Chapter II

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Chapter 2. Characterization of waste and waste
properties
By: Tibebu Habte (BSc., MSc., BA., FMVA)

(A world-class financial analyst)
Phone +251 922 381917 April 19, 2023
Gmail: tibebuhabte21@gmail.com Arba Minch, Ethiopia.
Chapter Outlines
1. Waste characterization by type (e.g., food waste, paper, plastic, wood,
metal, glass, mixed) and source
2. Physical properties of municipal solid wastes (moisture content, field
capacity, hydraulic conductivity, mass density, particle size)
3. Chemical properties of municipal solid wastes (chemical composition such
as C/N)
4. Biological properties of municipal solid wastes (e.g., biodegradability)
5. Heat value of the waste
6. Proximate and ultimate analysis of solid waste
7. Population forecasting
8. Generation rate
At the end of this session, you will be able to
 Mention the importance of knowing solid waste quantities?
 Identify methods used to quantify solid waste quantities?
 Determine the waste generation rates?
05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 3

2.1. Introduction
• Knowledge of
 The sources and types of solid wastes,
 Data on the composition and rates of generation,
• is basic to the design and operation of the functional elements

associated with the management of solid wastes.

2.1. Introduction
• The materials that are collected under the term solid waste include many
different substances from a multitude of sources.
• The sources of solid waste are dependent on the socioeconomic and

technological levels of society.
• A small rural community may have known types of solid wastes from known
sources (i.e., the wastes are more homogenous). Wastes from industrial and
mining areas are also more homogenous.
• Urban communities (metropolitan cities) have many sources (The wastes are
more heterogeneous).
2.2. Composition of solid wastes and their determination
• Composition is the term used to describe

 the individual components that make up the solid waste stream and
 Their relative distribution, usually by percent by weight.
• Information on the composition of solid waste is important in

evaluating equipment needs, systems and management programs
and plans.

Components Low income Middle income Upper income
Organic
.
Food waste 40-85 20-65 6-30
Paper 1-10 8-30 20-45
Cardboard --- --- 5-15
Plastics 1-5 2-6 2-8
Textiles 1-5 2-10 2-6
Rubber --- --- 0-2
Leather --- --- 0-2
Yard wastes 1-5 10-20
Wood --- --- 1-4
Inorganic
Glass 5 5 8
Aluminum 2 2 0
Dirt, Ash etc., 20 15 5

• What Influences Waste Generation Rate/Composition?
 Lifestyle
 Urbanization and
 Income

Municipal waste generation and characterization
Waste Generation as function of income

Waste Generation as function of urbanization and income
Waste composition as function of urbanization and income
Other properties
Cointreau-Levine, S. (1994). Private

Sector Participation in Municipal Solid
Waste Services in Developing Countries.
Volume 1 - The Formal Sector. UMP
Technical Paper, No. 13.
1. Physical composition of solid wastes
• Knowing the characteristics of the physical component of a

community solid waste is important for the following purposes:
A. for the selection and operation of equipment and facilities
B. to assess the possibility of resource of energy recovery
C. to design and analyze disposal facilities

The ways for physical composition Analysis
i. Individual component study:

• Analyze the components of municipal solid waste by type
• Sorting and separation of each component is necessary
• Samples of each of the heterogeneous refuse of municipal solid waste
• Should be representative (at all seasons of the year)
• Statistical produces (representativeness and randomization)


• The types (components) of municipal solid waste may be different from
country to country by
 season, economic condition, developmental level, etc

The typical variation observed in the collected composition of residential municipal solid
Waste Percent by weight Percent Variation
waste Winter season Summer season Decrease Increase
Food waste 11.1 13.5 21.6
Paper 45.2 40.0 11.5
Plastics 9.1 8.2 9.9
Other organics 4.0 4.6 15.0
Yard waste 18.7 24.0 28.3
Glass 3.5 2.5 28.6
Metals 4.1 3.1 24.4
Inert and other wastes 4.3 4.1 4.7
100 100


• It involves achieving the present composition of solid waste by volume and
by weight.
• Volume measurements although difficult to measure are essential to

disposal methods.
 E.g., to calculate incinerator sizes and landfill areas and to limit the hauling
capacity of refuse tracks, etc.
ii. Moisture content

• The moisture content of solid waste is usually expressed in one of two
ways
1. Wet–weight method: the moisture in a sample is expressed as a percentage
of the wet weight of material
2. Dry-weight method: it is expressed as a %age of the dry weight of the
material.
ii. Moisture content

• Wet- weight Moisture content is expressed as follows
• Where: M= wet- weight moisture content, %

• w= initial mass of sample as delivered, kg
• d= mass of sample after drying, kg

ii. Moisture content:
• Example:
• A sample of food waste weighs 460g. After drying it weighs 275g.

