2017 Volume 5 Issue 1 Pages 123-132
A study to characterize municipal solid waste was carried out at various sources in Hoi An, a famous World Heritage City of Vietnam. The purpose of the research was to identify the generation rate and compositions of household waste from different types of areas of the city (rural, urban, and tourist quarters) as well as waste from tourism sources. The result will contribute to harmonized solid waste management for the city. Wastes from household, hotels, restaurants, and streets were collected daily in two weeks for generation and composition sampling. A stratified random sampling method was applied, and several statistical tools were carried out to analyze obtained data. As a result, the mean of household waste generation was 0.223 kg capita-1 day-1. The average waste generation per capita in the urban region, which included the city center — ST1 (0.203 kg capita-1 day-1) and the urban areas - ST2 (0.264 kg capita-1 day-1), was almost double that of the countryside - ST3 (0.12 kg capita-1 day-1). The difference was statistically significant. Waste from tourism sources may have a great contribution in the total amount of waste generation since tourist services are important and active activities in the city. The results of the study showed that hotels generated about 0.6 kg room-1 day-1, one restaurant produced an average of 26.18 kg day-1, and the mean of daily waste generation from tourist streets was 6.99 kg per 100 m per day. Degradable waste counted for more than half of municipal waste, and combustible waste (textile, leather, wood, diapers, etc.) had higher portions, which meant that biological and thermal treatment technologies could be potential options for the purpose of decreasing the amount of waste to landfill for the city.
