University OF EDUCATION

WINNEBA

FACULTY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

COURSE CODE:
BIO 353

COURSE TITLE:
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

LECTURER:
PROF. ALEXANDER NII MOI PAPPOE

TOPIC:
CATEGORIZATION AND QUANTIFICATION
OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE ON
UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION,
WINNEBA(UEW) SOUTH CAMPUS

DEPARTMENT OF biology EDUCATION

31ST OCTOBER, 2018
 GROUP ONE (1)

MEMBERS INDEX NUMBERS

Philemon Zaagbil 5161600001

Richlove Ampofo 5161600002

Brenya Oscar 5161600003

Isaac Frimpong Adjei 5161600004

Richard Duncan Nkrumah 5161600005

Dan Owusu 5161600006

Emmanuel Siaw 5161600007

Mudasiru Hamidu 5161600008

 CATEGORIZATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
ON UEW-SOUTH CAMPUS

ABSTRACT

Waste products come in different forms. The purpose of this study is to identify, sort,
quantify and analyse the composition of waste stream produce within the university campus
by weighing the various types of waste categories sorted in packing bags using a balance, and
the masses compared using bar graph as well as estimate the percentages of various
categories and illustrate using pie chart. The study realized that large amount of waste of
various categories is produced and collected each day within the University campus.

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background Information of the Study

Waste simply refers to substances that are not of any use(importance) and as such are
discarded or are to be discarded. As humans consume, they generate a lot of waste which
are to be discarded.

Waste products come in different forms. There are gaseous, liquid as well as solid waste
products (with emphasis on the state of the waste product). They can also be categorized
as either hazardous or non-hazardous as well as biodegradable or non-biodegradable.
Production of waste is inevitable; therefore, it is appropriate that we identify ways by
which we can effectively manage the different types of waste substances so as to ensure
that they do not pose any threat to life and nature in general.

Municipal solid waste consists of household waste, construction and demolishing debris,
sanitary residues and waste from streets. With a changing lifestyle and food habits,
municipal solid waste has been rapidly increasing and changing in composition.
Consumer products are being packed in cans, aluminium foils, plastics and other non-
biodegradable materials. Hazardous among the household waste are the old batteries,
shoe polish, paintings, old medicines and medicine bottles. The current status of solid
waste management in the University of Education, Winneba South Campus is dumping.
Solid waste is unscientifically dumped in a yard which is not lined to protect the soil and
underground water from leachate contamination.
 The practice is unsafe, unhealthy and environmentally unsound. However, measure has
been put in place where waste bins are provided at various buildings around the campus
as well as vintage points along the streets on campus.

Waste substances, if not properly managed, may have very detrimental effects on humans
and other species as well as other non-living resources on the planet. Although some
waste substances could even be recycled into very useful products, if these waste
substances are not properly managed, they would become pollutants and depending on
the type of waste (it could be hazardous, non-hazardous, biodegradable, or non-
biodegradable), it could cause very big problems and even contaminate various
ecosystems significantly.

Thus it is paramount that the waste substances we produce industrially as well as

domestically is managed appropriately. Some of these industrial waste could be recycled
into useful forms for other industrial processes. The non-biodegradable domestic waste
can be incinerated to remove them from the ecosystem where they will cause
contamination. On the other hand, the biodegradable domestic waste could be converted
into compost to apply as fertilizer that will help in plants growth and increase yield.

1.1 Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study is to identify, sort, quantify and analyse the composition of the
waste stream generated within the university campus.

1.2 Objectives of the study

The objectives for performing the study include identification of the various types of
waste that are produced on University of Education, Winneba (UEW) South Campus.
Waste substances are of different kinds and make, therefore, one important aspect of this
study, was to sort those produced on UEW South Campus into various categories using
the type(s) of material(s) that particular waste is made from. These categories of which
the materials were categorized included synthetic plastics and rubber, metallic
(Aluminium) cans, papers of different types, textiles, and glass among a few.
Invariably, very high proportions of the waste substances were empty packaging
containers (Examples: bottles used to package juice and water alike, emptied sachets of
 water and empty aluminium cans that presumably contained juices) with very little being
left over food (organic) substances, paper and textile.

Also, another very important aspect of performing the experiment was to quantify the
various categories after they had been sorted out. The quantification was done by
weighing the various categories of waste after they had been sorted out.
Although key attention was given to quantifying the various categories of waste produced
in terms of their weight, they were also counted to identify the actual number of waste
substances that were in each category. Based on these two quantification methods, it was
believed that appropriate inferences and recommendations could be made.

1.3 Limitations
There could be mistakes in the weighing process due to the fact that, many students were
crowded around the highly sensitive electronic balance used in weighing. This could
significantly impact the readings.
Again, the mass of the packaging bags was recorded as part of the mass of the weight.

1.4 Delimitations
The characterization was confined to only one waste bin because of the sensitivity and
range of the balance used.

MATERIALS AND METHOD USED

The materials used included packaging polythene bags, hand gloves, nose masks and a
balance.
The university currently utilizes various containers for collection and disposal of solid
waste, non-hazardous waste throughout the campus.
The waste sorting and quantification took place on 24th October, 2018. A waste bin was
collected from adjacent Osagyefo Library which was sent to an offsite location for
sorting, packaging and analysis.
The bin contained waste collected over a 24-hour period. The bins were emptied and the
various categories of waste selected; with no discrimination based size, weight, smell or
any other characteristic.
Seven waste categories were acquired and the various categories are as follows.
  Food products
 Plastics
 Glass
 Aluminium cans
 Textiles
 Polythene and
 Paper

Each category was then weighed on a scale and recorded in grams.

