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MEQ 19,5

Analysis and overview of industrial solid waste management in Kuwait

Jasem M. Alhumoud
Civil Engineering Department, Kuwait University, Safat, Kuwait, and

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Received 14 January 2008 Revised 15 March 2008 Accepted 10 April 2008

Fatima A. Al-Kandari
Ministry of Public Works, Department of Big Projects, Kuwait
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the amount of different kinds of solid wastes produced, segregated, collected, stored, transported and disposed off by the different industries/business in Kuwait. Design/methodology/approach Available industry information along with the use of monitoring data from a waste management system were used to analyze the generation, type and composition of industrial waste. Industrial activities were classied as follows: crude oil and chemical products industry; food and beverage industry, textiles and leather industry, wood industry, paper and printing industry, non-metallic mineral products; metal industry and other industries. The wastes generated were classied according to their composition. Findings Kuwait has more than 5,000 industries and as a result more than 47,169 tons of industrial wastes are produced every year in Kuwait. It was observed that paper and cardboard, plastic, wood, and metals were the most common types of waste, mainly generated from packaging (45 percent of the total volume), as well as material used in containers and for wrapping products. Practical implications In the management of these industrial solid wastes, it was observed in most cases they were disposed of by dumping, and very rarely did businesses resort to reuse, recycling or valorization. Originality/value The paper systematically assesses the obstacles in the existing industrial solid waste management system in the different industries and businesses in Kuwait. In addition, it examines the legislation set by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in Kuwait. Subsequently, recommendations and improvements are suggested. Keywords Industrial wastes, Hazardous handling, Waste management, Legislation, Environmental regulations, Kuwait Paper type Research paper

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal Vol. 19 No. 5, 2008 pp. 520-532 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1477-7835 DOI 10.1108/14777830810894210

1. Introduction Kuwait, located in the north western corner of the Arabian Gulf, is a small country with a total area of 17,818 km2. Kuwait mainland extends between latitudes 288 300 and 308 060 north, longitudes 468 300 and 488 300 east and measures about 200 km from the farthermost northern to the farthermost southern points and about 170 km from East to West between the extreme longitudes. The registered population of the country as of
The authors are very grateful to the Public Authority for Industry in Kuwait (PAI) and to the National Cleaning Company (NCC) for data collection and their support. In addition, the authors thank the distinguished reviewers of the paper for their useful comments and suggestions.

the year 2005 is 2.213 million and population density of 140 per km2, where about 0.88 million are Kuwaiti citizens and 1.333 million are non-Kuwaitis, and the population growth rate is reported to be 6.25 percent per year. During the second Gulf War (August 1990-February 1991), most of the countrys physical infrastructure was severely damaged. In particular, electricity and transmission lines, road networks, telecommunication facilities, and water supply and sewerage networks were affected. Past-war reconstruction and development projects have focused on rehabilitating and upgrading basic infrastructure and enhancing the performance of national strategic sectors. Reconstruction efforts were mainly nanced through local and regional loans and grants. In addition, several projects were managed through built-operate-transfer (BOT) arrangements. Another rapid economic growth and industrial upgrading has occurred immediately after the starting of the USA-Iraq war in March 2003. The industrial sector was of course one of the major beneciaries of these economic activities which re continuing until today, and its recovery has been remarkable. This trend in growth is indicative of the vitality and resilience of this economic sector, which is expected to continue to exhibit a strong growth in the future. The industrial wastes generated in Kuwait are complex not only due to their large quantity, but also because of their composition. Current undertakings in waste handling have mainly been directed towards improving and upgrading municipal solid waste management. The constraints faced in the collection, treatment and disposal of other waste types in addition to legislative and institutional deciencies remain issues of concern (Alhumoud, 2005). The term industrial waste refers to all wastes arising from industrial operations or derived from manufacturing processes. Industrial wastes comprise food wastes, rubbish, ashes, demolition and construction wastes, special wastes and hazardous wastes (Tchobanoglus et al., 1994). Inert solid waste is a non-reactive, innocuous material, non-hazardous solid waste that is often dry in nature, includes grit and bar screening from the central wastewater treatment plant, clean metal drums, scrap metal, tires, paper and cardboard, wood pallets, packing materials, plastics that are residuals from industrial production, sand, stone and demolition debris. Hazardous wastes have been dened as wastes or combinations of wastes that pose a substantial or potential hazard to humans or other living organisms because (Asadi et al., 1996): . such wastes are non-degradable or persistent in nature; . they can be biologically magnied; . they can be lethal; . they may otherwise cause or tend to cause detrimental cumulative effects; and, . they exhibit characteristics of ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity or toxicity. Properties of waste materials that have been used to assess whether a waste is hazardous or not are related to questions of safety and health. At present, a variety of classication systems and priority lists have been adopted by different regulatory agencies to dene a hazardous waste. For this reason, all of the current operative classication systems must be considered in any assessment (Diaz et al., 2005; Mohee, 2005). In the past industries have traditionally managed their waste products by discharging them into the environment without previous treatment. This practice

