Waste Generation and

Characterization
Lesson 2 Week 2
the largest waste generators are typically high-income countries or island states.
Average waste generation in East Asia
and Pacifc’s urban areas issubstantially
higher than national averages, at 0.96
kilogram per capita per day.

The majority of waste in the East Asia

and Pacifc region is organic
(fgure 3.2).

Dry recyclables comprise one-third of

waste. Many initiatives have emerged
to recover usable materials from waste
in the East Asia and Pacifc region.
Waste Collection

At a national level, waste collection

coverage in East Asia and Pacifc averages
about 71 percent (fgure 3.3). Rates are
highest in urban areas, at about 77
percent, and lower in rural communities
at 45 percent.
High-income countries and economies,
such as Singapore; Hong Kong SAR, China;
Japan; and Korea collect almost 100
percent of waste (fgure 3.4).
Where services exist in East Asia and
Pacifc, the majority of waste is collected
on a door-to-door basis (in 18 out of 25
countries studied).
 Types of Waste based on RA 9003

• Yard waste shall refer to wood, small or chipped branches, leaves, grass clippings, garden
debris, vegetables residue that is recognizable as part of a plant or vegetable and other
materials identified by the Commission.
• Special wastes shall refer to household hazardous wastes such as paints, thinners,
household batteries, lead-acid batteries, spray canisters and the like. These include wastes
from residential and commercial sources that comprise of bulky wastes, consumer
electronics, white goods, yard wastes that are collected separately, batteries, oil, and tires.
These wastes are usually handled separately from other residential and commercial
wastes;
• Municipal waste shall refer to wastes produced from activities within local government
units which include a combination of domestic, commercial, institutional and industrial
wastes and street litters;
• Leachate shall refer to the liquid produced when waste undergo decomposition,
and when water percolate through solid waste undergoing decomposition. It is a
contaminated liquid that contains dissolved and suspended materials
• Hazardous waste shall refer to solid waste or combination of solid waste which
because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical or infectious
characteristics may:
• Agricultural waste shall refer to waste generated from planting or harvesting of
crops, trimming or pruning of plants and wastes or run-off materials from farms
or fields;
• Bulky wastes shall refer to waste materials which cannot be appropriately placed
in separate containers because of either its bulky size, shape or other physical
attributes. These include large worn-out or broken household, commercial, and
industrial items such as furniture, lamps, bookcases, filing cabinets, and other
similar items;
Types of Waste based on Joint DENR-DOH AO No. 2 S. 2005

Health Care Wastes - include all wastes generated as a result of the

following:

1. Diagnosis, treatment, management and immunization of humans

or animals;
2. Research pertaining to the above activities;
3. Producing or testing of biological products; and
4. Waste originating from minor or scattered sources (i.e. dental clinics,
alternative medicine clinics, etc.)
Waste characterization Guidelines
When conducting waste characterization survey/study, the following guidelines
shall apply unless modified by the Commission.

1) Waste composition – when analyzing solid waste composition, it is necessary to

obtain the following information: total quantities of waste, bulk (density), and
composition (physical)

Waste may be described as:

Readily biodegradable – garbage, paper, wood, leaves, trees.

Recyclable – textile, plastics, rubber, leather.
Mostly inert – metals, glass, dirt, ceramics, ash and stones.
2) Sampling of solid waste – in order to obtain representative sample
the following steps should be undertaken;
a) subdivide the area into sub areas each representing a certain
economic status
b) further subdivide the areas into residential, commercial, market,
light industrial, hospital, etc in case of municipal waste; and
c) collect a representative sample for each sub-area.
To adequately determine the composition, the generalized field procedure
should include the following processes;

a) As soon as the study area is selected and subdivided, a marked vehicle

collects refuse from each unit area. Each vehicle must be fully loaded and
brought into the sample processing site.

b) The load is placed on a clean, flat surface, mixed thoroughly, then formed
into a square about 30 cm high;

c) This is subdivided into quarters, two opposite quarters are discarded and
the two remaining quarters are thoroughly mixed again, formed into a
square, and again quartered. This continues until the desired refuse quantity
is obtained (usually about one cubic meter)
3) Sorting – when sorting the sample, the following guidelines shall apply
a) Sort the sample into major components
b) Weigh each component again

4) Statistical treatment of data – Data obtained is processed to determine

the following:
a) seasonal means
b) differences of generation between economic groups
c) differences in quantity and quality between seasons
d) others depending on objective of study such as NPK values.
Food Waste in South Korea
 A. Identification of Waste Sources and Defining Sampling Area

The first step is to inventory all

waste sources or generators within
the LGU and know their barangay
location.

The generators can be

categorized using the waste
source categories in Table 2.1

Make sure no double accounting in

the inventory of non-households.
The next step is to define the sampling area. This will include the urban
and urbanizing barangays that are covered fully or partially by the current
solid waste collection services of the LGU.
Separate lists should be prepared for waste generators within the sampling
area.
Data Processing