The pilot study of characteristics of household waste generated in suburban parts of rural areas

Abstract

The subject of the studies were waste generated in suburban households, in 3-bag system. The sum of wastes generated during the four analyzed seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter - 1 year), in the households under study, per 1 person, amounted to 170,3 kg (in wet mass basis). For 1 person, most domestic waste was generated in autumn - 45,5 kg per capita and the least in winter - 39,0 kg per capita. The analysis performed of sieved composition (size fraction) showed that fractions: >100 mm, 40-100 mm, 20-40 mm constituted totally 80% of the mass of wastes (average in a year). The lowest fraction (<10 mm), whose significant part constitutes ashes, varied depending on the season of year: from 3.5% to 12.8%. In the morphological composition of the households analyzed (on average in 4 seasons), biowastes totally formed over 53% of the whole mass of wastes. A significant part of waste generated were also glass waste (10,7% average per year) and disposable nappies (8,3% average per year). The analysis of basic chemical components of biowastes showed that in case of utilizing them for production of compost, it would be necessary to modify (correct) the ratios C/N and C/P. Analysis of the chemical composition showed that the biowastes were characterized by very high moisture content and neutral pH.