What is the moisture content of the sample?



• To obtain the dry weight, the solid waste material is dried in an oven at
(170 ) for 24 hours.
• This temperature and time is used to dehydrate the material completely and to
limit the vaporization of volatile materials.
• For most industrial solid wastes, the moisture content will vary from 10 –
35 percent.

• The moisture content of municipal solid waste vary depending on
1. Composition of the waste
2. The season of the year
3. Humidity
4. Weather condition esp. rain


• Estimate the overall moisture content of a sample of MSW as collected,
with the typical composition given in the table 2.4 slide no.21

ii. Moisture content: Class work??

• Estimate the moisture content of a solid waste sample with the following
composition based on 100 kg of Sample
• M=21%

ii. Moisture content: Homework??

• Estimate the moisture content for a waste sample with the following composition:

iii. Density:
• Density is defined as the weight of the material per unit volume.
• The interest in knowing density of solid waste is to assess the total mass and volume of
waste that must be managed.
• The densities of solid waste vary markedly with:

1. Geographic location
2. Season of the year
3. Length of time in storage
iii. Density:
• Great care should be taken in selecting typical weight or density values.
• The densities of municipal solid wastes as delivered in compaction vehicles

have been found to vary from 178 to 415 Kg/m3; a typical value is 297
kg/m3.

2. Chemical composition of solid wastes
• Information on the chemical composition of solid wastes is

important in evaluating alternative processing and recovery
options.
 For example, the feasibility of combustion depends on the
chemical composition of solid waste.


• Important chemical properties measured for solid waste are:
1. Moisture (water content can change chemical and physical
properties),
2. Volatile matter,
3. Ash,
4. Fixed carbon,
5. Fusing point of ash,
6. Calorific value,
7. Percent of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur and ash.

• If solid wastes are to be used as fuel, the four most important analysis
types to be known are:
• Proximate analysis
• Fusing point of ash
• Ultimate analysis
• Energy content


i. Proximate analysis: aims to determine
• Moisture (loss of moisture when heated to 105 0 c for 1h)
• Volatile matter (additional loss of weight on ignition at 950 0 c in a covered
crucible)
• Ash (weight of residue after combustion in an open crucible)
• Fixed carbon (combustible residue left after volatile matter is removed)


ii. Fusing point of ash is defined as the temperature at which the ash
resulting from the burning of waste will form a solid (clinker) by fusion
and agglomeration.
• Typical fusion temperature for the formation of clinker from solid waste
ranges from 1100 to 1200.


iii. The ultimate analysis of a waste component typically involves
• The determination of the percent of C (carbon), H (hydrogen) O(oxygen),

N(nitrogen), S(sulfur), and ash. CHONS ash
• The results of the ultimate analysis are used to characterize the chemical
composition of the organic matter in municipal solid waste.


• Chemical formula of solid waste.

• Solid waste is a mixture of various components which have their own chemical
composition and chemical formula.
• But deriving approximate formula will help calculate oxygen requirement and other
probable emission during natural degradation or waste treatment.
• The procedure for deriving the chemical formula is given in the following example.

• Step one: Derive ultimate analysis and moisture of individual solid waste components.
• Step two: Convert moisture content into Hydrogen and Oxygen.
 Hydrogen : (2/18) 16 kg = 1.78 kg.
 Oxygen : (16/18) 16 kg = 14.22 kg.
• Step three: Revise composition in kg.

• Step four: Compute the molar composition of the waste.
• Step five: Compute the normalized mole ratio
• Chemical formula of solid waste is


iv. The energy content of the organic components in municipal solid waste
can be determined;
• By using a full-scale boiler as a calorimeter
• By using a laboratory bomb calorimeter
• By calculation if the elemental composition is known.


iv. The energy content
• Energy values as discarded basis may be converted to a dry basis by using:

Energy for each waste
41
Estimate energy content of the whole sample?
Calculate average energy content: total energy content/total weight=

14,740 KJ/kg
42
3. Biological composition of solid wastes

• Wet waste will host more bacteria compared to dry waste.
• The nutrition in waste also acts as a key factor that decides the population balance of
species in the waste and immediate environment.
• Toxic elements discourage multi-cellular organisms in the waste.
• But micro-organisms may persist at places that may favor some species of micro-
organism.
• Saprophytes and fungi will flourish in the decomposable matter.



• The most important biological characteristic of the organic fraction of
municipal solid waste is that
• Almost all of the organic components can be converted biologically to
gases and relatively inert organic and inorganic solids

2.3. Conducting a Waste Generation and Characterization Study (Waste Audit)
Expression of unit generation
• Amount produced/time
• Kg/capita/day
• Kg/Km/day
• Kg/area/day
How to asses the quantities of solid waste?

load-count analysis- load + cxs (type, V)
weight-volume analysis- density
Materials-balance analysis-the mass of solid waste entering the system should
be equal to the mass of waste leaving the system
 But reading assignment ?????
46
2.3. Conducting a Waste Generation and Characterization Study
(Waste Audit)
• Measure the generation rate
1. Collect the waste
2. Weigh collected waste
3. Calculate waste generation rate
4. Other measurements---Waste density
• Conduct the waste characterization study
1. Mix all waste
2. Apply the quartering technique
3. Sort the waste
4. Weigh the waste fractions
5. Waste characterization calculation exercise
• Finalize the waste Audit

(Waste Audit)
1. 1 Collect the waste
• 8 consecutive days of collection
• Discard the waste from day 1, analyze from days 2-8

(Waste Audit)
1. 1 Collect the waste—procedure
• On day 1, provide the selected households with plastic bags, and ask them
to accumulate all the generated wastes they have at home in this bags.
• The waste collected on day 1 will be discarded, as it may contain waste

accumulated from two or more days.
• On all the other days, from day number 2 to 8, collect the bags filled with
the waste from the previous day and provide a new bag for the next day.

(Waste Audit)
1. 1 Collect the waste—procedure
• Note the following information on each bag:
 Number of people in the household
 Income level
 Date
 Time
• Every day bring the collected bags to the measurement site for analysis
• Use a convenient vehicle for transport

(Waste Audit)
1.2 weigh Collected waste—a procedure
• Once all the waste from all households collected on one day is brought to
the site, weigh each sample bag and record the weights in the data
Amounts (Kg)
spreadsheet House No.
Family Size Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Total (Kg)
1 4 1.38 1.66 1.41 2.00 1.79 1.41 1.38 11.03
2 4 1.84 1.58 1.97 1.67 1.45 2.00 2.01 12.52
3 2 0.90 0.88 0.80 0.91 1.01 0.68 0.70 5.88
4 6 2.06 2.50 2.46 3.00 2.14 2.78 14.94
5 1 0.52 0.35 0.44 0.36 0.50 0.40 0.49 3.06
Total waste 6.7 6.97 4.62 7.40 7.75 6.63 7.36 47.43
Total People 17 17 11 17 17 17 17
Per capita generation rate
0.39 0.41 0.42 0.44 0.46 0.39 0.43 0.42
(Kg/cap/day)

(Waste Audit)
1.3 Calculate waste generation rate—procedure
• If the income level is different, record in a different spreadsheet for each
level
• For this case there is no difference in income level, therefore, the Average
per capita generation rate: is 0.24 kg/cap/day
• But assume the total population size of the area is 50,000 inhabitants.
• Then the total generation of that area is =0.42 kg/cap/day
*50,000cap=21,000 kg/cap/day=21 tons/day

(Waste Audit)
1.4. Other measurements—procedure
• Now can you calculate the density of the waste?
• Procedure: select 20 bags (weighted)
• Empty content into a bucket

 Compress slightly (don’t compress too much)
• Once the bucket is full, repeat the process
• Count how many buckets you filled

(Waste Audit)
1.4. other measurements—procedure
• Take 20 bags of waste = weight of the bags =125kg
• 5-bucket, with 100L each, full loads with a volume of 5*100L =

500L=0.5m3
• Density = Mass/volume=125kg/0.5m3=250kg/m3

(Waste Audit)
2. Conduct the waste characterization study
• It is advisable to limit the time between collection and analysis to a
maximum of 8 hours since the waste will start slowly to degrade.
• Steps to conduct characterization study?
2.1 Mix the wastes

• Empty all the bags collected on the same day onto a flattened and covered
surface. Ideally, this could be a plastic sheet.
• If your waste amounts to more than 150,200kgs, you will have to take a
representative sample of around 50 kg for analysis.
(Waste Audit)
2.1 Mix the wastes
• The most commonly used technique for this is called the “quartering
technique”. You will do this by first mixing all the waste as thoroughly as
possible. You can use shovels for this. Then expand the waste on a flat,
hard surface, so that it forms a flat layer.

(Waste Audit)
2.2 Quartering technique
• Then divide the waste layer into four parts—A, B, C,& D. From those four
portions, discard two opposing quarters, say B and D. and then combine
the remaining two quarters
• Repeat these four steps until approximately 50kg of waste is left
• Now you have a manageable amount of waste for sorting
• Bring the representative sample of 50 kg to the sorting table.
• Prepared the labeled containers, as many containers as fractions you have,
and put them around the sorting table.
• Sort all the waste until the largest item you have left is around 1cm.

