Document Type

Journal Article

Department/Unit

Department of Biology

Language

English

Abstract

All too often, waste authorities either assume that they know enough about their bulky waste stream or that it is too insignificant to deserve attention. In this paper, we use Hong Kong as an example to illustrate that official bulky waste figures can actually be very different from the reality and therefore important waste management decisions made based on such statistics may be wrong too. This study is also the first attempt in Hong Kong to outline the composition of bulky waste. It was found that about 342 tonnes/day of wood waste were omitted by official statistics owing to incomplete records on actual bulky waste flow. This is more than enough to provide all the feedstock needed for one regular-sized wood waste recycling facility in Hong Kong. In addition, the proportion of bulky waste in the municipal solid waste (MSW) streams in Hong Kong should be about 6.1% instead of the officially stated 1.43%. Admittedly, there are limitations with this study. Yet, present findings are suggestive of significant MSW data distortion in Hong Kong.

Keywords

waste composition, bulky waste, municipal solid waste, bulky waste data, Hong Kong

Publication Date

2010

Source Publication Title

Waste Management

Publisher

Elsevier

Peer Reviewed

1

Funder

RGC

DOI

10.1016/j.wasman.2010.01.009

Link to Publisher's Edition

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2010.01.009

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