J Mater Cycles Waste Manag (2017) 19:265–281

DOI 10.1007/s10163-015-0415-6

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Management of household waste in sanitary landfill

of Mostaganem district (Western Algeria)
I. S. Abdelli1 • M. Asnoune1 • Z. Arab2 • F. Abdelmalek1 • A. Addou1

Received: 11 December 2014 / Accepted: 25 June 2015 / Published online: 16 July 2015
 Springer Japan 2015

Abstract The management of solid waste in Mostaganem Introduction

district was limited to collection and transportation to open
dumpsites. By the end of 2010, the situation has changed Algeria generates important quantities of household waste
since there exists now a sanitary landfill (SL) which allows which are neither treated nor valorized and this ends up
for better management. The objective of our work is to with an alarming situation. In order to prevent this, the state
determine the main elements related to MSW (waste gen- has planned objectives for 2020 in the long-term devel-
eration, physical composition, physicochemical and bacte- opment. In this context, Algeria has established in 2002 a
riological parameters, ways and means to collect) which national plan of actions for the environment and the sus-
enable to help local collectivities (municipality, decision- tainable development (NPAE-SD), which consists of
makers, political actors and private sector) to decide on how engaging Algeria on investing in ecologically durable
to improve and exploit the SL. In this respect, we tentatively development. Two action programs have been set up: the
propose methods applying the principle of reduction at the national program for integrated management of household
source, recycling, reusing, valorization and elimination (3R- wastes (PROGDEM) and the second program, national
VE). We propose also optimizing the collection as well as the plan for management of special wastes, PNAGDES [1].
utilization of sorting centers and transfer docks. The study is Despite the efforts made by the state, the quantities of
on the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of MSW col- household wastes are continuously increasing. Algeria
lected since 2011 from the SL of Mostaganem city and six produces 10.3 millions of tons of household wastes per
nearby municipalities. The quantities of waste increase year with a mean ratio of 0.5 kg/inhab/day [2, 3], that is
annually by 18 % with a ratio of 0.4 kg/inhab/day for 2013. less than the world average (0.7 kg/inhab/day).
The organic matter represents the major fraction with more Algeria has set up several plans to preserve the envi-
than 60 % and the recycled part is of the order of 32 %. The ronment, but the malfunctioning of management services
determination of physicochemical parameters of MSW has of household waste creates many problems such as bad
enabled a financial study by valorization channels. smell, proliferation of rats and other harmful animals,
contamination of underground water, etc. The non-disposal
Keywords Household waste  Sanitary landfill  of dangerous waste in dispersed quantities, the littering and
Characterization  Valorization  Mostaganem (Western the absence of dumpsite add up with this mismanagement
Algeria) because people get rid of their waste by leaving it in
uninhabited areas, on the sides of secondary roads, etc.,
& A. Addou creating open-air dumpsites.
[email protected]; [email protected] The material necessary for collection and transporting
1 the waste is insufficient. Hence, the number of vehicles
Laboratoire des Sciences et Techniques de l’Environnement
et de la Valorisation (STEVA), Université de Mostaganem, counted is 4100 among which 267 of tip-lorries and 3833
BP 188, 27000 Mostaganem, Algeria other vehicles of different types for 1541 municipalities
2
Centre d’Enfouissement Technique (Landfill); Sour, [4]. The vehicle number for collection is estimated at one
27210 Mostaganem, Algeria vehicle for 7500 inhabitants whereas the international

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standard is one for 4000 inhabitants. The national deficit of work together in order to primarily propose valorization
collection vehicles is then 87.5 % [4] and the human channels and to achieve a better waste management.
resources are depleting due to unavailability of workers for
collection of wastes. Indeed, the number of waste collec-
tors changed from one for 500 inhabitants 1980, to one for Materials and methods
1500 inhabitants in 2005 [4]. In addition to this major
constraint, low level of education of the collection crew Study area
may be affecting efficient management of solid wastes.
Over a total number of agents of 20,000 at national level, Mostaganem city is a coastal town of average size, 50 km2
the qualification rate is less than 4 % in average cities and area, located at 350 km west of Algiers and 100 km east of
is between 7 and 10 % in big cities [5], according to an Oran which is the second largest Algerian city. It is 104 m
investigation made by the Ministry of environment [4]. above sea level on a coastal plateau 124.9 km wide
The collection operation which is at the heart of the (Fig. 1a). Its population has increased from 125,911 in
management process and represents 60 % of the global 1998 to 162,825 inhabitants according to the last census in
budget [6] has not escaped from this mismanagement. 2008, with an increasing rate of 1.6 %. Having a harbor,
On site, the inefficiencies of the municipal collection its regional economy is based on fishing, agriculture,
services are very noticeable, particularly in remote areas tourism and an industry located mainly on the coast (milk
because of waste stacks spread on street sides. The report and milk products, sugar products and refining, chlorine
of the World Bank in 2004 shows a collection rate in products, tobacco production unit, etc.). With several
Algerian average cities of 65 and 92 % in big cities. The attraction spots, this region is one of the most touristic
objective of the Ministry of environment is to reach a places with 120 km coast, a lighthouse, ancient quarters,
collection rate of 100 % by 2020 over the entire national caves, forests, archeological search sites, etc.
territory [1]. In order to overcome this malfunctioning, The six municipalities using the SL are located in the
curative actions are introduced to boost the management east of Mostaganem (Fig. 1b). They have a low population,
capacities of cleaning local services. These are by reorga- their agricultural vocation are mainly potatoes and citrus
nizing the services, by boosting the supervision of their fruits.
worker and their training on MSW, the preparation of Algeria is divided in three big regions: the littoral, the
programs on communication at local and regional level as high plateaus and the big South (Fig. 1a). Algiers (the
well as the improvement of collection capacities by the capital, over two million inhabitants) produces more than
acquisition of vehicles [1]. It is well known that the 0.87 million tons of household waste per year. The big
quantity and nature of waste generated by a country is cities (between 100,000 and 300,000 inhabitants) such as
linked to certain parameters such as the food habits, Oran in the west, Constantine in the east and Tizi-Ouzou in
weather conditions, change of seasons, geographical loca- the center generate between 0.2 and 0.3 million tons per
tions, socioeconomic standard of people and different year. The average cities (between 50,000 and 100,000
migrations in the country (agricultural, transhumance, inhabitants) such as Mostaganem, Setif and Bechar pro-
tourism, etc.) [7]. The demographic rise in Algeria affects duce between 0.1 and 0.19 million tons per year. Finally,
also this increase. At Sao Sebastian (Brazil) for example, small cities (between 20,000 and 50,000 inhabitants) such
the municipal production of waste increases by a factor as Boumerdes and some southern towns, characterized by
3.75 changing from 40 to 150 ton/day during the tourism low densities of population produce less than 0.05 million
period [8]. Therefore, the management of waste becomes tons per year. Coastal towns, having higher density of
an independent field of study and research at the technical population, generate quantities of waste nearly bigger than
level as well as at environmental, sanitary, economic and those of the high lands or the big south [10].
social levels.
Our work presents the actual situation in managing the
Identification of activities generating household
sanitary landfill receiving wastes from Mostaganem city
waste
and six other municipalities. As routine work, waste
composition of classified household wastes is obtained.
The main activities generating household waste are:
Physiochemical parameters were evaluated in order to help
in decision making process of choosing the correct and – 24,282 households with 6 persons in average
existing valorization channels or create new ones. Fur- – 21 hotels with a total capacity of 1343 beds
thermore, we identify the biological agents and the risk on – 8 university campuses (about 35,000 students)
the environmental impact. A previous work [9] has enabled – Public health sector with more than 600 beds
academic experts and environment regional inspectors to – 6 private clinics

