LESSON 3: QUANTIFYING MSW GENERATION

---

Objective:

• Quantify MSW generation in the US and Georgia
• Develop an appreciation for topics associated with MSW generation

Goals:

• Explain why quantification is important
• Explain the two methodologies used to quantify MSW generation
• Become aware of differences among global production rates
• Explain factors affecting waste generation rates
• Develop a familiarity with per capita generation rates

Read: Text, Chapter 2: pp. 30 - 38
Review:

• US EPA 2006 Municipal Solid Waste Report
• Methodology for Determining MSW Characterization Report Data
  • Pay particular attention to the discussion of the two methodologies used to quantify waste generation.

* These documents are Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) files. They can be viewed, and printed, with the use of an Adobe Acrobat Reader. The Adobe Acrobat's Reader is available, free, for Unix, Macintosh, IBM DOS, and IBM Windows operating systems. Click this button to download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat. The readers are available directly from Adobe.

---

TERMINOLOGY:

• Generated Waste = all solid waste materials generated
• Disposed Waste = solid waste materials collected and taken to ultimate disposal (landfill or WTE)
• Recycled Waste = solid waste materials separated for recycling (and collected by municipality?)
• Diverted Waste = solid waste materials not processed through the normal waste management channels.

Important

---

IMPORTANCE OF GENERATION RATES

• Compliance with Federal/state diversion requirements
• Equipment selection,
• Collection and management decisions
• Facilities design

DETERMINING WASTE GENERATION RATES

Materials Flow Methodology

• Production data for materials produced
• The Franklin Study (nickname for Waste Study Reading Assignment) used this method

Load Count Analysis

• Number of loads corresponding with vehicle size and weight,  if available
• The calculation represents the quantity collected/delivered not generated.  Recycling, alternative disposal methods, and  storage are not identified. 

• Exercise:

  • Review THIS EXAMPLE PROBLEM
  • Now, Rework THE EXAMPLE PROBLEM and include the following information:
    • A recycling facility was also monitored.  This facility received 12 loads during the survey which weighted 1,420 lbs on average.
    • The local wastewater treatment facility estimates that 7,350 lbs of food waste is disposed of in home food grinders every week.
    • In addition to calculating the per capita generation rate, calculate the recycling effecieny for this residential area.
  • You should get a generation rate of 4.03 lb/capita/day and a recycling efficiency of 14.4%

Think:  What are the pros and cons associated with each of these methods of quantifying waste generation?

---

GLOBAL PRODUCTION RATES

Municipal Waste Generation Rates of Major Countries

Data from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Environmental Data Compendium Report available at <http://www.oecd.org/document/49/0,3343,en_2825_495628_39011377_1_1_1_1,00.html>

 U.S. GENERATION RATES

MSW Generation in the U.S. - Tons per Year and Pounds per Capita

Source: US EPA Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006

MSW Generation in the U.S. - Total and Net Generation

Note that the net generation rate shown in this figure is the amount of waste disposed to a landfill or WTE facility.

Data from “EPA Document: Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006 Report available at <http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/msw99.htm>

FLORIDA INFORMATION

In 1996, the per capita generation rate in Florida was 9.02 lb/capita/day.  This is approximately 24 million tons in 1996.  Sixty-eight percent (68%) of this total was generated by the 10 most populated counties, there are 67 counties in Florida.  Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach were the first, second, and third highest generators, respecively.  Orange County was number 6 generating approximately 1.75 million tons.  The contribution of different types of generators is shown in the following table The waste generated in Florida was disposed of in the following ways: 42 % landfilled, 40 % recycled, 18 % WTE. The State of Florida has 104 landfills (all lined) and 11 Waste to Energy (WTE) facilities which gives it more WTE capacity than any other state.

 Comparison of the MSW Generation Rates for the U.S. and Florida

	1960	1970	1980	1990	1992	1994	1995	1996
United States, lb/cap/d	2.68	3.25	3.66	4.51	4.49	4.51	4.41	4.33
United States, population, millions	180	204	227	249	255	260	263	265
Florida, lb/cap/d	--	--	--	8.2	8.4	9.49	9.6	8.91
Florida population, millions	4.95	6.79	9.75	12.9	--	--	14.1	--

MSW Collected by Generator Type in Florida, 1996^a

Generator Type	Collected Tons	Percent of Total	Total Units 3	Population Served4	lb/capita/day
Residential Single-family	7,935,415	33	4,237,955	11,145,822	3.02
Residential Multi-Family1	2,632,570	11	2,333,781	4,550,873	1.00
Commercial2	13,159,925	55	511,870	14,411,563	5.00
State Totals	23,745,910	100	7,083,606	14,411,563	9.02

^a From the 1998 Florida Solid Waste Management Report
¹ Includes apartements, condominiums, and others
² Includes government and institutional
³ Number of generator type reported in all counties
⁴ Total Units times residents per units: Single Family -2.63, Multi-Family - 1.95, and commercial - state population
 
Think: based on the information provided in the table above, what types of generators should Florida recycling programs target?

 

• Information from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Georgia Solid Waste Management Report 2004 indicates that 15.9 million tons of waste was disposed of in permitted facilities in 2004
  • 73.8% (11.4 million tons) to lined Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) landfills
  • 22.7% (3.6 million tons) to unlined Construction and Demolition (C&D) landfills
  • 1.3% (0.2 million tons) to unlined MSW landfills
  • 0.6% (0.1 million tons) to the state's only MSW incinerator
  • 0.3% (0.05 million tons) to the state's only large-scale MSW composting facility
  • 1.3% (0.2 million tons) to a commercial industrial landfill
• Recycling is not measured directly which makes Georgia very unique and complicates some solid waste calculations
• Compliance with federal and state recycling goals is assessed by a population adjusted benchmark calculation based on waste disposal rates in 1992. (This will be discussed in more detail in the following section).
• An October 2005 NSWMA Report on the state of recycling in the U.S indicated that in 2002 Georgia had a recycling rate of 8.3%.

MSW Disposal Rates for Georgia (Important: this is different from generation)

Table Source: Georgia Department of Community Affairs, Georgia Solid Waste Management Report 2004.

• THINK: An independent study reported that Georgia had a recycling rate of 8.3% in 2002. Using the table above, estimate the waste generation rate for 2002. Assume that the waste generated was either disposed or recycled. You should get a per capita generation rate of 7.28 lb/day.
  • How much waste in tons would have been generated in 2002?
  • How do the numbers you calculated compare to the National generation rate for 2002? What would you conclude?

---

FACTORS AFFECTING GENERATION RATES

• Typically population increase explains 1/3 of increase in MSW generation
• Historically, increases in waste generation rates correlate with increases of the Gross National Product
• Pay As You Throw (PAYT) Progams
  • 11 counties and 9 cities in Georgia have existing or are developing PAYT programs
• Source reduction/recycling
• Geographic location
• Season
• home food waste grinders
• Frequency of collection
• Legislation
• Public attitudes
• Per capita income
• Size of households

---

ASSIGNMENTS

• Quiz for Lesson Three