CHPTER TWO

Source, composition, and properties

of solid waste
Residential
Commercial
Institutional
Construction and Demolition
Municipal Services
Treatment Plant Sites
Industrial
Agricultural

1
 Definition of some types of solid wastes
 Refuse: is a general name given to all wastes
except liquid waste. includes all Putrescible and non
Putrescible wastes.
 Garbage: Putrescible wastes resulting from the
growing, handling, processing, cooking and
consumption of food. E.g. Vegetables, fruits, bones,
bread, injera etc.

2
 Rubbish: represents all non Putrescible wastes except
ash.
I. Combustible - organic in nature and includes items such as
paper, cardboard, wood yard clippings, bedding, plastics etc.
II. Non-combustible: - are inorganic materials, which include
metals, glass, ceramics, and other minerals.

 Ashes: incombustible material that remains after a fuel or

solid waste has been burnt.

 Infectious wastes: are wastes that contain or carry pathogenic

organisms in part or in whole such as wastes from hospitals and
biological laboratories soiled with blood or bodily fluids

3
 Special wastes: are wastes from residential and
commercial sources that includes.
 Bulky items (large worn out or broken household,
commercial, and industrial items like, Furniture, lamps,
bookcases, filing cabinets, etc.)
 Consumer electronics (includes worn-out, broken, and
other no- longer wanted items such as radios, stereos, TV sets.
 White goods (large worn – out a broken household,
commercial, and industrial appliances such as stoves,
refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers)

4
 Organic waste: Food waste, paper, cardboard,
plastics, textiles, rubber, leather, wood, yard wastes.

 Inorganic waste: Glass, crockery (cups, plates, etc) tin

cans, aluminum, and other metals.

 Dead bodies: dead animals like dogs ,cows,

donkey etc.

5
 Types of solid wastes
Source Typical facilities, activities,
locations where wastes are
generated

Residential Single and multifamily Food wastes, paper, cardboard,

dwellings plastics, textiles, leather, yard
wastes, wood, glass, metals,
ashes, special wastes (e.g.,
bulky items, consumer
electronics, white goods,
batteries, oil, tires), and
household hazardous wastes
Industrial Light and heavy Industrial process waste, scrap
manufacturing, fabrication, materials, etc. Non - industrial
construction sites, power waste including food wastes,
and chemical plants construction and demolition
wastes, rubbish, ashes ,
hazardous wastes, ashes,
6
Source Typical waste generators Types of solid wastes

Commercial Stores, hotels, restaurants, Paper, cardboard, plastics,

markets, office buildings, etc. wood, food wastes, glass,
metals, special wastes,
hazardous wastes

Institutional Schools, hospitals, prisons, Same as commercial

government centers

Construction New construction sites, road Wood, steel, concrete, dirt,

and repair, renovation sites, etc.
Demolition demolition of buildings

7
 Composition of solid wastes and their
determination

 Composition
is described as an individual components that make
up the solid waste stream and their relative
distribution, usually percent by weight.

8
 Physical composition of solid wastes
Knowing physical composition is important:-
for the selection and operation of equipment and
facilities
to assess the possibility for resource of energy
recovery
to design and analyze disposal facilities

9
10
 Ways for physical composition Analysis
Individual component study
Sorting and separation of each and every component is
necessary
ƒSamples each of the heterogeneous refuse of municipal
solid waste
ƒ Should be representative (at all seasons of the year)
Statistical produces (representativeness and randomization)

 The types (components) of municipal solid waste may be

different from country to country by season, economic
condition, developmental level, etc

11
1. Moisture content
The moisture content of solid waste is usually
expressed in one of two ways
1. In the wet – weight method of measurement: the
moisture in a sample is expressed as a percentage
of the wet weight of material
2. Dry-weight method: it is expressed as a % age of
the dry weight of the material.