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resulted in an increase of pollution and produced a negative environmental impact. The requirement for environmental quality resulted in a change of the whole concept of pollution control (Vigneswaran et al., 1999). The assumption that future industrial waste quantities increase linearly with the degree of industrialization tends to overestimate future waste production. It is reasonable to assume that the projected quantities of waste may be signicantly reduced with the development of new technologies, waste minimization schemes, and waste material (El-Fadel et al., 2001). In recent years, several countries have shown an interest in the management of industrial wastes. For example, Hogland and Stenis (2000) describe a method of organizing an industrial waste management system in Sweden, which is characterized by both an energy recovery and a material recovery system. Other countries such as Finland, Australia, Austria, Canada (Raymond and Cohen-Rosenthal, 1998), and the USA (Deppe et al., 2000) refer to the concept of an eco-industrial park, which integrates business, environmental excellence, and community relations to create economic opportunities and improved ecosystems. Active tax policy is a solution that some countries are using at the moment with the cooperation of local authorities or under the pressure of public opinion. This is presently the case in Poland (Grodzinska-Jurczak, 2001), Germany (Collins, 2000), Sweden (Hogland and Stenis, 2000) and the USA (Deppe et al., 2000). In the USA Hewlett Packard designs its product for disassembly. As a result, HP has been able to disassemble and refurbish 12,000 tons of equipment annually with less than 1 per cent waste. HP also requires its suppliers to meet its own environmental standards such as specied levels of recycled plastic content. The Dell recycle program collects redundant equipment from customers, regardless of brand, to be resold, refurbished, recycled, or disposed of in an environmentally friendly fashion. In addition, through Dell Exchange consumers themselves can trade-in, donate to charity, or auction old and unwanted PCs (Russell and Taylor, 2003). The objectives of this paper are to: . determine manufacturing activity and number of industrial factories/industries in Kuwait; . determine the method that used in Kuwait to dispose of industrial solid waste; . study how to manage the industrial solid waste; . determine the quantity of industrial solid waste generated in Kuwait; . determine the percentage of different inert industrial solid waste; . determine the quantity of the hazardous industrial solid waste; and . study the environmental regulations in Kuwait that related to industrial solid waste which is organized by EPA. Therefore, the results of these objectives would be beneciaries to both the industries and to the authorities in charge of managing the waste in Kuwait. The industries will start waste separation and segregation at the site and the authorities will start enforcing the new regulations and benet most from waste recycling and reuse. 2. Methods Information on the generation and composition of industrial solid waste in Kuwait was obtained by:

the collection and analysis of data from an actual waste management systems; and the assessment of the information provided by the different industries in the country.

