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) showed that the overall composition of the collected waste was strongly affected by the collection system (city) and season, while dwelling type had no significant influence.     

Management of hazardous medical waste in Croatia

This article provides a review of hazardous medical waste production and its management in Croatia. Even though Croatian regulations define all steps in the waste management chain, implementation of those steps is one of the country's greatest issues. Improper practice is evident from the point of waste production to final disposal. The biggest producers of hazardous medical waste are hospitals that do not implement existing legislation, due to the lack of education and funds. Information on quantities, type and flow of medical waste are inadequate, as is sanitary control. We propose an integrated approach to medical waste management based on a hierarchical structure from the point of generation to its disposal. Priority is given to the reduction of the amounts and potential for harm. Where this is not possible, management includes reduction by sorting and separating, pretreatment on site, safe transportation, final treatment and sanitary disposal. Preferred methods should be the least harmful for human health and the environment. Integrated medical waste management could greatly reduce quantities and consequently financial strains. Landfilling is the predominant route of disposal in Croatia, although the authors believe that incineration is the most appropriate method. In a country such as Croatia, a number of small incinerators would be the most economical solution.     

Possibilities and limitations of life cycle assessment (LCA) in the development of waste utilization systems – Applied examples for a region in Northern Germany

Against the background of increasing concerns about climate change, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has become an integral part of processes in both the waste management and the energy industries. This is reflected in the development of new waste treatment concepts, in which domestic and commercial waste is treated with the aim of utilizing its energy content, while at the same time recycling as much of its material content as possible. Life cycle assessment (LCA) represents a method of assessing the environmental relevance of a waste management system, the basis of which is a material flow analysis of the system in question. GHG emissions from different options for thermal treatment and energy recovery from waste as applied to a region in Northern Germany have been analyzed by the LCA approach and an indicative LCA, which only considers those emissions resulting from operating stages of the system. Operating stages have the main share of emissions compared to pre-processing stages. Results show that through specific separation of waste material flows and highly efficient energy recovery, thermal treatment and energy generation from waste can be optimized resulting in reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases. There are also other areas of waste utilization, currently given little attention, such as the solar drying of sewage sludge, which can considerably contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.