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Fig. 1 a Map of Algeria. b 6

Municipalities and Sour landfill

Fig. 2 a Open dumpsite.

b Sanitary landfill

– A slaughter-house (15–51 ovins/week, 5–7 bovins/ the treatment channels are more numerous in order to
week) manage every type of waste at best.
– 4 markets To eliminate household waste, Algeria opted for the
– A commercial harbor construction of 110 sanitary landfill of class 2. The pro-
– A fishing and a yacht harbor gression status is follows:
– A duty free zone for vehicles import since 2010
• 241 studies of major local schemes of management
– 7000 stores and shops
of municipal waste have been finalized with 106
– Several industrial units
validated.
• 19 SL realized and equipped at chief locations, out of
which 16 are subject to expertise and ready to be
Management mode of household wastes
exploited.
• 31 SL being realized, out of which 22 have reached a
The management of wastes in Mostaganem district has
physical rate above 50 % in 22 districts (chief location
long been limited to collection and transporting to dump-
and inter-municipalities) and out of which 20 are under
sites (Fig. 2a), a cheap and environmentally not recom-
study.
mended way to get rid of waste. In this regard, people have
• 18 SL in 15 districts (chief location and inter-munic-
a very negative view towards management of household
ipalities) are under study. Six of these are subject to
wastes and which has nevertheless greatly evolved and
choosing their location.
modernized during the last decade. It is out of question to
evacuate and eliminate waste as in the past but doing it in This strategy enables to eradicate immediately 4500
clean and lasting conditions for health and environment anarchical dumpsites existing at national level over a total
reasons. In this respect, the processes have improved and of 6000 which leads to rehabilitate 157,000 hectares of

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land for parks and green spaces [5]. These installations for Physical composition
landfilling of household wastes are becoming true indus-
trial sites obeying strict policies and subject to rigorous Sample collection
rules of conception, exploitation and surveillance [11, 12].
To determine the physical composition of household waste,
Sanitary landfill we have taken from each truck entering the SL, 400 kg to
have a representative sample. The wastes were then spread
The SL of Mostaganem city is located in the municipality over a clean sorting area made of concrete. This manipu-
of Sour at 22 km from the main district. This SL is lation was renewed for each truck. The characterization has
designed to receive household waste from seven sur- been done manually (quartering method) [13]. The choice
rounding municipalities: Mostaganem, Sayada, Ain Tede- of categories was: organic waste (ferments), paper and
les, Sour, Ain Boudinar, Kheiredine and Oued-ElKheir. It cardboard, plastic, glass, metals, textile and others. The
has an area of 15 hectares, 2 separate landfills of waste samples were obtained arbitrarily without distinction
100,000 m3 with a lifetime of 10 years. The equipment and of original municipality. After sampling, a sorting has been
material available are: conducted to classify the waste according to the main
categories of household waste [14]. A simplified classifi-
– One compacting device
cation to seven constituents was adopted. Plastic bags have
– 8 compacting tip-trucks
been utilized for separating categories. Each category was
– One 2.5 tons truck
weighed so to determine its composition. The safety was
– One dumper on tires
secured by using gloves, masks and spectacles. Once the
– One tractor with a tank
weighing operation was finished, the organic fraction
Its realization cost is estimated at more than 536,000 €. obtained by quartering was conducted in laboratory for
According to its technical specifications, it can treat 60 tons physicochemical and microbiological analysis [13].
of household wastes daily belonging to seven municipali-
ties. Its realization study began in 2002, made available in Chemical analysis
2010 and exploited in 2011. At start up, the SL faced lot of
problems during its exploitation and has been closed down • The moisture (% M) and dry matter content (% D.M)
several times because of (i) bad smell, (ii) volatile light were determined by the standard method Afnor NF U
waste in the atmosphere, (iii) overflow of landfill leachates 44-171 consisting of drying in oven (Memmert brand)
because of wrong dimensions of recuperation pools, (iv) at 105 ± 2 C until constant weight. The dry matter is
the inexperience of workers. At present, there are no lea- complementary to moisture content because it is the
chate treatments, which are thrown away after decantation remains of vegetal product once water is removed.
in pond. This malfunctioning did not allow us to have data • The organic matter rate or ashes rate is determined by
every season during year 2011. the standard method of Afnor NF U 44–160 which
The exploitation principle of separate landfills used in consists of charring the sample at 550 C during 2 h in
the SL is based on the landfilling technique of one’s cells as an oven (Carbolite model GWF 1200). The mineral
shown in Fig. 2b, contrarily to the most used one’s cells in matter (MN %) is the complementary rate to organic
Algeria based on the total exploitation of the surface. matter rate (% OM = 100 % MM).
This may have drawbacks such as: the vehicles circula- • The hydrogen potential (pH) and the conductivity have
tion, the bad mastering of operations, the large area to treat, been determined according to NF standards ISO 10-390
the flooding during rain seasons leading to total stop of and NF EN 27888.
activities, difficulties in compacting trashes, choking up • The organic carbon is measured by the Anne method
evacuation pipes of lixiviats. Household waste arriving to (AFNOR X 31-109) which consists of oxidizing the
SL is systematically weighed and controlled. No other type organic carbon contained in the sample by excess of
of waste such as that from the health sector, toxic wastes, bichromate potassium in sulfide medium.
etc., is accepted. A sorting is conducted at the SL entry • The Kjeldahl nitrogen is determined by the standard
allowing getting through certain wastes such as plastic bags method NF ISO-11261, consisting of mineralizing the
and films. Note that there is no selective sorting by the cit- sample during 2 h at 180 C followed by distillation.
izen. They are arranged in thick cells of 1 m height and then • The nitrates have been measured by spectrophotomet-
compacted and covered with isolating material (often earth). rical method with sulfosalicyque acid (ISO 7890-3).
The leachates are drained by adequate pipe to decantation • The nitrites have been determined according to NFT
pools. A study on their treatment is to be finalized. EN 26777.