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The amount, composition and type of industrial wastes usually depend on the characteristics of each industrial activity (Abduli, 1996). In this research, industrial activities were classied as follows: crude oil and chemical products industry; food and beverage industry, textiles and leather industry, wood industry, paper and printing industry, non-metallic mineral products; metal industry and other industries. The wastes generated were classied according to their composition. In some cases a subclass specifying the origin of the wastes was also included: . Paper and cardboard, including ofce materials, packaging and industrial paper. . Glass, including bottles from the ve eating establishments, packaging and construction wastes, car windshields and raw materials from four factories manufacturing lamps, mirrors, windowpanes, and glassworks in general. . Plastics, including packaging and various other wastes (packaging materials containing hazardous products are included in the hazardous waste group). . Wood, including splinters, sawdust, and other residues from the wood sector activities. . Metals (e.g. iron, aluminum, bronze, lead, copper, steel and brass) from packaging, construction materials, automobile mechanics and metal sector transformation processes in four metal works and a car radiator factory. . Textiles, including clothing industry wastes (mainly jute and cotton) and upholstery (both fabric and leather). . Inert wastes from the construction sector industries. These include demolition wastes, sand, gravel and other wastes. . Municipal solid wastes from bars, restaurants and food sector industries. Their composition is basically organic matter with some small packaging, paper, glass, etc. Garden and pruning wastes are also included. . Hazardous wastes, including car oil, printing ink, paint, batteries, varnish, soluble cutting emulsion and disinfectants. The quantity of waste estimated was not purely industrial because some of the waste categories were very similar to those of municipal waste. However, all of these data were necessary for the estimation of the total waste quantity. 3. Results and discussion Figure 1 shows the classication of the industrial activities in Kuwait. Most of the industries belong to the clothing and fabrics sector. This could be attributed to the large inux of expatriate workers to Kuwait in addition to the hot weather. A unique characteristic of Kuwait is the constant change in the expatriate population from year to year. Each year, a signicant percentage of Kuwaits expatriate population (61 percent of Kuwaits population are non-Kuwaitis) leave the country upon termination of their contracts. These individuals are replaced by incoming expatriate workers,

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Figure 1. Industrial activity classication

mainly from Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and Iran. Subsequently, most of the Pakistanis, Bengalis and Iranian expatriates work in the clothing and fabrics industries. Moreover, due to the high heat and humidity in Kuwait, people have to change their clothing at least twice-a-day. A steady increase in the amount of generated solid wastes has been noted in the 15 years in Kuwait. Of the approximately 5.55 million tons of solid waste produced currently every year, industrial wastes account for 47,169 tons, municipal wastes 836,610 tons and construction and demolition wastes 4.666 million tons. The distribution of the construction and demolition wastes is 30 percent concrete, 30 percent bricks, sand 25 percent, wood 8 percent, steel 5 percent and other type of wastes is 2 percent (Kartam et al., 2004). However, the distribution of municipal solid wastes is foodstuff 45.6 percent, paper 14.5 percent, plastic 16 percent, glass 4.7 percent, metals 9.9 percent and 9.3 percent of other wastes (Koushki and Alhumoud, 2002). Moreover, of the 47,169 tons of industrial solid waste produced, inert waste account for 38,274 tons and hazardous wastes 8,895 tons. Figure 2 shows that wood, limestone and insulation material are the most common industrial solid wastes in Kuwait. There are other types of liquid efuents discharged with the urban wastewater, due to their assimilable nature. However, this waste group has not been considered in this study.

Figure 2. Percentage of non-hazardous industrial solid waste generation

The mean generation rate of industrial waste can be expressed as kg per week or m3 per week (weight or volume rate). Both rates must be known in order to develop a proper waste management system, if we consider that certain industrial wastes have a high volume (e.g. industrial packaging). In order to develop an efcient management system for such solid wastes, it is necessary to determine waste generation by weight and volume (Abduli, 1996). Since wastes, such as paper and cardboard, plastic, and wood, have a high volume, special collection technology is necessary. This could take the form of mechanical volume reduction or another processing technique. The mean generation rate of industrial waste was 907.1 tons per week. Wood and limestone make up 50 percent of the wastes. Wool glass insulation material make up the second group 20 percent. Steel and metal wastes 10 percent, wood 10 percent and plastics 10 percent are the next most signicant groups. Finally, hazardous wastes make up 18.86 percent of the total industrial solid wastes. The quantity of this type of waste is less signicant when compared to the other gures. Figure 3 shows the characteristics of the hazardous wastes. Chemicals and expired medicine make up almost 60 percent of the hazardous wastes. Other hazardous wastes are; asbestos 14.1 percent, catalyst 9.33 percent, charcoal 0.84 percent and other wastes are 16.65 percent. Over the last ve years, however, the amount of industrial wastes has increased from 12,660 tons in 2000 to 47,169 tons in 2005. This increase is almost fourfold. The fastest increases were noted in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 (Figure 4). The increase in waste generation was attributable mainly to the changes in the structure of national industrial production, including the increase in construction and oil/petroleum exploration and exportation. 3.1 Industrial solid waste utilization methods In September 2002, the Environmental Public Authority (EPA) of Kuwait issued new regulations and standards for the disposal of industrial wastes (Kuwait Al-Yoom, 2001). Subsequently, the Public Authority for Industry (PAI) has built the Shuaiba industrial solid waste plant/landll. This is the only facility in the country authorized to receive and dispose of industrial solid waste from all industrial activities in Kuwait. Trucks arriving at the facility rst go through weighing and inspection stations. Thus, they are weighed and then inspected for the type of load they carry. If they carry hazardous wastes regardless what kind, trucks are directed to the hazardous landll. Otherwise, they are sent to the non-hazardous landll. The distinction among the

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Figure 3. Percentage of hazardous industrial solid wastes generated in Kuwait

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Figure 4. Quantity of industrial solid waste generated in Kuwait

different hazardous items is made by qualied personal from both the EPA and the PAI of Kuwait. 3.2 Hazardous waste landll Before its nal disposal, the hazardous waste is stored in temporary cells for a period not to exceed 24 hours. The oor of the cells are covered with plastic membrane overlaid by a 60 cm compacted soil layer. Further, to prevent any cross-contamination between the cells, soil walls (secondary containment walls) are built on each side, except the front, to provide easy access for equipment to load/unload the waste (Plate 1). Eventually, the wastes are moved to the hazardous landll for permanent storage. The hazardous waste landll is a waste disposal facility, engineered and constructed to prevent migration of wastes or waste-derived efuents (leachate) either into the ground or into the atmosphere. The landll consists of a lined excavation surrounded by a 30 cm-high berm to prevent rainwater from inltrating into the cell. It has a plan area of 125 m 125 m at the ground surface and a nominal depth of 13 m.

Plate 1. Temporary industrial solid waste storage cells

The oor is sloped towards a sump, which collects the leachate generated within the landll. The capacity of the hazardous waste landll, including the volume under the mounded cover, is approximately 135,000 m3 (see Plate 2). The sloping sidewalls of the cell are made of a composite liner, made up of a 1 m thick compacted soil overlaid by a 2.5 mm thick high density polyethylene (HDPE) liner. The oor is formed of a composite liner of a 1 m thick compacted soil layer overlaid by a bentonite membrane, a 2.5 mm thick HDPE liner, a 30 cm thick drainage layer sandwiched between two geo-textile membranes, and, nally, a 30 cm thick protective soil cover, which protects the underlying systems from the land lling activities (see Plate 3). The HDPE liner over the entire cell is contiguous and acts as a barrier between the waste deposited in the cell and the ground below. The leachate generated within the waste volume is collected through a network of perforated PVC pipes, buried in the drainage layer, which runs into the sump. Leachate is pumped out, using an automatic pump placed inside the sump. A leachate extraction pipe attached to the pump carries the leachate to

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Plate 2. General view of a hazardous industrial solid waste landll

