Major-religious festivals hosted in the city of Kerbala, Iraq, annually generate large quantities of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) which negatively impacts the environment and human health when poorly managed. The hospitality sector, specifically hotels, is one of the major sources of MSW generated during these festivals. Because it is essential to establish a proper waste management system for such festivals, accurate information regarding MSW generation is required. This study therefore investigated the rate of production of MSW from hotels in Kerbala during major festivals. A field questionnaire survey was conducted with 150 hotels during the Arba'een festival, one of the largest festivals in the world, attended by about 18 million participants, to identify how much MSW is produced and what features of hotels impact on this. Hotel managers responded to questions regarding features of the hotel such as size (Hs), expenditure (Hex), area (Ha) and number of staff (Hst). An on-site audit was also carried out with all participating hotels to estimate the mass of MSW generated from these hotels. The results indicate that MSW produced by hotels varies widely. In general, it was found that each hotel guest produces an estimated 0.89 kg of MSW per day. However, this figure varies according to the hotels' rating. Average rates of MSW production from one and four star hotels were 0.83 and 1.22 kg per guest per day, respectively. Statistically, it was found that the relationship between MSW production and hotel features can be modelled with an R of 0.799, where the influence of hotel feature on MSW production followed the order Hs > Hex > Hst.

Every year, many religious events attended by 300 million pilgrims take place in many holy cities and sites around the world. However, research on municipal solid waste is limited despite the reputation of religious events to generate substantial amounts of waste. This research aims to address this gap and contribute to new knowledge on municipal solid waste management at religious events by investigating and evaluating the municipal solid waste management system applied at the Arba'een event in Kerbala, one of the largest religious events in Iraq. Field observations and in-depth interviews with nine senior managers from Kerbala's municipalities were conducted during the event in 2016, to develop an overall picture of the municipal solid waste management system applied during the event. The data were analysed using thematic analysis and fed to the 'Wasteaware' benchmark indicators framework to evaluate the performance of the event system. The results indicated that the system suffers from operational and governance weaknesses. Despite a focus on municipal solid waste collection and transportation, the collection coverage is only ~ 70%. There is no controlled landfill site in Kerbala. It is estimated that currently ~ 5% of the event municipal solid waste is recycled by informal recyclers: there is no formal recycling scheme. Kerbala does not perform well regarding governance. The inclusivity of providers and users of the municipal solid waste management services is minimal during the event, as the majority of stakeholders are not included in decision-making processes. Municipal solid waste management services are delivered free of charge, thus significantly influencing the financial sustainability of the system. This study recommends that MSW recycling should be encouraged through integrating the informal sector, improving public awareness and introducing a formal recycling scheme to make the event municipal solid waste management system effective and financially sustainable.

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.

Various experimental studies have highlighted the negative consequences of Portland cement on health and the environment, such as toxic emissions and alkaline sewage. The development of environmentally acceptable substitutes for cement is thus one of the objectives of current investigations. The proposed environmental alternatives to cement, nevertheless, might have detrimental impacts on the concrete’s characteristics. This investigation intends to study the suitability as alternatives to cement in cement mortar, using industrial wastes like silica fume and cement kiln dust. As a replacement for cement, the cement mortars developed in this research continue from 0% to 60% silica fume and cement kiln dust. Ultrasonic pulse velocity tests at 1 to 4 weeks of age were conducted on hardened specimens. The findings showed that a low reduction in the pulse velocity resulted from high proportions of silica fume and cement kiln dust replacements, whereas an improvement in the characteristics of the mortars with low replacement ratios. Using low kiln dust and silica fume of 20 to 40%, the durability of mortars may increase.

Solid Waste Management (SWM) poses severe problems to the authorities of the city of Kerbala, one of the main tourism centres in Iraq. Due to the city's limited funds, it is crucial to evaluate the priorities for improvements in SWM services to tackle this problem efficiently. This paper employed Wasteaware benchmark indicators for integrated and sustainable solid waste management to evaluate the city SWM system performance. The data used in this evaluation was collected by in-depth interviews with the management authorities and field observations over two months in 2016. The outcomes showed that the SWM system in the city is weak. It therefore requires several improvements in physical infrastructure and management. Disposal and recycling were the highest priority to be improved among SWM physical components. While, in the management, the authority should have clear strategy for SWM and stakeholders such as public, private waste sector and informal waste collectors should be included in SWM planning to improve the management services. This study can provide a starting point for the city authorities to prioritise their actions to improve the current SWM system.