Report: New guidelines for characterization of municipal solid waste: the Portuguese case

Abstract

This report proposes a new set of guidelines for the characterization of municipal solid waste. It is based on an analysis of reference methodologies, used internationally, and a case study of Valorsul (a company that handles recovery and treatment of solid waste in the North Lisbon Metropolitan Area). In particular, the suggested guidelines present a new definition of the waste to be analysed, change the sampling unit and establish statistical standards for the results obtained. In these new guidelines, the sampling level is the waste collection vehicle and contamination and moisture are taken into consideration. Finally, focus is on the quality of the resulting data, which is essential for comparability of data between countries. These new guidelines may also be applicable outside Portugal because the methodology includes, besides municipal mixed waste, separately collected fractions of municipal waste. They are a response to the need for information concerning Portugal (e.g. Eurostat or OECD inquiries) and follow European Union municipal solid waste management policies (e.g. packaging waste recovery and recycling targets and the reduction of biodegradable waste going to landfill).

Keywords

Methodology characterization municipal solid waste sorting Portugal wmr 1253—1

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ademe (1998) Comment évaluer votre gisement de déchets ménager? Demarche et Outils (How to evaluate your domestic waste? Procedures and tools). Issus du Réseau Européen de Mesures pour la Caractérisation des Ordures Ménagères. Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie. Program Life, 52 pp.

Astm D 5231 (1992) Standard Test Method for Determination of the Composition of Unprocessed Municipal Solid Waste. American Society for Testing and Materials International . USA Reapproved in 2003, 6 pp.

Branco, E. (2005). Metodologias para a quantificação e caracterização física dos resíduos sólidos urbanos (Methodologies for municipal solid waste quantification and physical characterisation). M Sc Thesis, New University of Lisbon, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Monte da Caparica, Portugal, 341 pp (in Portuguese). URL:https://clip.unl.pt/p%FAblico/consulta_de_teses?mostra=64&institui%E7%E3o=97747& Accessed 18 May, 2008.

Commission Decision 2005/270/EC, of 22 March, establishing the formats relating to the database system pursuant to Directive 94/62/ EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on packaging and packaging waste. URL: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2005:086:0006:0012:EN:PDF Accessed 18 May, 2008.

Council Directive 1999/31/EC, of 26 April, on the landfill of waste. URL: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:1999:182:0001:0019:EN:PDF Accessed 18 May, 2008.

Decree-Law 297/94, of 29 October, on the creation of a company which performs recovery and treatment of solid waste in the North Lisbon Metropolitan Area (in Portuguese). URL: http://www.valorsul.pt/ Accessed 18 May, 2008.

Dgqa (1989) Documento Técnico no 1 - Resíduos Sólidos Urbanos - Quantificação e Caracterização - Metodologia (Technical Document no. 1 - Municipal Solid Waste - Quantification and characterisation - Methodology). DGQA - Directorate-General for Environment Quality, Lisbon, 17 pp. (in Portuguese).

EC (2001) Development of a Methodological Tool to Enhance the Precision & Comparability of Solid Waste Analysis Data: Identification and Comparative Evaluation of Waste Analysis Methods. European Commission. Interim Report I. Project Coordinator: iC consulenten ZT GmbH, Austria. Prepared by TU Berlin/ ic Consulenten/ UNN, 58 pp.

EC ( 2004) Methodology for the Analysis of Solid Waste (SWA-Tool) User Version. Project: SWA-Tool, Development of a Methodological Tool to Enhance the Precision & Comparability of Solid Waste Analysis Data. European Commission. 5th Framework Programme, European Union. Project Coordinator: iC consulenten ZT GmbH, Austria. Prepared by SWA-Tool Consortium, 57 pp.

10.

European Standard 14899:2005 (E). Characterization of Waste - Sampling of waste materials - Framework for the preparation and application of a Sampling Plan. European standard. English version. European Committee for Standardisation. Brussels, 26 pp.

11.

Erra (1993). Waste Analysis Procedure. Reference Multi-material Recovery. European Recovery & Recycling Association. Belgium, 12 pp.

12.

Martinho, M. & Gonçalves, M. (2000) Waste management. Lisbon: Aberta University, 281 pp. (in Portuguese).

13.

Martinho, M. , Silveira, A. & Branco, E. (2006a) Municipal Solid Waste Sampling and Manually Sorting Methodologies. 14 pp. Unpublished (In Portuguese).

14.

Martinho, M. , Silveira, A. & Branco, E. (2006b) Project Phase B - Proposed Methodology for Quantification and Physical Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste. Final Report concerning Contract n° 10/ 04. Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Monte de Caparica, January 2006, 46 pp (In Portuguese).

15.

Order in Council 187/2007, of 12 February, publication of the Municipal Solid Waste Strategic Plan II (in Portuguese) . URL: http://www.dre.pt/pdf1s%5C2007%5C02%5C03000%5C10451118.pdf Accessed18 May, 2008.

16.

US EPA (1991) PROTOCOL - A Computerized Solid Waste Quantity and Composition Estimation System. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory. Prepared by Albert J. Klee. Cincinnati. EPA/600/2-91/005a, 54 pp.

17.

UCF (1996) Methodology for Conducting Composition Study for Discarded Solid Waste. University of Central Florida. Florida Center for Solid and Hazardous Waste Management. Elaborated by Debra R. Reinhart and Pamela McCauley-Bell. Report 96-1. 82 pp.

18.

Valorsul (2005) Separe - Nós tratamos do resto (Separate. We take care of the rest). Oral presentation. File "Apresentacao base.ppt", 2005-09-26 (in Portuguese).

19.

Yu, C-C. & Maclaren, V. (1995) A Comparison of Two Waste Stream Quantification and Characterization Methodologies. Waste Management & Research, 13, 343-361.