Plate 3. The sloping sidewalls of the hazardous industrial solid waste landll

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a leachate collection point at ground level outside the cell. The extraction pipe is secured to a concrete anchor placed just outside the cell at the ground level. Also, to ensure safety and security, re protection and close circuit television monitor all activities in the hazardous cell vicinity 24 hours a day. Further, four boreholes constructed around the landll to monitor groundwater quality. 3.3 Non-hazardous waste landll The inert waste landll is an open unlined pit, 20 m deep, with a plan area of 285 m 240 m at ground level. The sidewalls of the cell have a slope of 1/1.5. Thus, the bottom of the cell is 215 m 180 m. A 200 m long ramp provides access into the cell. The volume of the inert waste landll is estimated as 600,000 m3, and the landll is mounded at closure to provide additional capacity for waste disposal. No biodegraded or hazardous wastes are disposed of in this landll. Thus, no leachate collection system or venting system is provided (see Plate 4). In addition, two incinerators are installed at the site for disposal of hazardous and toxic wastes. However, these are not operated at present. 4. Waste management Recycling and/or recovery practices for industrial solid waste products are currently not widespread in Kuwait because of the absence of a viable market for recyclable materials. Only a limited amount of recyclables such as plastic, cans, metals, wood and cardboard are collected by scavengers from industrial waste containers. The activities of scavengers can have a signicant impact on the economy and waste management (Agunwamba et al., 1996; Zhang, 1996) if the scavengers are properly organized, trained, and provided with the necessary nancial and institutional support. At present, however, their contributions are limited by the absence of Government policies for encouraging reuse and recycling. With proper training and motivational campaigns, recycling could be started in the country. According to Ebreo and Vining (2000), recyclers who are motivated by economic and nuisance concerns would likely recycle more if they were paid to do so. Training and information dissemination play important roles in changing the public perception concerning proper

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Plate 4. Non-hazardous (inert) industrial solid waste landll

environmental management. Environmental education is vital to raise the overall level of awareness and to mobilize public opinion when a local community is faced with a polluting industry. At times, the most effective way to deal with polluting industries that escape governmental control is to mount an aggressive campaign involving the local community and media to force industries into compliance. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can play a vital role in bringing agrant violators to the attention of responsible authorities (El-Fadel et al., 2001; Woodard et al., 2006). There are two environmental NGOs in Kuwait; Green Line (GL) and Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS). These NGOs are involved in raising awareness on current environmental issues, exposing environmental threats, protecting natural reserves and habitats, and thus in preventing excessive pollution. In an effort to minimize waste generation, Kuwait could implement the extended producer responsibility (EPR) concept, were companies would be held responsible for their products even after their useful life. The Netherlands considers television sets chemical waste and requires companies to dispose of them accordingly. Norwegian law requires producers and importers of electronic equipment to recycle or reuse 80 percent of the product. Nine U.S. states now have takeback laws that require the return and recycling of batteries. Brazil considers all packaging that cannot be recycled hazardous waste. Currently, the European Union requires car manufacturers to pay for recycling of all cars sold after January 1, 2001. By 2007, car manufacturers will have to take back all old cars, regardless of when they were built. In addition, 80 percent of the weight of discarded cars must be reused or recycled (Russell and Taylor, 2003). 4.1 Waste legislation In Kuwait, the basic laws governing and promoting industrial waste management are the Environmental Requirements and Standards in the State of Kuwait (ERS) (EPA Law No. 210/2001). These were passed in October, 2002, and amended one year later in October, 2002 (Kuwait Al-Yoom, 2001). These laws aerated new opportunities to reduce the harmful effects on people and the environment due to waste generation and disposal, and to start up new businesses based on waste utilization or neutralization. Notwithstanding these advantages, the laws do not adequately emphasize recycling and/or reuse of solid wastes. One way to minimize waste is the introduction of an active tax policy. Such a policy could play an important role in a national waste management policy. For instance, a promising approach can be to encourage waste management by allowing for tax incentives to companies using recycled materials. On the other hand, it should born in mind that such tax incentives are in fact a form of government subsidy to business. Consequently, the introduction of tax incentives can impose an added burden on the national budget (Grodzinska-Jurczak, 2001). The management of hazardous waste, generated in many companies in small quantities should be based on different principles. It is expedient to collect and neutralize such waste at a higher level than local level at a provincial level. Therefore, this is where charges for generation and disposal of such wastes should be directed (Tsai and Chou, 2004). Many of Kuwait local municipalities, are very conscientious and active in their environmental efforts, including waste management. These efforts are often preceded by decisions made at a higher national level. To make implementation of the principles of rational waste management at the local level, it is necessary to hammer out a better system or co-operation between local authorities and national authorities. In developing