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• The heavy metals have been determined by inductively estimated at 65 ton/day (1984 stock), whereas in 2009 it
coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer (ICP- was 128.5 ton/day. This is due to a bad estimation of
AES). quantities of waste which were generated starting from
November 2010, opening date of SL The reasons were
(i) the population growth, (ii) the city development of six
Microbiological analysis
municipalities, (iii) the agricultural and tourism develop-
ment, (iv) the installation of new industrial units, etc.
10 g sample (household waste cut in small pieces) is taken
and put in suspension in 90 ml of sterile physiological
Quantities of household waste received in sanitary
water. The dilutions have been performed (dilution 1:10)
landfill
before analysis [15].
– The search for staphylococcus has been conducted by The SL receives waste from seven municipalities: Mosta-
the standard method XP-T 90-412, using the Chapman ganem (major location), Ain Tedeles, Sayada, Kheiredine,
medium. Sour, Oued-ElKheir and Ain Boudinar. The quantities of
– The search for enterococcus has been conducted by the household waste received have increased by 91.3 ton/day
standard method NF ISO 7899-1, using the Rothe in 2011 to 120.1 ton/day in 2012 to reach 143.7 ton/day in
medium at single or double concentration and also the 2013 with an increasing rate of 24 % in 2012 and 16 % in
Litsky test. 2013. The mean ratio in the SL changed from 0.34 to
– The search for sulfur-reducing Clostridium and their 0.44 kg/inhab/day in 2011–2013 as indicated in Table 1.
spores has been done according to the standard Afnor The quantities of waste increased annually by 18 % with a
NF EN 26461-1-ISO6461-1, using the liver meat jelly ratio of 0.4 kg/inhab/day for 2013. This production of
and the solution of alum of Fe. waste per inhabitant per day is comparable to medium and
– The search for Campylobacter jejuni has been done small towns.
according to the standard ISO 17-995, using the The ratio obtained for the SL (0.44) is less than the one
Skirrow medium and Gram coloration. of Mostaganem city (0.59). This is explained by the high
– The search for salmonella spp. has been conducted by population of the city, its commercial, industrial, university
the standard method NF EN ISO 6579, using cystine- and school activities, whereas the six other municipalities
selenite boil and the S–S and API 20E medium. are small villages with low consumption and agricultural
– The search for yersinia enterocolitica has been done activities, hence generating less waste.
according to t the standard ISO 10273, using the Mac
Conkey medium and a gallery of API 20E. Evolution of the production of household wastes
– The search for total coliforms has been done by the
routine method NF V 08-050 which consists of deep Figure 3 shows the evolution of quantities of waste pro-
sowing with VRBL lactosis at incubation temperature duced by Mostaganem city from 1983–2009 before the
of 30 C. construction of SL and from 2011–2013 with the
– The search for fecal coliforms (thermo-tolerants) has exploitation of SL If we compare the production of waste
been conducted by the NF V 08-060 method consisting generated by Mostaganem city, we notice more important
of deep sowing with VRBL lactosis at incubation quantities before the construction of SL than during the
temperature of 44.5 C. exploitation. So in 2009, 128.5 ton/day have been gener-
– The fecal germs have been determined by the standard ated [16], whereas in 2013 there was only 105 ton/day. We
horizontal method NF EN ISO 4833, consisting of expected an increase of the quantity but the reverse hap-
sowing on a nutritious medium jelly at incubation pened. These diminutions are the result of more precise
temperature of 30 C. weighing at the SL entry, whereas previously they were
estimated as function of weight truck charges. These results
are more reliable and we notice an important and logical
Results and discussion evolution of quantities of waste in 2011, 2012 and 2013
with mean growth rates of 20 %. This is due to, on the one
Problematical saturation of first cell of sanitary hand to closing down of dumpsites and the other hand to
landfill growing number of holidaymakers estimated at 8 millions
in 2013.
The first cell has reached its saturation point after 3 years The ratio which was 0.62 kg/inhab/day in 2004 [9] has
of exploitation and not 5 years as predicted. During the stabilized at 0.47–0.48 kg/inhab/day in 2011/2012 then has
study of its realization in 2002, the quantity of waste was increased to 0.59 kg/inhab/day [3]. We find out that for

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Table 1 Quantities of household waste received in SL for the 7 municipalities

Municipalities Population Tons/day Rate kg/ Population Tons/day Rate kg/ Population Tons/day Rate kg/
inhab/day inhab/day inhab/day

Mostaganem 170,829 67.1 0.39 173,562 86.0 0.48 176,339 105 0.59
Ain Tedeles 40,367 11.0 0.27 41,368 14.5 0.35 42,030 16.5 0.39
Sayada 30,220 6.2 0.20 30,703 8.3 0.27 31,194 8.1 0.26
Kheiredine 28,952 3.1 0.11 29,416 5.3 0.18 29,886 7.0 0.23
Sour 23,779 2.6 0.11 24,159 3.6 0.15 24,546 3.9 0.16
Oued-ElKheir 18,206 0.2 0.01 18,450 0.7 0.04 18,793 1.1 0.06
Ain Boudinar 6356 1.1 0.17 6457 1.7 0.26 6560 2.1 0.32
Total 270,368 91.3 0.34 324,115 120.1 0.37 329,348 143.7 0.44