12
 Wet- weight Moisture content is expressed as
follows

Where: M= wet- weight moisture content, %

w= initial mass of sample as delivered, kg
d= mass of sample after drying, kg
 The dry weight of solid waste components can be
determined ( in Kg)
= 100 – moisture content X % as delivered weight of 100kg

13
Table 2.1: Typical data on moisture content of municipal solid waste

14
 To obtain the dry weight, the solid waste material is dried in
an oven at 77oC for 24 hours.
 For most industrial solid wastes, the moisture content will
vary from 10 – 35 percent.
 The moisture content of municipal solid waste vary
depending on:-
a) Composition of the waste
b) The season of the year
c) Humidity
d) Weather condition esp. rain

15
Example: Estimate moisture content of a solid waste sample with the
following composition based on 100 kg of Sample

Component % By weight

Food wastes 15

Paper 45

Card board 10

Plastics 10

Garden trimming 10

Wood 5

Tin cans 5

Total 100

16
Step 1 Calculate dry weight
For food waste 100 -70= 30
15/100*30= 4.5
Step 2 Determine the moisture content using the
equation

= 100-79/100=0.21
= 0.21*100=21%

17
• Step- 1 set up a computation table to determine the dry
mass of the solid-waste sample using the given data.
Component % By weight M.C (%) by weight Dry weight (kg)
• Food wastes 15 70 4.5

Paper 45 6 42.3

Card board 10 5 9.5

Plastics 10 2 9.8

Garden trimming 10 60 4

Wood 5 20 4

Tin cans 5 3 4.9

Total 100 79

18
Assignment: Estimate the moisture content for a waste sample
with the following composition:

Component % by weight
Food wastes 12
Paper 40
Card board 8
Plastics 4
Garden trimming 15
Wood 5
Inert(Misc) 16

19
2. Density
 Under physical composition of solid wastes density is one of the
important parameters.
 Density is defined as the weight of the material per unit volume.
 helps to assess the total mass and volume of waste that must be
managed.
 The densities of solid waste vary markedly with:
1. Geographic location
2. Season of the year
3. Length of time In storage

20
21
3. Field capacity
The field capacity of solid waste is the total amount of
moisture that can be retained in a waste sample subject to
the downward pull of gravity.

Field capacity is of waste is critical importance in

determining the formation of leachate in landfills.

Water in excess of the field capacity varies will be

released as leachate.

It varies with applied pressure, and state of decomposition

of the waste
22
4. Permeability of compacted waste
 The hydraulic conductivity of compacted wastes is an important physical
property that, to a large extent, governs the movement of liquids and gases in a
landfill.
 The coefficient of permeability is normally written as

Where, k= coefficient of permeability

c=dimensionless constant or shape factor
d= average size of pores
γ=specific weight of water
µ=dynamic viscosity of water
κ= Intrinsic permeability ,
 Cd2= intrinsic (specific) permeability, depends on the properties of the solid
material, pore size distribution, tortuosity, specific surface, and porosity.
 Typical values of κ is for compacted solid waste in a land fill are in the range
between 10-11 and 10-12 m2 in the vertical direction and about 10-10 m2 horizontally

23
Chemical composition
 Information on the chemical composition of solid wastes is important in
evaluating alternative processing and recovery options.
 For example, the feasibility of combustion depends on the chemical
composition of solid waste.
 If solid wastes are to be used as fuel, the four most important properties
to be known are:
A. Proximate analysis: Proximate analysis for combustible components of
municipal solid waste includes the following tests
 Moisture (loss of moisture when heated to 105º c for 1h)
 Volatile combustible matter (additional loss of weight on ignition at
9500c in a covered crucible)
 Fixed carbon (combustible residue left after volatile matter is removed)
 Ash (weight of residue after combustion in an open crucible)
24
B. Fusing point of ash:
• is defined as the temperature at which the ash resulting from the
burning of waste will form a solid (clinker) by fusion and
agglomeration.
• Typical fusion temperature for the formation of clinker from
solid waste ranges from 1100 to 1200oc.
C. Ultimate analysis:
involves the determination of the percent of C, H O , N , S and
ash. The results of the ultimate analysis are used to characterize
the chemical composition of the organic matter in municipal
solid waste.

25
Table 2-2: Typical data on ultimate analysis of the combustible components in municipal solid
waste Percent by weight (dry basis)

26
D) Energy content: the energy content of the organic
components in municipal solid waste
can be determined;
By using a full scale boiler as a calorimeter
By using a laboratory bomb calorimeter
By calculation if the elemental composition is known.

Energy values as discarded basis may be converted to a dry basis by using:

27
Table 2- 3: Typical data on inert residue and energy content of municipal solid wastes

28
• Example: Estimate the energy content of a solid waste sample with the
composition given in example2.
Solution
Step -1)set up a computation table to determine the total as discarded energy
content of the solid waste sample using the data in table 2.3

29
 Step 3)Determine the energy content on a dry basis
a) Moisture content is 21.0 percent (as calculated)
b) The energy content on dry basis is :

Step 4) Determine the energy content on an ash –free dry basis

a) Assume the ash content is equal to 5%

30
• If energy values are not available, approximate energy
values for the individual waste material can be determined
by using the equation known as “modified Dulong formula
& the data on tables 2.2

31
C) Biological properties of MSW
Excluding plastic, rubber, and leather components, organic fraction
classified as

1. Water soluble components, such as sugars, starches, amino acids, and

various organic acids
2. Hemicellulose, a condensation product of five and six carbon sugars
3. Cellulose, a condensation product of the six carbon sugar glucose
4. Fats, oils, and waxes, which are esters of alcohols and long chain fatty
acids
5. Lignin, a polymeric material containing aromatic rings with methoxy
groups(-OCH3), the exact chemical nature if which is still not known
(present in some paper products such as news print and fiberboard)
6. Lignocellulose, a combination of lignin and cellulose
7. Proteins, which are composed of chains of amino acids
 The most important biological characteristic of this is they can be
converted to gases and relatively inert organic and inorganic solids
32
 The following technique is recommended where it is desired to assess
the individual components within a waste category

1. Unload a truck load of wastes in a controlled area away from other operations
2. Divide the waste load into four
3. Select one of the quarters and quarter that quarter
4. Select one of the quartered quarters and separate all of the individual components of
the waste into pre-selected components
5. Place the separated components in a container of known volume and measure the
volume and mass of each component. The separated components should be
compacted tightly to simulate the conditions in the storage containers from which
they were collected.
6. Determine the percentage distribution of each component by mass and as- discarded
density.

33
 Future Changes in Waste Composition

 In terms of solid waste management planning, knowledge of future trends

in the composition of solid waste and quantities are of great importance.

 Food Waste
 The quantity of residential food waste collected has changed
significantly over the years as a result of technical advances and
change in public health

 Food processing and packaging industry and the use of kitchen food
waste grinders have effected the quantity of food waste

 The percentage of food waste, by weight, has decreased from about 14

percent in the early 1960s to about 9 percent in 1992.

34
 Future Changes in Waste Composition

Paper and Cardboard

 The percentage of paper and cardboard found in MSW has increased greatly over
the past half century , rising from about 20 percent in the early 1940s to about 40
percent in 1992

 if the U.S. postal rate for bulk mail were increased to first class mail, a significant
reduction would occur in the amount of paper collected for disposal

 Yard Wastes
 The percentage of yard waste has also increased significantly, due primarily to
passage of laws that prohibit burning of yard wastes.

 By weight, yard waste currently accounts for about 16 to 24 percent of the waste
stream

 Environmental conditions such as droughts have also affected the quantities of yard
wastes collected in certain locations

35
 Future Changes in Waste Composition

 Plastics
 The percentage of plastics in solid waste has increased significantly
during the past 50 years

 the use of plastics has increased from almost non-measurable

quantities in the early 1940s to between 7 and 8 percent, by weight, in
1992

 It is anticipated the use of plastic will continue to increase, but at a

slower rate than during the past 25 years

36
 Source , types & properties of Hazardous wastes found in
municipal solid waste

Definition
• Hazardous wastes are defined as wastes or combinations of wastes that
pose a substantial present or potential hazard to humans or other living
organisms since such wastes:
- are nondegradable or persist in nature
- Can be biologically magnified
- Can be lethal
- May otherwise cause or tend to cause detrimental cumulative effect
• Any substance or mixture of substances having properties capable of
producing adverse effects on health and safety of a human beings
and/or environment.
37
 Properties
• Properties of waste materials that have been used to assess whether
a waste is hazardous are related to questions of safety and health.