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national waste management strategy, these bodies should take into account local conditions and potentials (i.e. funds available, organizational aspects) of individual municipalities. Factors such as product life, recoverable value, ease of service and disposal cost affect decisions on disposal, continued use and recycling. Many products are discarded because they are difcult or expensive to repair. Materials from discarded products may not be recycled if the product is difcult to disassemble. Apart from economic mechanisms to make waste management easier for local municipalities, pressure from public opinion is also needed here. Promotion and awareness-raising concerning the necessity for people and industries to recycle/reuse, are not covered by any laws. Authorities are not under any obligation to conduct information campaigns about recycling/reusing technologies and products that might be obtained by them, or about the proportions of recycled materials used in any specic product. Moreover, environmental education is given lo priority. Therefore, this clearly needs to be addressed if sustainable and rational industrial waste management is to be effectively achieved in Kuwait. International standards for environmental stewardship, called ISO 14000, may soon be required as a condition to do business in certain countries and companies, or to qualify for foreign aid, business loans and reduced insurance premiums. These types of laws, and incentives make design for environment an imperative. 5. Conclusion and recommendations This work was undertaken to determine the generation rate of industrial solid waste in Kuwait, and to measure and identify the composition of it at the landll site. Industrial wastes, in Kuwait as well as in other countries, are considered one of the major environmental problems. In addition to continually building up treatment and handling capacities, recycling and reuse of industrial wastes play a vital role in solving the industrial waste problem. A steady increase in the amount of generated solid wastes has been noted in the 15 years in Kuwait. Of the approximately 5.55 million tons of solid waste produced currently every year, industrial wastes account for 47,169 tons, municipal wastes 836,610 tons and construction and demolition wastes 4.666 million tons. Moreover, of the 47,169 tons of industrial solid waste produced, inert waste account for 38,274 tons and hazardous wastes 8,895 tons. The mean generation rate of industrial waste was 907.1 tons per week. Over the last ve years, however, the amount of industrial wastes has increased from 12,660 tons in 2000 to 47,169 tons in 2005. This increase is almost four-fold. Efcient waste management program should incorporate minimization, reuse, recycling, valorization and elimination of wastes. Kuwait as other countries should implement the extended producer responsibility (EPR) concept that holds companies responsible for their product even after its useful life. In our study, we observed very little minimization, reuse, recycling and valorization of wastes. This is mainly because there are many small companies unable to bear the elevated costs of high-quality waste management, as well as by a certain lack of interest and awareness of the obligations that present regulations regarding waste management impose on waste producers. It seems necessary to considerably strengthen national and provincial administrations in terms of implementation and supervision of waste management systems, and employing/training properly qualied staff in local administration. Establishment of a public organization could be considered, whose main task would be to support adequate waste management, while minimizing the amount of waste

generated. Staff of administrative bodies dealing with waste management will have to be reinforced, because of the new tasks imposed on the administration to meet the requirements of the new law. Psychological and social considerations (including public acceptance, participation in planning and implementation) are as important as the technical and economic aspects in waste management (Grodzinska-Jurczak, 2001; Goldstein, 1998). Collection of re-usable raw materials will only be feasible with support of an environmentally aware public. Both preliminary segregation of waste in businesses and deliberate buying of products at least partly recyclable (e.g. packaging) should become part of businesss general habits. All forms of waste management though need to be adequately communicated to the businesses/public, so that habits, behavior, value systems and traditions can be changed. Without the public/businesses contribution, rational waste management (mainly segregation, recycling) would be difcult to implement.