Tons/ day 2012 and 10 July to 9 August 2013, knowing that the holi-
150 daymakers does not move during this month. Figure 4 gives
the quantities of household waste produced per season over
100 Mostaganem- open all municipalities and at SL level. In 2012 the production
dumpsite
follows a decreasing trend: Ramadan (176.5 ton/day)
Mostaganem-Landfill
50 [ summer (153.7 ton/day) [ autumn (131.3 ton/day) [
Landfill spring (102.9 ton/day) [ winter (93.1 ton/day) which is a
0 logical progression in the region where the consumption in
1983 2004
2006 2009 autumn is as important as in summer because of hot months
2011 2012
2013 of ending season. The ratios have calculated for the same
periods (Ramadan (0.54 kg/inhab/day) [ summer (0.50
Fig. 3 Production of quantities per year (in tons/day)
kg/inhab/day) [ autumn (0.40 kg/inhab/day) [ spring
(0.32 kg/inhab/day) [ winter (0.30 kg/inhab/day).
Mostaganem city, this figure is close to the national mean The same sequence is observed in 2013 with a light
and of the same order as for average cities like Saida increase with respect to 2012 (Ramadan (186,6 ton/day)
(0.48 kg/inhab/day, Biskra (0.55 kg/inhab/day) [10], Batna [ summer (167.6 ton/day) [ autumn [ 156.7 ton/day [
and Adrar (0.56 kg/inhab/day) [19–21] but weaker with spring (137,5 ton/day) [ winter (113 ton/day) with the
respect to the one of the capital (0.74 kg/inhab/day). This following ratios: Ramadan (0.56 kg/inhab/day) [ summer
result confirms that average cities produce less waste than (0.51 kg/inhab/day) [ autumn (0.48 kg/inhab/day) [ spring
big cities and depend on food habits, socio-cultural level of (0.42 kg/inhab/day) [ winter (0.35 kg/inhab/day).
population and agricultural and/or industrial activities. For the fasting month of 2012, the ratio in Mostaganem
city has increased from 0.46 to 0.67 kg/inhab/day and in
Influence of the summer season and fasting month SL, from 0.36 to 0.50 kg/inhab/day. For 2013, it increased
from 0.59 to 0.8 kg/inhab/day for the SL The increase of
The region of Mostaganem is reputed for attracting during production is due essentially to change in food habits. More
the summer season millions of tourists and having conse- specifically during this month, Algeria and Maghreb
quences on the production of waste. The fasting month countries are characterized by an exaggerated nutrition at
(Ramadan) is known to be a month of abstinence and fasting all levels (food, fish, mineral water, soft drinks, sweets,
from sunrise to sunset, help between citizens, taking charge juice, etc.).
of the financially poor, economical and sociocultural
exchange. However, for a long time these practices have
totally changed and an individualistic behavior appeared on Composition of household waste
food habits leading to overconsumption and consequently
and important production of household waste. Composition of household waste in sanitary landfill
The first study conducted by our team failed to gather the and Mostaganem city
exact data during the fasting period (10), but with the
exploitation of SL, we easily extracted the quantities related The household wastes are a heterogeneous mixture of
to two fasting months coinciding with 20 July to 19 August several products whose composition can vary with its

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Fig. 4 The quantities of

household waste generated per Tons/day
season and fasting month 200
Mostaganem
150
Ain Tedeles
100 Sayada
50 Kheiredine
0 Sour

Automn
Oued-ElKheir

winter

spring

summer

fasting month

Automn

winter
Ain Boudinar

spring

summer

fasting month
Lundfill
Fasting month
2012

2013

generation sources, food habits, social and economic level, Composition in percentage of household waste
geographical location, population flux, etc. [20]. The seven in Algerian cities as function of their geographical
categories generally accepted in the classification of MSW position
are the organic matter, the cardboard, the plastic, the glass,
the textile and various others. Table 2 summarizes the If we compare these results to coastal, high plateaus and
different compositions of household waste from 1983 to big southern towns (Table 3), we notice for the three big-
2013 for Mostaganem city and for SL from 2012 to 2013. gest cities Algiers, Oran and Annaba, the organic matter
The composition of household waste received in SL has (ferments) oscillates between 40 and 50 % whereas for
not changed during the last years. We find out that the Mostaganem, Bejaia and Boumerdes, it varies from 67 to
fermenting fraction is more important in SL than in 73 %. In the interior cities, it varies from 56 to 83 % with
Mostaganem city and can wait 70 %. This difference is due an average of 70 %, contrarily to southern cities where it is
to the more rural lifestyle of municipalities with low rev- less important with a mean rate of 55 %. This gives a
enues and consequently a less nutritive food diet than in big national average of 62 %. This difference is linked to
cities, practically no touristic influence and very poor different food habits between inhabitants of coastal big
commercial activities. We note also a weaker production cities having fast meals, prepared and preserved food,
for plastic wrapping which are often reused by inhabitants whereas those of the interior and the big south, they take
of small municipalities (11.7 % maximum in 2013) with more cereals, dry vegetables, fruits and fresh vegetables.
respect to the city where it is 14 %. For the other cate- The plastic consisting essentially of PVC and PEHD
gories, we did not see a big variation. On the contrary, we wrapping presents variable rates. In the coastal cities, the
observe in Mostaganem city a diminution of organic matter average is 12.86 % with a maximum in Oran (24.9 %) and
changing from 78 % in 1983 to 67 % in 2013, the plastic a minimum in Boumerdes (8.5 %). In the interior cities, the
from 2.7 to 14 %, the paper and cardboard is stabilized average is 9 % with a maximum in Constantine (13 %) and
around 12 %, the rest is without great change. We note that a minimum in Djelfa (2.4 %). In the southern cities, it is
the paper and cardboard rate dropped in 2004 [9] because between 20 and 12 %.
of the shutting down of the local paper factory. The national average is 12 %. The low rates of plastic
The diminution of organic matter is due to nutritional recorded in certain cities can be explained by the reuse of
change operating in the population by the use of preserved packing bottles and the existence of an informal sector
food, frozen products, prepared dishes, fast food, etc. which recuperates them before collection for an eventual
During these last three decades, the plastic has increased valorization.
from 2.7 % to 14 % in Mostaganem and to 11.7 % in SL. The paper and cardboard represents between 3.2 and
This is due to the important use of plastic wrapping for 13.7 % in coastal cities, 6.9–17.7 % in interior cities and
mineral waters, fruit juices, milk and cleaning products. In 8.3–18.5 % in southern cities. The national average is 9 %.
other respect, paper-cardboard, glass metals and textiles The high rates of paper and cardboard in Batna and
were not subject to strong variations during these decades Ghardaia (17.7 and 18.5 %) are due to paper manufactur-
and remained of little daily use for Algerian citizens. ing industries.

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Table 2 Evolution of household waste composition (%) in Mostaganem city and SL

Categories 1983 [21] 2001 [21] 2004 [9] 2009 [16] 2013 (this study) 2012 (this study) 2013 (this study)

Organic matter 78 77.5 64.6 67.6 67 70 68

Plastic 2.7 7.5 10.5 14.5 14 10.8 11.7
Paper and cardboard 12 13 15.9 10 12 11.5 12
Glass 1.1 0.5 2.8 1.6 1.8 1.3 1.5
Metals 2.2 1.5 1.9 1.2 1.2 1.5 1.1
Textiles 3.4 / 2.3 3.4 2.4 2.7 2.6
Diverse / / 2 1.7 0.4 2.2 3.1

Table 3 Composition in percentage of household in Algerian cities as function of their geographical position
Cities Population OM Plastic Paper and Glass Metals Textiles Diverse References
2008 cardboard

