Assessment of municipal solid waste generation and recyclable materials potential in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This paper presents a forecasting study of municipal solid waste generation (MSWG) rate and potential of its recyclable components in Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital city of Malaysia. The generation rates and composition of solid wastes of various classes such as street cleansing, landscape and garde...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Waste management (Elmsford) 2009-07, Vol.29 (7), p.2209-2213
Main Authors: Saeed, Mohamed Osman, Hassan, Mohd Nasir, Mujeebu, M. Abdul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aluminum base alloys
Applied sciences
Assessments
Conservation of Natural Resources
Exact sciences and technology
Forecasting
General treatment and storage processes
Malaysia
Models, Theoretical
Offices
Other industrial wastes. Sewage sludge
Other wastes and particular components of wastes
Pollution
Population growth
Residential
Solid wastes
Street cleansing
Urban and domestic wastes
Waste management
Waste Products - statistics & numerical data
Waste treatment
Wastes
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Summary:This paper presents a forecasting study of municipal solid waste generation (MSWG) rate and potential of its recyclable components in Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capital city of Malaysia. The generation rates and composition of solid wastes of various classes such as street cleansing, landscape and garden, industrial and constructional, institutional, residential and commercial are analyzed. The past and present trends are studied and extrapolated for the coming years using Microsoft office 2003 Excel spreadsheet assuming a linear behavior. The study shows that increased solid waste generation of KL is alarming. For instance, the amount of daily residential SWG is found to be about 1.62 kg/capita; with the national average at 0.8–0.9 kg/capita and is expected to be increasing linearly, reaching to 2.23 kg/capita by 2024. This figure seems reasonable for an urban developing area like KL city. It is also found that, food (organic) waste is the major recyclable component followed by mix paper and mix plastics. Along with estimated population growth and their business activities, it has been observed that the city is still lacking in terms of efficient waste treatment technology, sufficient fund, public awareness, maintaining the established norms of industrial waste treatment etc. Hence it is recommended that the concerned authority (DBKL) shall view this issue seriously.
ISSN:0956-053X
1879-2456
DOI:10.1016/j.wasman.2009.02.017