An Analysis of Household Solid Waste in Kuwait: Magnitude, Type, and Forecasting Models

Abstract

Academia and responsible government authorities have joined hands in a multi-dimensional research project to determine and analyze urban solid waste management in Kuwait in a cost-effective manner. In this study, a random sample of 2,000 households were interviewed, and the 11 private-sector companies responsible for the collection, transport, and disposal of household solid waste were coo rdinated, along with the Kuwait Municipality's Department of Environmental Affairs, to facilitate, expedite, and promote accomplishment of research tasks. More than 200 randomly selected solid waste trucks were subjected to a detailed manual waste classification procedure. Measurements of the actual quantity (by type) of daily solid waste from the truck monitoring survey were used to assess households' reported response accuracy. A number of statistical techniques were employed to examine trends and develop relationships between households' socioeconomic traits and solid waste generation. These included descriptive and distributional statistics, correlation, cross-classification, the chi-square test, and variance component analysis. INTRODUCTIONWhile the pre-invasion data on urban solid waste generation rates and characteristics in Kuwait are sketchy at best, post-invasion information on household solid waste is nonexistent. This paper reports on the results of a research study undertaken to address this critical information gap.

Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Composition, and Management: The World Scenario

“…In a past study, it was found that an average household in Kuwait generates 2.2 times (8.4 kg) as much as waste generated by a German household per day for the year 1996 (Koushki and Al-Khaleefi, 1998). The average citizen in Kuwait produced 511 kpc of MSW in the year 2008 (Al-Salem and Lettieri, 2009).…”

Household solid waste characteristics and management in Chittagong, Bangladesh

“…A wellinformed and concerned public greatly facilitates program implementation and ensures its success. The reverse holds true for an ill-informed or unconcerned public (Koushki and Al-Khaleefi, 1998). The responses of the sample households to a number of attitudinal questions are shown in Tables 6 and 7.…”

“…The mean duration of stay of dwellers was found to be 3.09 years (Table 2). Similar types of socioeconomic parameters were analyzed by Koushki and Al-Khaleefi (1998) in Kuwait. In their study, they placed emphasis on socioeconomic parameters such as family size, family employment, family income, car ownership, education of the head and age of the head.…”

Solid Waste-level Rise on Atoll Nation States: A Less Publicised Environmental Issue in the Republic of Kiribati

“…South Tarawa and Kiritimati Island have waste generation rates of 0.33 kg/person/day (Naiova, 2000) and 0.25 kg/person/day (Carden and Pulefou, 2000) respectively. This is approximately one quarter that of developed nations such as the United States ( 1.2 kg/person/day) and Kuwait (1.4 kg/person/day) (Koushki and Al-Khaleefi, 1998) and approximately half of those of Western Europe and Japan (Young, 1991). However, the extent of any nation's waste problem lies not in the volume produced but rather in its ability to effectively manage that waste.…”