Coastal towns Alger (2008) 2,364,230 54.0 16.4 13.4 1.7 1.7 11.6 0.9 [2]
Oran (2011) 609,940 52.3 24.9 7.2 1.2 1.7 9.9 2.8 [22]
Annaba (2011) 257,359 45.7 10.0 5.2 0.8 2.1 15.0 20.7 [23]
Bejaı̈a (2009) 177,988 69.4 12.3 11.1 0.7 2.7 3.3 0.5 [9]
Mostaganem (2013) 162,885 67.0 14 12.0 1.8 1.1 2.4 0.45 This study
Boumerdes (2008) 41,685 73.0 8.5 9.2 1.6 3.2 4.9 / [10]
The inland cities Constantine (2009) 448,374 70.0 13.0 11.0 2.0 3.0 / 1.0 [2]
Batna (2012) 290,645 56.8 10.9 17.7 1.8 1.8 10.3 1.2 [17]
Djelfa (2009) 289,226 83.5 2.4 7.9 1.2 1.7 1.4 1.9 [9]
Chlef (2011) 178,616 62.9 2.7 3.2 1.7 0.6 5.2 23.5 [24]
Bordj Bou Arreridj (2006) 168,346 61.0 9.0 15.5 / 12.3 2.2 / [19]
Tlemcen (2009) 140,158 71.0 11.0 11.0 1.0 3.0 2.0 13.0 [9]
Saida (2011) 128,413 73.0 8.4 6.9 3.3 2.4 / / [19]
Southern cities Biskra (2006) 205,608 49.0 12.0 18.5 1.5 0.5 / / [19]
Ghardaı̈a (2006) 93,423 58.3 20.0 8.3 / 13.3 / /
Adrar (2010) 64,781 60.1 12.0 11.8 2.2 7.3 / 6.6 [18]
National average (2010) / 62.0 12.0 9.0 1.0 2.0 / 14.0 [25]

The textile is important in Algiers, Oran Annaba and Composition of household wastes in some countries
Ghardaia (10–15 %) because of the existence of textile of the world
industry. For other cities, the rate varies between 2 and
5 %. The composition of waste presented in this study and for
Glass and metals are thrown in very little quantities, of certain Algerian cities is not too different with respect to
the order of 2–3 % for all Algerian cities except for Bordj the national average of some countries. Indeed, without
Bou Arreridj and Ghardaia where metals represent more establishing a rigorous correlation with the socioeconomic
than 12 % which may be explained by the presence of level of a state, the composition of household wastes
electronics industry household items. The low rate regis- remains variable and linked to several parameters men-
tered for all the other cities is due to the absence of a tioned above. Nevertheless, this study confirms the estab-
consumption culture for canned products and glass and/or lished and observed data in waste studies. The organic
metals packing. For ferrous wastes, they are recuperated by matter part (fermentable, putrescible, green wastes, etc.) is
the informal sector before their collection. high in developing countries: 62 % for Algeria, Morocco

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65 %, Tunisia 68 %, Egypt 60 %, Jordan 56 % except the total nitrogen and the heavy metals. This is done with
Mauritania (4.8 %) where it is valorized as livestock food the objective of helping to decide on choosing the val-
inside households (Table 4). In industrial countries, this orization method. The latter, depends on the region needs
fraction remains less than 50 %: USA 25 %, France in order to move toward a valorization of energy (com-
28.8 %, Denmark 29 %, Holland 35 %, Germany 14 %, posting, landfill gas production). The knowledge of heavy
Italy and Switzerland 29 % and Japan 30 %. These are due metals indicates the risks in composting. Table 5 shows the
to very different behaviour in food habits, in north–south analysis results of these parameters.
geographical locations, in socio-cultural differences, in
citizens’ behavior, in population movements, etc. Physicochemical parameters
The paper and cardboard part is more important in these
countries (42 % in Japan) which are high consumers of The density value calculated is 480 kg/m3 (Table 5). This
newspapers, magazines, packaging, paperware, books, result is comparable to the one of developing countries
advertisement papers, leaflets, etc. The big production of whose values are between 200 and 500 kg/m3; Morocco
glass in household waste in France is due to supplies is 350 kg/m3; Tunisia and Colombia 300 kg/m3; Malaysia
sectors where France is traditionally the most performing 240 kg/m3; Pakistan 130 kg/m3; Mauritania 410 kg/m3).
and has high expertise in wine production, in perfumes and Waste density is higher in developing countries than in
pharmaceutical products [32]. The Italians and Germans industrialized countries [28]. The high rate of moisture and
consider glass and paper and cardboard packing more volatile matter confirms the high level of carbon in organic
ecological than plastic. The results found in our study show matter of household wastes.
that the nature of household waste in Algeria and Mosta- The amount of ash (14.5 %) suggests a middle level of
ganem region tends to look like the one of certain devel- mineral matter. Total nitrogen, in the form of nitrates,
oped countries which is a positive evolution in the citizen nitrites and ammonium, represents 1.5 % of dry matter.
behaviour with changes in his food, socio-cultural and The heavy metals concentrations are very low, sometimes
environmental habit. less than the limits of detection which is in favor of
composting.

Physicochemical characterizations of household

wastes Microbiological characterization

The physicochemical characterization performed on waste A major hazard linked to household wastes to human
samples enabled to determine the most significant param- health is certainly the bacterial contamination of the worker
eters such as the humidity rate, the dry matter, the ash rate, in direct contact with dirt. We find in these mediums
the volatile matter, the ratio C/N, the pH, the conductivity, dangerous biological agents with high contamination risks

Table 4 The composition in

Countries Organic Plastic Paper and Glass Metals Diverse References
percentage of household waste
matter cardboard
in some world countries
Algeria 62.0 12.0 9.0 1.0 2.0 14.0 [25]
Morocco 65.0 10.0 8.0 2.0 1.0 14.0 [26]
Tunisia 68.0 11.0 9.0 2.0 6.0 4.0 [10]
Mauritania 4.8 20.0 7.3 4.0 4.2 59.7 [27]
Egypt 60.0 12.0 10.0 3.0 2.0 3.0 [10]
Jordan 56.0 13.0 16.0 7.0 5.0 3.0 [10]
France 28.8 11.1 25.3 13..1 4.1 17.6 [28]
Denmark 29.0 0.8 27.0 5.0 6.0 32.0 [29]
Netherlands 35.0 19.5 26.0 4.0 4.0 12.0 [29]
Italy 29.0 5.0 28.0 13.0 2.0 23 [29]
Germany 14.0 22.0 34.0 12.0 5.0 39 [29]
Switzerland 29.0 15.0 20.0 4.0 3.0 29.0 [29]
Japan 30.0 8–10 40–42 7–13 4–7.5 / [30]
China 59.2 15.7 10.1 3.4 1.1 10.5 [31]

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Table 5 Physicochemical characterization of household wastes Table 6 Microorganisms in household wastes