(Waste Audit)
2.3 Sort the waste
• The pieces that are smaller than 1cm are called fines.
• Sorting them out would take a long time, so it is preferable to work with a
smaller representative sample.
• Say there are 10kg fines: you could reduce to 1kg fines through the
quartering technique as explained before. Sort 1kg of fines into fractions.
Multiply the final weight of each fraction by 10 & note down
• Discard all fines to avoid them from getting back!
(Waste Audit)
2.4. Weigh waste fractions
• Once everything is sorted out, the next step is to weigh each fraction and
record it on the spreadsheet. Add the amounts of fines to the total amount
• Remember to subtract the weight of the empty containers from your
results.
• Repeat this procedure every day and complete your spreadsheet.

(Waste Audit)
2.5. waste characterization Calculation exercise
Amount
s (Kg)
Waste fractions
Total
Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 (Kg) %
Biowaste 2.70 2.57 1.72 2.85 3.05 2.74 2.62 18.2538.51
Paper and
1.27 1.25 1.02 1.70 1.47 1.32 1.54
cardboard 9.5720.19
platic 0.74 0.74 0.66 0.73 0.94 0.81 0.99 5.6111.84
textile 0.49 0.45 0.16 0.16 0.56 0.26 0.35 2.435.13
Metals 0.14 0.31 0.24 0.27 0.33 0.17 0.35 1.813.82
Glass 0.22 0.36 0.22 0.35 0.02 0.34 0.40 1.914.03
other 1.13 1.28 0.61 1.32 1.39 0.98 1.10 7.8116.48
Total 6.69 6.96 4.63 7.38 7.76 6.62 7.35
47.39 100.00
(Waste Audit)
Other 16.48
Metal
3 .8 2 Biowaste 38.51
3
Texti les 5 .1
sti c 1 1 .8 4
Pla
20.19 Paper waste
Waste characterization in x area

(Waste Audit)
3. Finalize Audit
• Dispose the waste
 Offer it to informal recyclers
• Clean and store the equipment

(Waste Audit)
• Suppose you are assigned as an urban WASH worker in a town where there is no
information on the amount of residential waste produced. The WASH team did its own
survey and, based on a sample of 34 households taken over a seven-day period, they
came up with the data shown below.
 The total mass of solid waste produced by the 34 sample households over seven days was
480 kg.
 The average household size was 6.3 people.
 The population of the town was 75,000.
• Based on these data, calculate:
a) The generation rate of residential solid waste per person per day
b) The total amount of domestic solid waste generated per day by the town’s people.

(Waste Audit)
a) We know that 34 households (or ) produced 480 kg of waste in seven days.
• So, the total amount produced per person is: over seven days
• The daily amount produced per person is, therefore:
b) The total amount of domestic solid waste generated by the town’s people is:

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COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND HEALTH SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

By: Tibebu Habte (BSc., MSc., BA., FMVA)

 Mention the importance of knowing solid waste quantities?

 Identify methods used to quantify solid waste quantities?

 Determine the waste generation rates?

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 3

• is basic to the design and operation of the functional elements

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 4

• The sources of solid waste are dependent on the socioeconomic and

• Composition is the term used to describe

• Information on the composition of solid waste is important in

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 6

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 7

• What Influences Waste Generation Rate/Composition?

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 8

Waste Generation as function of income

Cointreau-Levine, S. (1994). Private

1. Physical composition of solid wastes

• Knowing the characteristics of the physical component of a

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 13

The ways for physical composition Analysis

i. Individual component study:

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 14

The ways for physical composition Analysis

i. Individual component study:

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 15

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 16

The ways for physical composition Analysis

i. Individual component study:

• Volume measurements although difficult to measure are essential to

The ways for physical composition Analysis

ii. Moisture content

The ways for physical composition Analysis

ii. Moisture content

• Where: M= wet- weight moisture content, %

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 19

The ways for physical composition Analysis

ii. Moisture content:

• A sample of food waste weighs 460g. After drying it weighs 275g.

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 20

The ways for physical composition Analysis

ii. Moisture content:

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 21

The ways for physical composition Analysis

ii. Moisture content:

The ways for physical composition Analysis

ii. Moisture content:

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 23

The ways for physical composition Analysis

ii. Moisture content:

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 24

The ways for physical composition Analysis

ii. Moisture content: Class work??

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 25

The ways for physical composition Analysis

ii. Moisture content: Homework??

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 26

The ways for physical composition Analysis

• The densities of solid waste vary markedly with:

The ways for physical composition Analysis

• The densities of municipal solid wastes as delivered in compaction vehicles

05/02/2023 By Tibebu Habte (MSc., BSc., BA, FMVA) 28

2. Chemical composition of solid wastes