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References Abduli, M.A. (1996), Industrial waste management in Tehran, Environment International, Vol. 22, pp. 335-41. Agunwamba, J.C., Ukpai, O.K. and Onyebuenyi, I.C. (1996), Solid waste management in Onitsha, Nigeria, Waste Management and Research, Vol. 16, pp. 23-31. Alhumoud, J.M. (2005), Municipal solid waste recycling in the Gulf Co-operation Council State, Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Vol. 45, pp. 142-58. Asadi, M., Razy, D.F. and Vojdony, M. (1996), Identication of industrial wastes in Tehran and methods for their disposal, Waste Management and Research, Vol. 14, pp. 211-7. Collins, H.J. (2000), Changes in waste management philosophy in Germany a bier review, Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, Vol. 8, pp. 304-12. El-Fadel, M., Zeinati, M., El-Jisr, K. and Jamali, D. (2001), Industrial waste management in developing countries: the case of Lebanon, Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 61, pp. 281-300. Hogland, W. and Stenis, J. (2000), Assessment and system analysis of industrial waste management, Waste Management, Vol. 20, pp. 537-43. Deppe, M., Leatherwood, T., Lowitt, P. and Warner, N. (2000), A planners overview of eco-industrial development, Proceedings of the American Planning Association Annual Conference, Eco-Industrial Session, New York, NY, April 16. Diaz, L.F., Savage, G.M. and Eggerth, L.L. (2005), Alternatives for the treatment and disposal of healthcare wastes in developing countries, Waste Management, Vol. 25, pp. 626-37. Ebreo, A. and Vining, J. (2000), Motives as predictors of the publics attitudes toward solid waste issues, Environmental management, Vol. 25, pp. 153-68. Goldstein, J. (1998), Edson, Alberta, Canada-town recycling depot teaming up to compost wax corrugated, Biocycle, Vol. 39, p. 7. Grodzinska-Jurczak, M. (2001), Management of industrial and municipal solid wastes in Poland, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Vol. 32, pp. 85-103. Kartam, N., Al-Mutairi, N., Al-Ghusain, I. and Al-Humoud, J. (2004), Environmental management of construction and demolition waste in Kuwait, Waste Management, Vol. 24, pp. 1049-59.

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Koushki, P.A. and Alhumoud, J. (2002), Evaluation of reported and measured compositions of household solid waste in Kuwait, Practice Periodical of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste Management, ASCE, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 204-8. Kuwait Al-Yoom (2001), Kuwait Environmental Regulations and Standards, Kuwait Al-Yoom, Kuwait, p. 533. Mohee, R. (2005), Medical wastes characterization in healthcare institutions in Mauritius, Waste Management, Vol. 25, pp. 575-81. Raymond, P.C. and Cohen-Rosenthal, E. (1998), Designing eco-industrial parks: a synthesis of some experiences, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 6, pp. 181-8. Russell, R.S. and Taylor, B.W. III (2003), Operations Management, 4th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Tchobanoglous, G., Theisen, H. and Vigil, S.A. (1994), Integrated Waste Management, McGraw-Hill, Singapore. Tsai, W.T. and Chou, Y.H. (2004), A review of environmental and economic regulations for promoting industrial waste recycling in Taiwan, Waste Management, Vol. 24, pp. 1061-9. Vigneswaran, S., Jegatheesan, V. and Visvanathan, C. (1999), Industrial waste minimization initiatives in Thailand: concepts, examples and pilot scale trials, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 7, pp. 43-7. Woodard, R., Harder, M.K. and Bench, M. (2006), Participation in curbside recycling schemes and its variation with material types, Waste Management, Vol. 26, pp. 914-9. Zhang, J.G. (1996), Present situation and future reduction strategy of municipal refuse in China, Research of Environmental Sciences, Vol. 7, pp. 42-5. Further reading Casares, M.L., Ulierte, N., Mataran, A., Ramos, A. and Zamorano, N. (2005), Slid industrial waste and their management in Asegra (Granada, Spain), Waste Management, Vol. 25, pp. 1075-82. Mrueh, U.M., Eskola, P. and Laine-Ylijoki, J. (2001), Life-cycle impacts of the use of industrial by-products in road and earth construction, Waste Management, Vol. 21, pp. 271-7. Wei, M.S. and Huang, K.H. (2001), Recycling and reuse of industrial wastes in Taiwan, Waste Management, Vol. 21, pp. 93-7. About the authors Jasem M. Alhumoud is an Associate Professor and Professional Engineer at Kuwait University in the Civil Engineering Department. He has a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh, USA, in Civil Engineering. His research and scholarly activities have been devoted to solid waste management, wastewater utilization/reuse, hydrology and hydraulics, geo-environmental, geo-hydrology engineering, water resources engineering. In addition, he has done some work in coastal management. He has published more than 40 papers on those topics. Jasem M. Alhumoud is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: jasem@kuniv.edu.kw Fatima Al-Kanadari has a BSc and MSc in Civil Engineering and currently works at the Ministry of Public Works in the Department of Big Projects. Her major interests are in environmental pollution and management.

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