Parameters (This study) 2009 [9] Microorganism Concentrations

Moisture (%) 85.5 58.9 Total coliforms 118 9 106 UFC/g

pH 5.5 6.1 Fecal coliforms 120 9 104 UFC/g
3 3
Density 480 kg/m 360 kg/m Fecal germs 97 9 105 UFC/g
Conductivity 3980 lS/cm / Clostridiums sulfur-reducing* (T, V) Presents
Ashes (%) 14.5 37 Staphylococcus pathogens Presents
volatile matter (%) 68.3 63 Salmonella sp* (V) Presents
Carbon (%) 35.1 29.5 Shigella sp* Presents
Nitrogen (%) 1.5 1.5 Yersinia enterolitica* Presents
C/N 23.4 19.7 E. coli Escherichia coli* (T) Presents
Heavy metal Concentration (mg/kg) Standards Campylobacter jejuni* Presents

Cd \LD 10
Cr \LD 1000 consider primarily, the identification of risky microorgan-
Ni \LD 200 isms existing in wastes for an eventual study of their
Pb \LD 800 impact. Table 6 shows results concerning microorganism
Zn \LD 100 presence in household wastes of Mostaganem.
Cu 300 1000 The species indicated by a star are those classified as
Al 19,500 – potentially infectious according to 2000/54/CE standards
As 400 – of the workers protection against hazards related to bio-
B 2,960 – logical workers exposition. They are classified with indi-
Bi 70 – cations in footnotes. Hence, the biological agents identified
Ca 200,000 – with the letter T produce toxins; those with V possess
K 150,070 – efficient available vaccines.
Mg 38,160 – In the present state of this work, it has been impossible
Mn \LD – to have accurate data on the worker exposed to those
Na 75,230 – hazards in order to establish correlations of cause to effect
Se 1730 3000–4000 between micro-organism types detected in household
Sr 710 – wastes and the subsequent troubles.

LD limit of detection
Waste collection
leading to infections, gastroenteritis, septicemia, meningi-
tis, respiratory and digestive syndromes as well as hepatitis The Algerian law of 2001 designates the municipality as
A. Digestive troubles (nausea and diarrhea) are particularly the competent organization to provide public service to
observed among scavengers whereas others (sweepers, collect and eliminate the wastes and in the same time
drivers) do not suffer from these. It is more frequent in predict and finance a municipal scheme. In this collection
summer because of temperature and food nature which frame, the municipality of Mostaganem has divided the
contain more water and consequently can easily be driven city in 16 sectors. Given its insufficient means in terms of
to drivers [33]. equipment and qualified worker, it has delegated the wastes
The microorganisms vary quantitatively and qualita- collection to 11 sectors to private enterprises.
tively as function of pH, temperature and treatment mode The collection and the transport are an important stage
(composting, landfill gas production, landfill). in the management of household wastes. It is a stage taking
The effects can be local (water pollution, workers, place in the public space and hence depends on public
riverside resident, etc.) or delocalized (greenhouse effect services. In most existing sectors, the collection is per-
gases, compost spreading, etc.). The invisible risks impact formed according to the so-called door-to-door collection.
(greenhouse effect gases, biological risk) is more difficult It begins along avenues and main streets then continues
to evaluate because it depends on type, volume and con- inside quarters.
centration of considered thrown material. It is performed in two stages, the first which corre-
Due to the lack of data on the effect of household wastes sponds to normal collection and the second for household
on SL and collection workers, we have judged useful to waste deposits after the first round. This situation which

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is not respecting the collection time, forces certain Collection means

operators to extend the gathering after usual time. The
collection frequency is 7 days a week and at nighttime The number of agents during the collection is regressing
for all municipalities exploiting the SL The number of since the eighties. There was one agent for 500 inhabitants
rotations depends on the quantity of waste collected and against 1500 in 2005 [4]. According to our investigations,
on the vehicle type. The real time of operation is one agent covers 1225 inhabitants now. The fleet of waste
important if we consider that one vehicle does on aver- collection vehicles for the city is estimated at one com-
age three rotations (round trip) for the SL, 25 km away pacting tip-lorry for about 11,202 inhabitants, that is a
from Mostaganem. The collection is preceded mainly by deficit of 64 %. Despite the State’s effort, the collection
a pre-collection to overcome some insufficiencies, in remains far from international standards, which are one
particular in quarters inaccessible to collection vehicles vehicle for 4000 inhabitants [4]. At the level of seven
(old town, narrow streets, etc.). Therefore, this pre-col- municipalities, one agent covers 1450 inhabitants and one
lection is performed with better efficiency by broadening lorry covers 9687 inhabitants, which is a deficit of 59 %
the service time for the household waste collection in (Table 8).
peripheral quarters.
The door-to-door method presents certain advantages Financing of collection
such as easy disposal for waste generators (population).
However, it has some drawbacks linked to high cost of The Algerian territorial collectivities insure the financing
management, because it requires important human means of service of household wastes taking up from the munic-
and equipment. ipality budget or from the tax of taking up of household
The application of door-to-door is less spread in wastes (TEOM) payed the citizen, the professionals and the
Mostaganem city (38 %) with respect to other municipal- industry. About 100 % of municipalities adopted the sys-
ities which is above 70 % except for Kheiredine and Oued- tem of finance of public service in charge of wastes elim-
ElKheir where it is 50 % (Table 7). Mostaganem city ination from their own budget [1].
presents an urban character with collective habitations, The tax amount for collection household waste is fixed
semi-collective and individual, commercial centers, uni- as following:
versity sites, hospitals, clinics, etc., whereas other munic-
– Between 4.46 and 8.92 € per house.
ipalities using the SL are of semi-urban and/or rural type.
– Between 8.93 and 89.3 € per professional, commercial,
Note that collection is performed by 98 %. However,
artisanal building.
there exists 2 % deficit in average which is a drawback
– Between 44.62 and 17.6 € per camping and caravans
concerning wastes often thrown on road sides, in certain
ground.
zones outside agglomerations and nearby old dumpsites.
– Between 89.3 and 893 € per industrial, commercial and
According Odunze et al. (2004) [34] in the city of Zaria in
artisanal building.
Nigeria, 54 % of household wastes are collected, 22 % are
disposed anarchically in nature, 19 % are incinerated. In It has been noticed that 2/3 of households do not pay
Morocco, the collection rate is close to 70–80 % in urban taxes in Mostaganem. We succeeded to know the deficit for
zones where the standard of living is high whereas it is 2 % some Algerian cities (Table 9) which is not more than
in rural medium [35]. 24 %.

