To evaluate source sorting programs in household waste collection systems

Abstract: When evaluating and comparing household waste collection systems, various aspects are relevant to consider, e.g. environmental objectives, technical function, operating cost, types of recycling materials collected separately, property-close collection or drop-off system, economic incentives, information strategies, residential structure, social codes, etc. Data describing the actual waste flow is the basic input to evaluating the function of source-sorting programs. The questions raised are: How can household waste quantities and composition be measured? How can waste flow data from different collection systems be interpreted and compared? What factors influence the output of source-sorting programs? The usefulness and weaknesses of solid waste composition studies are discussed. Multivariate data analysis is applied in order to obtain an overview of collection and composition data, and identify influential variables, clusters and trends. In a case study, curbside collection of recyclables and weight-based billing respectively led to increased source-sorting activities. Other influential factors are listed and discussed. Eight indicators are proposed for facilitating comparisons of collection systems in an easily comprehensible way.