• Safety related properties • Health related properties

- Corrosivity - Carcinogenicity
- Explosivity - Infectivity
- Irritant
- flammability
- Mutagenicity
- Ignitability
- Toxicity
- Reactivity
- Radioactivity
- Teratogenicity

38
 Properties
• When dealing with the hazardous waste materials found in MSW,
municipalities have most commonly used the following properties to
define a hazardous waste:
- Ignitability
- Corosivity
- Reactivity
- Toxicity
- Carcinogenicity

39
 Classification
• At present, different regulatory agencies adopt variety of classification
systems and priority lists to define a hazardous waste.
• The U.S. EPA has published and refined definitions for
- RCRA hazardous waste
- Priority pollution
• Categories of RCRA hazardous waste
1. Listed
- Nonspecific sources
- Specific sources 3. Other hazardous wastes
- Commercial chemical products(acutely) - Mixtures(haz and nonhazardous)
- Commercial chemical products (non acutely) - Residues derived from treatment of
wastes
2. Characteristic
- Ignitable
- Corrosive
- Reactive
- toxic

40
 Classification
Priority pollution
The U.S. EPA was required to prepare a list of toxic pollutants
proven to be harmful to human health.
Four criteria were used to classify the pollutants.
1. Actual or potential damage that a water discharge of these materials may
create by virtue of certain toxicological properties. These properties include
bioaccumulation, carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, teratogenicity, or high
acute toxicity.
2. Seriousness of discharge or potential discharge of the pollutant by point
source
3. The setting of effluent standards for point source discharges.
4. Overall environmental effect of the control measures available.
The initial list of priority pollutants contained 65 classes of pollutants,
comprising a total of 129 specific substances.

41
 Classification
• Other agencies having hazardous waste classifications:
- International Agency for Research on Cancer
- National Cancer Institute
- EPA – Carcinogen Assessment Group

42
 Sources and Types

• Typical HW From Residential sources

 Household cleaners
 Personal products
 Automotive products
 Paint products
 Garden products
They are toxic and can be hazardous to health and the environment.

43
 Sources and Types
Typical HW From commercial sources
- The hazardous wastes produced by commercial establishments are
related primarily to the services provided.
- Typical examples include:
- Inks from print shops
- solvents from dry cleaning establishments
- Cleaning solvents from auto repair shops
- Paints and thinners from painting contractors

44
 Quantity of HW in MSW
• Although the exact distribution between residential and commercial
sources is quite variable, approximately 75 to 85% present of the
hazardous wastes found in MSW are from residential sources.

• Because different definitions are used in assessing the quantities of

hazardous waste in municipal waste it is difficult to draw any firm
conclusions concerning the actual quantities involved.

45
 Significance of HW in MSW
• The occurrence in MSW of small amounts of solid, semisolid, and
liquid hazardous wastes and gaseous compounds derived from these
wastes influences :
Recovery materials
Conversion products (e.g. compost)
Combustion products
Landfills
• Long-term persistent
- The environment persistence of these hazardous compounds in one of
the critical issues in their long term management.
- Often, hazardous wastes are classified as either non persistent or
persistent.

46
 Significance of HW in MSW
• The half-life concept can be used to characterize and compare the relative
environmental persistence of various hazardous wastes.
• At the relatively low concentrations encountered in MSW, the decay of an
individual hazardous waste constitute can be described adequately as first-
order function as follows:

Where C – concentration at time t

t – time
kT – first order reaction constant
The time required for the concentration to reach one half its original value
is given by:

47
 Physical transformations
The principal physical transformations that alter the form of the
hazardous constituents found in MSW are
A. Volatilization (easily evaporated at normal temperatures)
B. Phase distribution
A. Volatilization
hazardous wastes can occur in the gaseous state as a result of three
related processes:
1. Volatilization of chemical wastes
2. Volatilization of liquid chemical wastes in water and lecheate
3. Volatilization of chemical wastes adsorbed in soil or other solids

Vapor pressure is a factor which affect the process of 1 & 3.

The second process is primarily affected by the Henry’s Law
constant for the substance 48
 Physical transformations
 The vapor pressure can be used as a measure of the volatility of the
substance.

 Liquids with a high vapor pressure will tend to evaporate easily, while
liquids with a low vapor pressure will evaporate slowly.

 With a dilute amount of trace constituents in a mixture of compounds,

the Henry’s law constant(KH) relates the partial pressure of the solute
in the vapor phase to the mole fraction of the constituents in the
solution.

