Assessment of plastic waste generation and its potential recycling of household solid waste in Can Tho City, Vietnam

Plastic solid waste has become a serious problem when considering the disposal alternatives following the sequential hierarchy of sound solid waste management. This study was undertaken to assess the quantity and composition of household solid waste, especially plastic waste to identify opportunities for waste recycling. A 1-month survey of 130 households was carried out in Can Tho City, the capital city of the Mekong Delta region in southern Vietnam. Household solid waste was collected from each household and classified into ten physical categories; especially plastic waste was sorted into 22 subcategories. The average household solid waste generation rate was 281.27 g/cap/day. The compostable and recyclable shares respectively accounted for high percentage as 80.74% and 11%. Regarding plastic waste, the average plastic waste generation rate was 17.24 g/cap/day; plastic packaging and plastic containers dominated with the high percentage, 95.64% of plastic waste. Plastic shopping bags were especially identified as the major component, accounting for 45.72% of total plastic waste. Relevant factors such as household income and household size were found to have an existing correlation to plastic waste generation in detailed composition. The household habits and behaviors of plastic waste discharge and the aspects of environmental impacts and resource consumption for plastic waste disposal alternatives were also evaluated.     

Behavior of PCDD/Fs during open burning of municipal solid waste in open dumping sites

Open dumping sites in Surabaya and Palembang, Indonesia, have been studied to investigate emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-para-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs), as well as the resulting soil contamination that might be caused by open burning of municipal solid waste. The emission factors of the waste residue, accounting for the ratio of waste burned, have also been characterized. The concentrations of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs in soil from Palembang were 61–310 pg-TEQ/g (dry weight) and 6.3–32 pg-TEQ/g, respectively. In Surabaya, very low levels of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs, ranging from 0.075 to 0.098 and 0.00032 to 0.095 pg-TEQ/g, respectively, were observed in soil for an open dumping site that included a top cover layer of soil above the compacted waste. The large difference in concentrations can be explained by the fact that open burning of waste is the source of PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs. The emission factors for the residue for PCDD/Fs ranged from 27 to 140 pg-TEQ/g, and a sensitivity analysis found that the maximum emission factor to the residue could be 5600 pg-TEQ/g. Our results indicate that emissions of PCDD/Fs can be controlled by modifying the open dumping process to one that involves depositing soil layers on top of the compacted waste.     

Predicting the effect of promotion measures on waste separation behavior: a case study in Da Nang City,Vietnam

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Recycling is one of the priority solutions for reducing the amount of waste entering landfills. To achieve high rates of recycling, citizens are...     

Assessment of heavy metal distribution and contamination in the sediment of the Ciujung Watershed,Banten Province,Indonesia

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The present study examined the distribution and severity of heavy metal contamination in the sediments of the Ciujung Watershed and its tributaries...