RESULTS

The result obtained is shown in the table below

WASTE TYPE WEIGHT (KG)

FOOD PRODUCTS 857.58
PLASTICS 641.45
GLASS 480.61
ALUMINIUM CANS 45.21
TEXTILES 51.36
POLYTHENE BAGS 312.40
PAPER 433.78

DATA ORGANIZATION AND MANIPULATION

The raw data was input into a Microsoft Excel worksheet. A comparison of the various
categories of waste produced was determined and presented in the form of a bar graph and a
pie chart. The percentages of the categories of waste produced as well as the mean waste
produced over a 24-hour period per waste bin was also calculated.
WASTE TYPE MASS IN GRAMS(g) PERCENTAGES(%)
food products 857.58 30.38488657
plastics 641.45 22.7271922
glass 480.61 17.02847587
aluminum 45.21 1.601833907
textiles 51.36 1.819734339

polythene 312.40 11.0686333

paper 433.78 15.3692438

Mean Weight 403.20

Total Weight 2822.39
 Fig 1.1

PERCENTAGES OF WEIGHTS

paper,
15.3692438
food products,
polythene, 30.38488657
11.06863332

textiles, 1.819734339
aluminium, 1.601833907

glass,
17.02847587 plastics,
22.7271922

food products plastics glass aluminium textiles polythene paper

Fig 1.2

PROPORTIONS OF WASTE

900.00 857.58

800.00

641.45
Masses of various categories

700.00

600.00
480.61
500.00 433.78

400.00
312.40 Series1
300.00

200.00

100.00 45.21 51.36

0.00
food plastics glass aluminium textiles polythene paper
products
Categories of waste
 DISCUSSION

The total amount of municipal solid waste produce over a 24-hour period per waste bin in the
university of Education, Winneba-South Campus is 2822.39 grams. Food products is
estimated to be 857.58g representing 30.38%, Plastics is 641.45g which represent
22.73%, glass weighed 480.61g representing 17.03%, Aluminium cans weighed
45.21g which is 1.60%, Textiles also weighed 51.36g representing 1.82%, Polythene
weighed 312.40g which represent 11.07% and paper 433.78g which is an estimate of
15.37%. The mean solid waste produce is 403.20g. The type of each category of
waste influenced the weight of the waste. Polythene constituted the highest volume of
waste produced, it is numerous than all other waste but due to its nature, it weighted
less than other categories of waste. Plastics has been used generally to refer to
recyclable plastic Cans and bottles. It constituted the second in volume, however,
weighted less than other waste due to its light nature. These are waste material that
can be recovered and easily re-used or recycled. Food products, glass and textile
constituted relatively small volume however weighted much due to its nature. Paper
and aluminium cans constituted a moderate volume relative to the other categories of
waste, but paper out weighted aluminium cans because it mainly contained heavy
cardboards. The percentages of various waste categories are illustrated above in the
pie chart. In fig. 1.1. The proportions of the waste categories have also been illustrated
using bar graph in fig 1.2
How waste is produced within the university

The majority of waste generated within the University is as a result of student and staff
consumption. Some waste is also generated as a result of packaging of consumer products.

Categories of waste How waste is produced

Food products Generated by Left over foods at halls and
packaged food services

Plastics Generated by staff and students out of

packaging
Glass By staff or students out of glass beverage
bottles, broken mirrors and louvres
Aluminium cans Generated by students or staff from
beverage and canned foods
Textile By student or staff: Handkerchief, clothes
and towels
Polythene Students or staff out of packaging
Papers Student or staff from offices and
photocopier operators as well as students’
misuse.

CURRENT WASTE HANDLING PROCESSES

Maintenance and facility services, including cleaning staff, continually collect waste and
deposit the materials into the available waste containers.

Waste collected and deposited into various waste bins in the various halls are emptied every
morning by cleaners. Those bins around the faculty, streets and the library are not usually
emptied every morning, this is done when the bin is almost full.
 CONCLUSION

Based on the result obtained, it can be concluded that large amount of waste per weight of
various categories is produced and collected each day within the University
community.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Within the University, the focus for recommendations is on exercising best practices
regarding reducing and reusing potential waste. This may include but is not limited to the
usage of reusable containers for food and beverages, the reduction of paper usage, and
increasing overall awareness regarding the importance of reducing waste.

The University should ensure that all lecture halls, auditoria as well as offices have the
appropriate number of recycling bins to help ensure effective collection and management of
waste products.

Recycling bins should also be placed in areas where beverages are regularly consumed from
containers. Students and faculty should be educated on what should be placed in the recycling
bin or waste container. All lecture halls, auditoria and office should have information posted
on the walls to help the students participate in effective waste collection.

To aid in the promotion of collection of various categories of waste for effective

management.
 REFERENCES

1. Vasudevan, N.,(2006). Essentials of Environmental Science. Alpha Science

International Limited: Oxford

2. Dorsner, K., (2006). CK-12 Essentials of Environmental Science. Flexbook: NY

3. St Thomas Aquinas Secondary Waste Audit, Halton

4. McMaster University Waste Audit, Hamilton., March 2011

 INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS FROM EACH GROUP MEMBER
All group members took part in the sorting of the waste
All group members attended group meetings and actively participated in all discussions held
Zaagbil Philimon (5161600001)
 Writing of the “discussion” of the article
Ampofo Richlove (5161600002)
 Writing of the purpose of the study as well as the objectives of the study
Brenya Oscar (5161600003)
 Writing of the recommendations
Isaac Frimpong Adjei (5161600004)

 Writing of the Materials and the Methods section of the article

Richard Duncan Nkrumah (5161600005)

 Data organization and manipulation (Tabulation of results and plotting of charts)

Dan Owusu (5161600006)

 Writing of the Background of the Study

Emmanuel Siaw (5161600007)

 Writing of Limitations and Delimitations

Mudasiru Hamidu (5161600008)

 Writing of the conclusion