 When the Henry’s law constant (KH) is high, the resistance of the
liquid phase dominates over the gas phase and these compounds are
highly volatile. 49
 Physical transformations
B. Distribution of waste between phases
The distribution of a substance between two immiscible
phases or liquids is defined by the distribution coefficient
which is the ratio of the concentrations in each phase.
Knowledge of the amount of a waste in each phase is
important in developing waste management plans.

50
 Chemical Transformations
The organic hazardous waste constituents in MSW can be
transformed by a variety of chemical reactions, some of which
are:
1. Chemical reactions in combustion
 Under ideal conditions the combustion process is an
effective means of destroying the hazardous organic
constituents found in municipal solid waste.
 If the combustion process is not ideal, the product of
incomplete combustion can be quite varied and in many
cases, toxic.
E.g. The combustion of chlorobenzene with oxygen
C6H5CL + 7O2 6CO2 + 2H2O + HCL

51
 Chemical Transformations
2. Chemical reactions in landfills
The principal classes of chemical reactions that can occur to
alter the composition of the hazardous waste compounds found
in MSW include:

 Simple substitution
 Dehydrogenation(hydrolysis)
 Oxidation(auto-oxidation)
 Reduction

 In an environment such as a landfill where active biological

decomposition is occurring, the rates of abiotic reaction may be
increased significantly by the activity of biologically produced
enzymes.
52
 Biological Transformations
1. Transformations involving metals
 Many of the hazardous inorganic constituents present in MSW, such
as chromium, lead and mercury can be converted biologically in to a
variety of compounds, some of which are extremely toxic.
2. Transformations involving biodegradable (nonpersistent)
organic compounds
 Based on both laboratory and field studies, a number of the
hazardous organic compounds found in municipal waste are
biodegradable .
 Typically, biodegradable chemicals undergo reactions such as:
Simple substitution
Dehydrogenation (hydrolysis)
Oxidation
Reduction
53
 Biological Transformations
3. Transformations involving persistent organic compounds
– Based on both laboratory and field studies, a number of the persistent
hazardous organic compounds found in municipal waste are
biodegradable , but at extremely slow rates.
• The slowly biodegradable chemicals may undergo one or more of the
following biologically mediated reactions:
- Amide and ester hydrolysis
- Dealkylation - Hydroxylation
- Deamination - Oxidation
- Dehalogenation - Reduction
- Double bond reduction - Ring cleavage
• Many of these reactions lead to the detoxification of the original
compound and result in the formation of new toxic compounds, some of
which may be more toxic than the original.

54
 Management of HW in MSW
• The most effective way to eliminate the small quantities of
hazardous wastes now found in municipal solid waste is to
separate them at the point of generation.
• The number and type of hazardous components separated will
depend on the hazardous waste:
storage
collection
treatment and
disposal facilities provided by the community.

55
Management of HW in MSW
Handling and storage of HW at residential dwellings
Leftover household products that contain corrosive, toxic, ignitable, or
reactive ingredients are considered to be "household hazardous waste"
or "HHW."
The handling and storage of household hazardous wastes depend on
the nature of the product.
The disposal of HHW is at present, unregulated in most states. As a
consequence, many of the products within the various generic
categories are often stored and, once used, disposed of improperly.
The only effective way to deal with HHW is to educate citizens about
the proper use, storage, and disposal of HHW and to provide them with
convenient options for the disposal of these wastes.

56
 Management of HW in MSW
Household hazardous waste collection programs
- To minimize the improper disposal of HHW
- product exchange programs (paint exchange programs, major portion of HHW)
- special collection days(adequate promotion and education is critical)
- permanent collection sites (fire stations, landfills, city & corporation yards)
have been established by a number of communities.
Elimination of HW from commercial sources
- To reduce the toxicity of commingled MSW, most communities have
sought to eliminate all discharges of hazardous wastes from commercial
facilities.
- The key to the elimination of hazardous wastes from commercial activities
is the availability of community or regional facilities for handling and
processing hazardous wastes.

57
• Mention examples of HHW

58
 Mismanagement of HW
• Ground water pollution
• Pollution of streams, rivers, lakes, and other surface waters
• Killing aquatic life
• Destroy wildlife
• Cause respiratory illness, skin diseases, elevated levels of toxic
materials on the blood and tissue of human and domestic livestock.
• Resulted in fires, explosives, the generation of toxic gases that have
killed or seriously injured workers and firefighters.

59