Solid Waste Characterization at University of Technology-Iraq - Step for Sustainable Development

Abstract

Solid waste accumulation is increasing each year rapidly and composes a crucial threatens to a healthy life, and exhausts natural resources. Major steps must be taken to initiate a new human manner and habits to reduce, recycle, and reuse waste as a part of sustainable development. This research discusses the activity initiate at the Chemical Engineering Department - University of Technology - Baghdad /Iraq to engage faculty members and students at solid waste management’s approaches through adopt classification and sorting of the solid waste at the source. The second stage was to analyze the amounts and types of accumulated solid waste at the chemical engineering department building for one semester starting from 1st February to 30th June. In the same year, the waste examination was recorded each week. The final stage was a questionnaire to some participants (faculty, staff, and students) to investigate staff reluctance to be involved actively in solid waste sorting and motivate more university staff to participate in waste sorting at the source. The results show that the separated solid waste material represented only 35% of the department’s total generated waste through the research period. The total weight of the characterized waste was 448 Kg. Waste paper is the largest percentage of waste with a total weight (155.5 kg), followed by organic (110 kg), plastic (100 kg) and metal (82.5 kg). This research encouraged students to engage in reuse / recycle programs. They formed groups. The first group produced fuel oil from waste plastic by pyrolysis. The second student’s group converted waste paper to card paper.