Rural Solid Waste Management

The province of Bushehr is located in southern area of Iran and north of Persian Gulf. Solid waste management in Bushehr’s villages was the aim of this research. For the sake of this study, 21 villages scattered all over the province were selected. Field studies showed that about 646 grams of residential solid waste per capita is generated in selected villages every day. There are 322 shops in chosen villages and total amount of commercial waste is about 3565 kilograms per day. The average amount of medical waste is about 7.8 kilograms per hygienic unit. Waste Composition in selected villages is: putrescible materials: 42.49%, construction and demolition: 11.7%, paper and cardboard: 8.77%, plastics: 8.24%, wood: 6.90%, metal: 6.08%, glass: 5.89%, rubber and leather: 5.1% and textile: 4.83%. According to this study, the main obstacle to recycling program is the unbiased collection of waste in rural area. It is recommended that for the first five year program, source separation includes degradable matter and dry wastes (paper, plastics and metals). Source separation of other components such as wood, rubber, glass and textile can be carried out in the second five year program. From the economical point of view, incineration with energy recovery can not be a good alternative for rural waste disposal in Bushehr province. Due to the low volume of degradable matter, land availability with low cost and easy access to labor force in rural areas, low cost technology composting is recommended. The quantity of waste generated in each village is not sufficient to be managed separately, thus a regional solid waste management must be defined to include adjacent villages.