Household solid waste characterization by family socioeconomic profile as unit of analysis

In this paper the behavior of household solid waste generation is analyzed, using as a unit of analysis the garbage bags produced by a family during a week. For this analysis the category of family typology is used where three different family types are included: nuclear, extended and mono-parental. The objective of this research was to know the composition and quantity of solid waste generated by family typology. For this study the waste produced by 125 families during eight days was analyzed. The total number of households included in the study was 125, 67 of them were nuclear families, 45 were extended and 13 were mono-parental families. A total of 682 garbage bags were evaluated. Using the results it was possible to determine the composition and quantity of solid waste generated by family typology and by socioeconomic stratum. The results showed that the per capita and the average family waste generation varies according to the family typology and to the socioeconomic stratum where the family belongs. Per capita daily waste generation of the nuclear family was 1.10 kg, the extended family produced 0.782 kg and the mono-parental family produced 1.35 kg. In contrast waste composition did not show any difference, except for some of the categories such as garden waste, newspaper, textiles and disposable diapers, these wastes explain the lifestyles of the generators. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.