Consumption patterns and household hazardous solid waste generation in an urban settlement in México

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2008.03.019

Waste Management

Volume 28, Supplement 1, 2008, Pages S2-S6

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2008.03.019 Get rights and content

Abstract

Mexico is currently facing a crisis in the waste management field. Some efforts have just commenced in urban and in rural settlements, e.g., conversion of open dumps into landfills, a relatively small composting culture, and implementation of source separation and plastic recycling strategies. Nonetheless, the high heterogeneity of components in the waste, many of these with hazardous properties, present the municipal collection services with serious problems, due to the risks to the health of the workers and to the impacts to the environment as a result of the inadequate disposition of these wastes.

A generation study in the domestic sector was undertaken with the aim of finding out the composition and the generation rate of household hazardous waste (HHW) produced at residences. Simultaneously to the generation study, a socioeconomic survey was applied to determine the influence of income level on the production of HHW.

Results from the solid waste generation analysis indicated that approximately 1.6% of the waste stream consists of HHW. Correspondingly, it was estimated that in Morelia, a total amount of 442 ton/day of domestic waste are produced, including 7.1 ton of HHW per day. Furthermore, the overall amount of HHW is not directly related to income level, although particular byproducts do correlate. However, an important difference was observed, as the brands and the presentation sizes of goods and products used in each socioeconomic stratum varied.

Introduction

Domestic solid waste (DSW) is the waste stream generated at households; the composition of this stream is closely related to everyday consumption habits. Knowledge of the composition of the DSW provides valuable information for the integrated management of solid waste, an urgent need in developing countries.

The consumption of goods results in the production of a wide range of articles, i.e., packages, packaging and valueless products such as cleaning products, batteries, syringes, out-of date medicines, oils, personal care products, paints, etc. This group of refuse has specific characteristics (corrosive, reactive, explosive, toxic, flammable, and infectious) and is considered hazardous or potentially hazardous to the public health and to the environment, if inadequately managed. In addition, household hazardous waste (HHW) is an escalating problem, due to new public consumption habits and, in México, due to a lack of proper legislation (Buenrostro et al., 2007).

Section snippets

Background

To the best knowledge of the authors, household hazardous waste is a topic rarely studied. At least in developed countries, it is possible that under current legislation and waste management practices, the HHW stream is appropriately taken care of. However, in developing countries, the extensive void of data is likely to be due to a lack of appropriate funding and government interest.

Gendebien et al. (2002) reported data on HHW in three different countries. They estimated that 2 kg/capita/annum

Materials and methods

To carry out this research, 120 houses were selected in each socioeconomic stratum, to obtain 360 participating households. Only 303 dwellings completed the study (98 in the lower stratum, 106 in the middle and 99 in the upper stratum), giving a sample recovery rate of 84%.

Results and discussion

In some industrialized countries, the final disposition of commingled HHW and MSW is a common practice. Environmental and public health concerns usually are regarded as minimum, as landfills comply with standards that ensure the safe containment of pollutants in the landfill matrix. Consequently, HHW is not managed differently from MSW, except materials that can be recycled (Seldman, 2003, Repa, 2004).

Unfortunately, this scenario is different in developing countries. In fact, landfills are

Conclusions

In Morelia (central México) HHW represents 1.6% of the MSW stream. It was estimated that approximately 7.1 ton/day of HHW are generated.

There was no significant difference in the overall amount of HHW generated per socioeconomic stratum. However, it was found that certain HHW subproducts depend on income. Regardless of the socioeconomic stratum, the consumption patterns and urban lifestyles or the population influence HHW production.

The region studied urgently requires a HHW management program,

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Coordinación de la Investigación Científica from Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo through project No. 5.9. The excellent technical assistance of Yazmín Claudio, Carlos González, José L. Díaz and Olga Nambo are also acknowledged.

We also thank the referees for their comments and suggestions in order to improve the paper.

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Consumption patterns and household hazardous solid waste generation in an urban settlement in México

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Background

Materials and methods

Results and discussion

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

Sustainable disposal of domestic sanitary waste

Journal of Environmental Engineering

Urban solid waste generation and disposal in Mexico. A case study

Waste Management & Research

La gestión de los residuos sólidos municipales en la Cuenca de Cuitzeo, México (Municipal solid waste management in the basin of Cuitzeo, Mexico)

International Journal of Environmental Pollution

Comparative analysis of hazardous household waste in two mexican regions

Waste management

Environmental values, beliefs and actions

Environment and Behavior