Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste Generated in Some Egyptian Cities

Abstract

Municipal solid waste (MSW) poses a cumulative problem related to many aspects, namely, social, economic, and cultural. Therefore, such a situation must be accompanied by the development of well-established management systems starting with the knowledge of MSW quantities, its quality and characterization and ending with a suitable landfilling technique. This work aims to characterize Egyptian municipal solid waste generated from two cities in Great Cairo, where 45 samples were collected regularly. The research was carried out by researchers in the Chemical Engineering Department at Cairo University and selected undergraduate students from October to December 2020. The collected MSW was characterized by evaluating the quality and quantity of generated waste. Selected properties considered were: composition (including the organic fraction, papers, plastics, textiles, metals, glass, and others), density, moisture content, calorific value, and Carbon Hydrogen Nitrogen Sulfer (CHNS) chemical elemental analysis. The results obtained showed that the organic fraction was dominant to other fractions (4287%) and the carbon content was more than 47% and the calorific values to range between 4360-12277 kJ/kg. The results obtained were used as a base for a waste management proposal, either from mass recovery for highrecyclable samples or energy recovery for high calorific value waste. In other circumstances, waste-to-energy WTE processes were recommended as a promising solution to developing countries in the world where the energy demand is essential for the life.