Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Door-to-door measurement of household waste arisings in selected towns in Malaysia

  • SPECIAL FEATURE: REGIONAL CASE STUDY
  • 1st 3R International Scientific Conference (3RINCs 2014)
  • Published:
Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To establish the per capita household waste arisings, door-to-door measurement of discharged waste was carried out. Survey was done in four 2-week phases over a period of 13 months. A questionnaire survey was also carried out to obtain data on household size and other household characteristics as well as the extent of reduce and recycle activities. The results showed that there is a big variance among households on waste arisings, and that household size is an important socio-economic factor in determining per capita waste generation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. For terraced and detached housing. At flats, waste is collected via dust chutes or large containers used by several households.

  2. This was the case when the survey research took place. At the time of review of this paper (Mar 2015), Kajang Municipality delegates waste collection to companies other than Alam Flora. The "Recycle Energy" facility has its operation suspended in May 2014, and since then the waste is directly delivered to sanitary landfill, similarly to Putrajaya.

  3. Terraced housing is the predominant housing type in Malaysian suburbs, as in the U.K. Its distinctive feature is that a row of houses share a common side wall that also acts as a partition between units. Also known as "townhouses" in the U.S.

  4. At all our sampling areas, we have confirmed that the usual waste collection happens in the morning.

  5. The ratio of elderly persons in household and the ratio of person staying at home had a positive correlation (r = 0.56).

  6. Households with elderly persons had a significantly higher frequency of meals eaten at home (p < 0.001). Households with elderly persons had significantly lower frequency of buying takeaway food from vendors (p < 0.001).

References

  1. Yamaguchi H, Asao S, Hashimoto N, Nakajima M, Tomura N (1989) Matsudo shinai kara hassei suru gomi no sô haishutsuryô to butsuryû ni tsuite (Waste arisings and materials flow in Matsudo City) Toshi Seisô (J Japan Waste Manag Assoc) 42(170):231–244

  2. Kitabatake Y, Nakasugi O, Nishioka S, Harasawa H (1981) Kakei no kônyu haiki kôdô ni kansuru jisshôteki kenkyu (An empirical research into consumption and disposal behaviours of households) Chiiki Gaku Kenkyû, 11:185–200

  3. Kyoto-shi Seisôkyoku (1984) Katei gomi saisosei chousa houkokusho (Detailed waste composition analysis of residential solid waste)

  4. Jenkins RR (1993) The economics of solid waste reduction: the impact of user fees. Edward Elgar Publishing

  5. Sasao T (2000) Haikibutsu shori yûryôka to bunbetsu kaishû no chiiki eikyô wo kouryoshita haikibutsu genryô kôka ni kansuru bunseki (An analysis considering the regional factors of the effects of user fees and sorted collection for solid waste services on the reduction of waste) Haikibutsu Gakkai Ronbunshi. J Japn Soc Waste Manag Experts 11(1):1–10

  6. Yamakawa H, Ueta K (2002) Waste reduction through variable charging programs: Its sustainability and contributing factors. J Material Cycles Waste Manag 4(2):77–86

  7. Wertz KL (1976) Economic Factors Influencing Households’ Production of Refuse. J Environ Eco Manag 2(4):263–272

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  8. Terashima Y, Hashimoto T (1990) Shichôson no gomi hassei gentan’i to shakai keizai tokusei tono kankei (Relationships between per capita waste arisings of municipalities and their socio-economic characteristics). Kankyô Gijutsu 19(2):131–137

  9. Hockett D, Lober DJ, Pilgrim K (1995) Determinants of per capita municipal solid waste generation in the Southeastern United States. J Environ Manage 45(3):205–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Cargo DB (1978) Solid wastes: factors influencing generation rates Issue 174. Department of Geography, University of Chicago, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  11. Lowe S (1997) Recycling in cities—broadening the prospects at the bottom of the table. Materials Recycling Week (Feb 14), pp 12–14

  12. Watanabe K (2003) The management and recycling of household waste in England and Japan—a comparative study. PhD dissertation submitted to the University of Cambridge

  13. Watanabe K (2006) The effect of socio-economic factors on municipal waste arisings—a discussion on statistical methods Proceedings. Japan Soc Waste Manag Expert 17:1

  14. Gujarati DN (1995) Basic econometrics, 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill

  15. Sala-i-Martin X (2002) The world distribution of income (estimated from individual country distributions) NBER Working Paper No. 8933 National Bureau of Economic Research [Cambridge, MA]

  16. Watanabe K (2007) An assessment of variable charging scheme as a means to waste minimisation. In: Lechner P (ed) Waste matters—Integrating views Facultas Verlag, pp 337–346

  17. Bandara NJ, Hettiaratchi JP, Wirasinghe SC, Pilapiiya S (2007) Relation of waste generation and composition to socio-economic factors: a case study. Environ Monit Assess 135(1–3):31–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Benítez SO, Lozano-Olvera G, Morelos RA, Vega CA (2008) Mathematical modeling to predict residential solid waste generation. Waste Manag 28 Suppl 1:S7–S13

  19. Toshima-ku (2011) Kateikei Ippan Haikibutsu Haishutsu Jittai Chousa Houkokusho (report on the situation of household waste discharge)

  20. Watanabe K (2012) The 3R potential of municipal waste in Bangi, Malaysia. In: The Nippon Foundation (ed) Understanding confluences and contestations, continuities and changes: towards transforming society and empowering people, pp 116–126

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (K22059, K2338) by Ministry of the Environment, Japan. The content of this paper was presented at the 3R International Scientific Conference, Kyoto March 2014. The authors are grateful to the comments received from the audience on that occasion.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Teikyo University 359 Otsuka, Hachioji, 192-0395, Japan

    Kohei Watanabe

  2. Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Dani Irwan & Noor Ezlin Ahmad Basri

Authors
  1. Kohei Watanabe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dani Irwan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Noor Ezlin Ahmad Basri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kohei Watanabe.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Watanabe, K., Irwan, D. & Basri, N.E.A. Door-to-door measurement of household waste arisings in selected towns in Malaysia. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 18, 781–789 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-015-0379-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-015-0379-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation