Estimating municipal solid waste generation from service processions during the Ashura religious event

Abstract

Multiple religious events attended by millions of pilgrims take place across the world every year. Large quantities of municipal solid waste are therefore produced which pose serious threats to the management systems of the host cities and negatively affect their attractiveness. Accurate and reliable information about municipal solid waste generation during such events is thus valuable in terms of management planning and resource recovery applications. The current investigation thus aims to estimate waste generation from the service processions, which are temporary tents set up by Iraqis to provide accommodation and services to pilgrims, during such events. To achieve this goal, a pilot questionnaire survey and an on-site municipal solid waste audit were conducted over 20 processions during Ashura, which is one of the largest religious events in the city, being attended by up to 3.5 million pilgrims. The outcomes of this investigation indicated that municipal solid waste generation from processions broadly varied from 22 to 944 kg per day, with an average of 284 kg per day. This variation can be attributed to the number of meals provided by each procession and similar expenditures. These results can thus be taken as a starting point for introducing a proper management system to be used in Kerbala during religious events.