Table 7 Collection
Cities Coverage Number Collection Collection mode Sector average
characteristics
rate (%) of sectors frequency distance (km)
(for 24 h) Door-to-door voluntary
(%) contribution

Mostaganem 98 16 01 38 62 155
Ain Tedeles 98 05 01 70 30 45
Sayada 98 04 01 70 30 68
Kheiredine 98 03 01 50 50 50
Sour 98 02 01 90 10 22
Oued-ElKheir 98 02 01 50 50 21
Ain Boudinar 98 02 01 90 10 47

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Table 8 Collection means for SL exploitation Valorization of household wastes in sanitary

Cities Materials used Number of agents landfill
(by inhabitants) (by inhabitants)
The principle of 3R-VE
Mostaganem 1 truck for 11,021 1 agent for 1225
Ain Tedeles 1 truck for 6005 1 agent for 1167
At present, household wastes are a positive economical
Sayada 1 truck for 7798 1 agent for 1950
value as long as we focalize on their management. The
Khaireddine 1 truck for 5977 1 agent for 1758 exploitation of resources contained in these wastes can
Sour 1 truck for 12,273 1 agent for 4091 have a positive impact on the environment, the creation of
Oued El-kheir 1 truck for 18,793 1 agent for 3759 jobs, saving of natural resources, reducing the consumption
Ain Boudinar 1 truck for 6650 1 agent for 2189 of energy. Moreover, it can also have a positive impact on
Total 1 truck for 9148 1 agent for 450 the involvement of the long-term development of socioe-
conomic activity in the region by the creation of enter-
Table 9 Recovery rates of TEOM prises, etc. All wastes can be subject to valorization:
recycling of paper and cardboard, glass, metal, plastic
Amount Amount Recovery
transformation, composting and/or landfill gas production
received (€) planned (€) rates (%)
of organic matter and incineration of non-recoverable
Algiers 650,000 4,029,500 16 matter and recuperation of energy. The policy of applying
Annaba 260,000 2,277,000 11 the principle of 3R-VE (reduction at the source, recycling,
Blida 211,000 2,677,000 8 reusing, valorization and elimination of wastes) in the
Chleff 170,000 1,451,200 12 appropriate conditions is the best choice for our household
Constantine 614,000 2,627,000 23 wastes bearing in mind that now it is easier to manage them
Oran 460,000 2,541,000 18 properly in SL (Fig. 5). With the objective of bringing the
Ouargla 16,600 667,000 2 necessary arguments to local government and to the private
Bechar 22,200 336,000 7 sector of the goodwill of this policy, we have evaluated the
Sétif 333,300 1,409,000 24 cost of this valorization by category of waste for 2012 and
2013. The Table 10 gives the estimated quantities which
should be valorized by recycling or composting, the real
The situation persists despite the improvement of this quantities valorized by the SL as well as the selling
tax by the Finance Law of 2002. However, the same amounts in € for 2012 and 2013. Concerning the organic
finance law points that the municipal popular assem- matter, we determined the quantity of compost susceptible
blies (APC) are in charge of expediting the tax recovery of to be generated by organic matter taking into account the
taking up the household waste within a maximum of loss during the composting 36 % [36].
3 years. There have been no encouraging results and we We note the absence of strategy of valorization by the
believe that it would be judicious to integrate these taxes in local collectivities and by the private sector despite the
trimestrial portions for example in consumption bills of application of decree 02-372 dated 11 November 2002,
electricity and gas. relevant to packing wastes which predicts the creation of
public system of retaking, recycling and recoverable,
Costs of collection waste named ‘‘ECOJEM’’.
If there exists ways of valorization, the SL would have
The Mostaganem municipality estimated the collection cost totalized a benefit of 2,684,174 € in 2012 and 3,736,801 in
per day and per sector, it varies from 89.3 to 134€. The 2013 (Table 3), which represents a non negligible loss for
collection cost in 2012 over passed 714,300 €. Because of the SL
malfunctioning of the collection service (insufficient effi- At national level, the estimations done by the depart-
ciency), the municipality decided to change the payment ment of environment services proves that the possibility of
mode starting beginning of 2013 from daily payment mode recuperation of 760,000 ton/year of waste spread in
to a payment mode by tons. It estimated the cost of one ton of 385,000 ton/year of paper, 130,000 ton/year of plastic,
waste collected to 18.75 €. This gives an extra expense of 100,000 ton/year of metals, 50,000 ton/year of glass and
714,300 € for collection wastes during 2013 with a quantity 95,000 ton/year of various materials. Their valorization
greater than the one of 2012. Despite the change of payment would cost 31.25 million € [10]. Unfortunately the recy-
mode, the expenses did not change. The recovery of this tax cling rate does not overpass 2 %. The reason of this defi-
per household is low, of the order of 3 %. ciency is mainly due to the absence of a real strategy in the

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Fig. 5 Principle of 3R-VE

Principe of 3RV-E

Recycle Valorizaon
Reuse
Reducon Eliminaon

Metal

Generated of household
Paper &
cardboard

Collecting Recycle Plastic

Separate collection Reuse Glass

Incineration with
Sanitary Landfill Valorization
energy recovery

Composting Biomethanation Energy recovery

Refuse Digestat Digestat + Organic matter

Table 10 Quantities in tons and selling amounts in Euros of household wastes

Compost Plastic Paper and cardboard Metals Textiles Total

2012 Estimated quantity 30,685.5 4734.3 5042 66 3.2 40,531.0

Amount estimated selling 1,626,331.1 700,363 211,214 145,600 666 2,684,174.1
Actual quantity sold 00 132 25.4 0.4 0.6 158.4
Actual amount of sale 00 19,405 1672 176.25 127 21,380.25
% of valorization 00 2.78 0.5 0.6 18.75 0.4
2013 Estimated quantity 35,666.3 6136.7 6294 787 3.7 36,047.4
Amount estimated selling 1,890,306 1,164,330 351,231 330,157 767 3,736,801.0
Actual quantity sold 00 245 2.8 0.8 1.9 250.5
Actual amount of sale 00 29,518 94 286 386 30,284
% of valorization 00 4 0.04 0.1 51.35 0.69

policy of managing the wastes. That is, because of generated annually, given that the national consumption of
encouragement lack of investment for creating enterprises paper and cardboard is estimated at 600,000 tons/year,
of paper transformation, composting factories, incineration whereas. The local production is less than 50,000 tons/year.
with energy recuperation, paper and glass industries for The paper and derivatives import is about 289.5 million €.
recycling. For example, we can quote the paper recycling Hence, about 335,000 tons of wastes are put in dumpsites
problem faced by the Algerian company tonic packaging annually. The company tonic packaging consider increas-
specialized in the production of packing material in ing its recycling rate by 10–38 % if the selective sorting
Algeria. The capacity of recycling of the paper industry and collection will be ensured and if the state encourages
existing locally is less than 10 % out of all wastes the creation of small enterprises for recuperation [1].

