Solid Waste Generation, Categorization and Calculation of its Recycling and Recovery Potential in Safa Gold Mall, Islamabad (P-0803) (MFN 5506)

Abstract

This study was carried out in Safa gold mall Islamabad to identify recovery potential of solid waste produced and also to determine how much of this waste can be recycled. For this study, waste of safa gold mall was analyzed daily for 15 days. In the first step samples of waste were collected from bins and sorting of waste was carried out. Waste was collected from basement 1, basement 2, ground floor, floor 1, floor 2, floor 3, floor 4 and floor 7. Waste was then categorized into 7 items; paper waste, packaging materials, metals, organic matters, disposable items and others. The total waste generation in each day was calculated after sorting the waste. In the second step Lab analysis was done to find out pH, electrical conductivity (EC), Volatile solids (VS), total organic carbon (TOC), moisture content (MO) and ash content (AC). In the third step survey analysis was carried out to determine the extent to which solid waste management was being carried out. Results of this study concluded that 6% of the total waste was composed of disposable items, 16% was plastic waste, 9% was glass waste, 17% consisted of paper waste, 18% was packing material, 7% of the waste was of metal, and 23% of the waste was organic in nature. Out of the total waste 4% was composed of other type of waste. Based on the results it was concluded that a large proportion of the waste generated in the Safa Gold Mall can be recycled or is potentially recyclable. In the total 1808kg of waste, the percentage of recyclable waste was calculated to be 22% which included plastic and disposable materials. Whereas the percentage of potentially recyclable waste came out to be 51% which was composed of Glass, paper, packaging material and metal. Percentage of recoverable material in the total waste was 23% which included organic waste and of non-recyclable was 4% which composed of sanitary and ii construction/demolition waste. Within the total waste generated in buildings, the category of paper and packaging material represents the larger percentage of 35.28% of recyclable waste in the locality. Results of lab analysis showed that pH of the samples ranged from 5.8 to 6.5. Compost microorganisms operate best under neutral to acidic conditions, with pH's in the range of 5.5 to 8. And electrical conductivity ranged from 3.25 to 5.43 ms/cm, acceptable levels are determined on the basis of the intended use of the compost. Survey analysis showed that most of the visitors were ready to pay for recycling of waste. Waste was not properly segregated in the mall as most of the waste is organic in nature which comes from the food court. There is no any segregation system of waste in the mall because there is no any separate bins to collect waste according to its type so waste is collect randomly and put it into the dustbins, so 50% of surveyors agreed that there is no segregation system in the mall. Survey results confirmed that Waste management training is provided to the newly hired staff. Results also showed that most of the people are unaware of the impacts of solid waste. Due to lack of proper segregation technique in Safa Gold Mall, large amount of organic waste is dumped and mixed with other waste making it unfit for recovery facility or material recovery. Although organic waste is collected separately from all other wastes in separate large 2 bins on 7th floor but at the time of truck loading it is mixed with other waste reflecting the poor waste management of staff and administration. However, recycling and composting are the great prospective sectors and have immense possibilities to earn revenue for integrated and sustainable waste management as well as environmental benefits. There should be material recovery facility MRF for such waste to iii extract an economic value and energy (waste to energy or material recovery/resource recovery) from the waste.