municipal solid waste management analysis of waste ... · corresponding author municipal solid...

† Corresponding author

Municipal Solid Waste Management – Analysis of Waste Generation:

A Case Study of Bangkok, Thailand

Pitchayanin Sukholthaman† School of Management Technology,

Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, 12000, THAILAND

+662-501-3505, Email: [email protected]

Pisit Chanvarasuth School of Management Technology,

Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, 12000, THAILAND

+662-501-3505, Email: [email protected]

Abstract The enormous amount of waste has caused tremendous adverse impacts to the world. Waste

generation is the most important factor for successful planning of MSW management system.

Thus, the prediction of MSW is a very important role to understand MSW distribution and

characteristic in order to be used for MSW management strategic plan. In this study, Bangkok,

Thailand, is chosen as a representative of an urban city from a developing country coping with

serious MSW problems due to vast amount of waste generated, ineffective and improper

waste management problems. This study aims to examine influencing variables that affect the

quantity of Bangkok MSW generation.

Keywords: MSW generation, MSW quantity prediction, MSW management, Bangkok

1. INTRODUCTION

Gradually accumulated, the enormous amount of waste has caused tremendous adverse

impacts to the world. In general, municipal solid waste (MSW) is the natural result of human

activities. Not only poorly managed waste streams generate a vast amount of MSW, but it also

causes a remarkable environmental pollution and may jeopardize mankind's health (Batool

and Chuadhry 2009). For example, the growth of MSW in Mexico makes it urgent to have

improved MSW management practice to counteract the adverse environmental, social and

public health impacts (Buenrostro et al. 2001).

In recent year, waste situation has reached its threshold level, especially in developing

countries such as countries in Asia. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(2003), MSW generation has increased by 2.6 times from 1960 to the present. This amount of

new waste generated is an additional to an already huge amount of waste that has been left in

many landfills. In fact, governments and communities in most countries are now struggling to

handle the increasing amount of municipal solid waste arising from growing population and

expanding consumer economy (Dhokhikah and Trihadiningrum 2012). Therefore,

determination of generated waste quantity is one of the most important factors for operating

Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Engineering, Project, and Production Management (EPPM 2013)

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municipal solid waste management system (MSWMS) correctly.

In this study, Bangkok, Thailand, is chosen as a representative of an urban city of a

developing country coping with serious MSW problems due to vast amount of waste

generated, ineffective and improper waste management. The aim of this paper is to examine

factors influencing on waste generation.

In the next section, we describe the overview of MSW, followed by the current MSW

management situation in Bangkok, Thailand. Section 4 explains our research methodology.

Data and information used in this paper obtained from a thorough study of Bangkok waste

generation. The results and conclusions of the studies are presented afterwards.

2. MSW MANAGEMENT

Altaf and Deshazo (1996) stated that MSW management is a public service. Effective

waste management service should be efficiently provided to all people to live in a good

environment, good hygiene, and good standard of life. The successfulness of the waste

management system highly depends on the effectiveness of MSW collection. Unfortunately,

MSW management system in many developing countries is relatively ineffective despite of a

relatively high proportion of budget spent. This leads to an incomplete historical long-term

planning which impacts the effectiveness of waste management system (Dyson and Chang

2005).

According to the study of Garrod and Willis (1998), there are 6 functional elements

grouped by activities associated with MSW management, including waste generation, waste

storage, waste collection, waste transfer and collection, waste processing, and waste disposal.

In order to have an effective and sustainable MSW management system, it is important that all

applied and social studies are linked with a good management plan that involves all sectors

from all levels (Buenrostro and Bocco 2003). As the first element of MSW management

system, many studies have shown that waste generation is the most important factor for

successful planning of MSW management system (Zia and Devadas 2008). It depends mostly

on the accuracy of solid waste generation data set (Dyson and Chang 2005; Buenrostro and

Bocco 2003; Chen and Chang 2000; Lebersorger and Beigl 2011). Thus, the prediction of

MSW is a very important role to understand MSW distribution and its characteristic in order

to develop MSW management strategic planning (Thanh et al. 2010; Sakawi and Gerrard

2013). In general, waste generation prediction models and conventional analysis are estimated

based on demographic and socioeconomic factors in a per-capita basis (Buenrostro and Bocco

2003; Chen and Chang 2000; Eriksson et al. 2005).

3. CURRENT MSW MANAGEMENT SITUATION IN BANGKOK

Bangkok, the capital and the fastest growing city in Thailand, has continuously

witnessed an accumulating MSW management problem. The amount of generated solid waste


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mainly depends on population, economic growth, and the efficiency of the reuse and recycling

system. Both the growth of economic development and the population, which increased

sharply from 48 million in 1982 to 65 million in 2006, really enlarge MSW generation in

Thailand. As of December 2012, population in Bangkok is 5,673,560, which is about 9% of

the total population in Thailand. As a result, there are more than 300,000 tons of MSW

generated monthly in Bangkok (Department of Environment Bangkok City 2011).

The quality of the environment is therefore a matter of growing concern. The Bangkok

Metropolitan Administration (BMA), who has a responsibility for the city management and

the well-being of Bangkok residents, has realized that the problem of waste is increasing. Like

other countries, BMA seeks to avoid environmental pollution by encompassing various

strategies, such as the 3Rs, efficient waste collection and disposal system campaigns, and

effective participation of government, public, and private sectors. Although the policies,

strategies, or plans have been successfully implemented in some countries, solid waste

problems in Bangkok are still in need for further attention through the involvement of related

parties and a long-term master plan. In addition, BMA also needs an integrated waste

management system that suits the characteristics of the City and works well with the

residents.

Nonetheless, since 1998, the average collection costs have been about $51 million a year

and the average disposal costs were at $23.51 million a year. However, the average revenue

from fees was $4 million, representing only 5% of the collection and disposal costs. Due to

the imbalance of income and expenses, BMA had to compensate for excessive costs by using

other sources of income to subsidize on an average of $70.32 million yearly. To make the

situation even worse, the cost has increased every year (Department of Environment Bangkok

City 2011). As a result, BMA is acting on these problems by increasing waste collection fees

and improving the efficiency of fee collection, which will be implemented at all houses in the

relevant areas.

4. METHODOLOGY

Since our objectives are to find relevant variables that influence the amount of waste

generation, all variables are grouped base on type of factors that influence waste generation

from reviewed papers. Those groups of variables are demographic related group, economic

related group, technical related group, social related group, consumer behavior related group,

and legislative and administration related group. On the basis of accuracy and consistency,

Bangkok waste generation data are predicted by a number of population, a number of

household, household size, average income per household, GDP per capita, and CPI. Based on

the availability of the data, total sample size of each data set is 96, which is the total number

of months from year 2005 to 2012.


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5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

MSW generation shows an increasing trend parallel to the development of economic

conditions, urbanization, and rapid growth of population (Lebersorger and Beigl 2011; Beigl

et al. 2008; Singh et al. 2011). MSW management is also highly influenced by other vital

factors, for example, legal, political, socioeconomic, and environmental issues. Each of these

factors is interrelated which usually makes waste management systems more complicated

(AbuQdais et al. 1997; Kum et al. 2005). Aside from these particular factors, the most

important factor that causes MSW generation is waste disposal at its source. Waste reduction

at its source is one of many solutions to solve waste management problems in order to achieve

a sustainable waste management system (Chen and Chang 2000; Zorpas and Lasaridi 2013;

Abduli and Azimi 2010; Bai and Sutanto 2002). The results are shown as follows:

Table 1: Model 1 (All Variables; N = 96)

Table 2: Model 2 (CENSUS; N = 96)

Table 3: Model 3 (ECONOMIC; N = 96)

According to different output models, model 3, using average income per household,

GDP per capita, and CPI as independent variables, showed the best result. That is, waste

generation increases proportionally with income level and have a diverse relationship with the

types of the solid waste generated. Family income had a positive relationship with daily waste

generation. A slight increase in income causes changes consumption patterns of people

(Mazzantia and Zoboli 2008; Ngoc and Schnitzer 2009; Ogwueleka 2013; Parizeau et al.

2006). MSW generation correlates with the growth of GDP per capita, as the amount of MSW


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generation increases when GDP per capita increases (Buenrostro et al. 2001; Tin et al. 1995;

Cherdsatirkul 2012; Shan 2010). In addition, like the results of the studies conducted by Shan

(2010) and USEPA (1997), CPI is one of the strongest predictors of waste generation.

6. CONCLUSION

The results of our analysis illustrated that average income per household, GDP per capita,

and CPI are the most important influencing factors on Bangkok MSW generation. Other

factors, which are number of population, number of household, and household size turned out

to be secondary. Preferably, empirical data should be collected to find other variables that

have higher impact to waste generation in Bangkok. Moreover, a longitudinal study is still

necessary to forecast the amount of waste over a period of time.

Bangkok represents an example of an urban City that has experienced impacts from

ineffective MSW management system. Many studies have shown that accurate data on MSW

generation is a vital factor to predict accurate waste generation that benefits other processes of

the MSW management chain. Therefore, this study provides a pioneer basis for the prediction

of the MSW quantity generated that can be used for other urban cities. Furthermore, we can

provide more comprehensive support for strategic decision making in this important area of

public concern.

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