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Composting household wastes received in SL contain more than 68 %

of organic matter, 31.7 % of biodegradable matter is the
The composting is made by degradation of organic matter percentage of mineral matter. The reserve in m3 per tons of
in presence of air in a medium rich in specific microor- biodegradable matter is given by Eq. 2 [13]:
ganisms. According to Bouhdiba [37], 50 % of 7.8 millions Qi ¼ BWi ðOMi : dMi : 375Þ ð2Þ
of tons of household waste produced annually could be
composted, producing 2–3 millions of tons of compost. The where:
determination of physic-chemical parameters has given Qi is the reserve of landfill gas in m3; dM is the per-
68–70 % of organic matter, 5.5 for the pH, 23.4 for the centage of mineral matter (31.7 %); 375 is the average
ratio C/N, 3980 lS/cm for the conductivity, moisture level reserve value.
80 % which is in favor of composting this fraction of Q2012 ¼ 81:5 % ð70 %  31:7 %  375Þ ¼ 67:82 m3
wastes produced in Algeria. The cost of treated wastes is
estimated at 24 €/ton and the cost of ton of compost pro- Q2013 ¼ 80 % ð68 %  31:7 %  375Þ ¼ 64:67 m3
duced is 48 €/ton. Here also, we estimated the economical Given that the quantity of household wastes landfilled in
evaluation of the composting operation for 2012 and 2013 2012 and 2013 is respectively 120.1 ton/day and 143.7
in order to encourage the investment in the valorization. ton/day, the reserve of annual landfill gas is:
Indeed, if we project the results of these 2 years, we notice
that the investment in the composting is profitable. For the 2012 : 67:82  120:1  365 ¼ 3  106 m3 =year
2 years, the profits realized will be interesting with a rate of
2013 : 64:67  143:7  365 ¼ 3:31  106 m3 =year
42.4 % for quantities of compost produced: 30,685.5 tons
in 2012 and 22,828 tons in 2013. The selling amounts These quantities of landfill gas are released in the atmo-
would have been respectively 3,835,625 € and 2,852,875 € sphere without being neither burned nor valorized which
with possible gains of 1,623,630 and 1,209,619 €. has for consequence a participation in increasing the
greenhouse effect.
Production of landfill gas in the sanitary landfill
Valorization of landfill gas
The landfill gas is produced spontaneously by anaerobic bio-
logical decomposition of organic matter of wastes in the SL in The combustion of 1 m3 of methane releases 8570 kcal,
presence of specific micro-organism. It is composed essentially which is equivalent to one liter of gas-oil of energy,
of 60–65 % of methane, 40–35 % of carbon dioxide. This 0.94 m3 of natural gas or 9.7 kWh of electricity [38]. By
process depends on some optimized parameters such as the pH, burning the quantity of methane released by the SL, we can
the temperature, the redox potential, the organic charge and the recuperate a thermal energy of 28.37 9 109 kcal or
time of hydraulic stay. On top of these parameter values, the 322.04 9 105 kWh for year 2013.
production of methane is related to the quantity of biodegrad- By valorizing one ton of methane by combustion, we
able wastes (BWi) calculated from Eq. 1 [13]. avoid the release of 5.4 tons of carbon dioxide in the
BWi = OMi  CPi ð1Þ atmosphere [39].

With Incineration
i: year of landfilling of household wastes.
BWi: percentage of biodegradable fraction per year. A preceding work [9] enabled us to calculate the value of
OMi: percentage of organic matter per year (OM2012 = low calorific value (LCV) which was of 1490 kcal/kg,
70 %; OM2013 = 68 %). value clearly less than the one required for an incineration
CPi: percentage of cardboard per year (CP2012 = with energy valorization. Moreover, the moisture rate is
11.5 %; CP2013 = 12 %). largely more than 70 %. These two values prove that it is
The amount of biodegradable waste of Mostaganem not profitable to incinerate this household waste in the state
landfill is equal to where they are. It is preferable to perform a sorting and
BW2012 ¼ 70 % þ 11:5 % ¼ 81 : 5 % recuperate these non recovery wastes with high value of
LCV which can be incinerated with energy recuperation.
BW2013 ¼ 68 % þ 12 % ¼ 80 %
The Algerian government has taken the decision to
More than 80 % of household wastes landfilled release study the construction and operation of 48 incineration
landfill gas. Assuming that 1 kg of dry biodegradable plants in 48 districts of the country for a total of 45 millions
matter contains potentially 350–400 l of landfill gas. The €. It must invest in the issue of how to use incineration with

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J Mater Cycles Waste Manag (2017) 19:265–281 279

Fig. 6 Current situation and

prospects of the management of Before 2010 2011-2013
household wastes Recycle
Recycle

Sanitary landfill
Open dumpsites

Open dumpsites

Horizon 2030

Composng

Recycle

Reuse

Incineraon with
Energy recovery

Sanitary
landfill

or without energy recovery. Our work can serve as a – Construction of waste yards.
guideline for the choice of incineration at the municipality – Education.
of Mostaganem. – Formation.
– Organisation of matter valorization.
– Search for maximum valorization.
Perspectives – Favouring and encouraging the creation of enterprises
for valorization.
Figure 6 shows the management state of MSW in Mosta-
ganem district before 2010, situation characterized by an
elimination of wastes in dumpsites with practically no
Conclusion
recycling. The construction of SL enabled an improvement
of this management since the dumpsites have eliminated
This study has enabled to evaluate qualitatively and
leading to a better protection of the environment and the
quantitatively the evolution of household wastes in the SL
public health, an increase of the recycling rate. Therefore,
since its creation. We determined the composition of
population must be aware of the environmental, economical
household waste and their physicochemical and biological
and social challenge for a lasting management of wastes by:
parameters with the objective of an economical study of
– Awareness. valorization. The exploitation of SL of Mostaganem has
– Pedagogical animations. enabled a clear improvement in eliminating wastes from
– Presentations. the seven studied municipalities. The collection has also
– Sites visit. been improved and the triggering of valorization at the
– Wastes reduction at the source. level of SL has been encouraged by the local people. There
– Establishing selective collection of wastes. remain some insufficiencies which will disappear with the
– Creation of sorting centers. acquisition of experience, know-how, training, education
– Construction of transfer docks. and awareness of citizens.

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Acknowledgments This work was supported by a grant from the activités urbaines de la municipalité de Mostaganem (2009)
directorate general for scientific research and technological develop- Ministère de l’aménagement du territoire et de l’environnement,
ment (DG-SRTD) from the ministry of higher education and scientific Algérie
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