A household waste stream analysis in a rural Mexican location
A household waste stream analysis in a rural Mexican location

Summary/Abstract: Aim: This paper presents a waste stream analysis with the purpose of identifying opportunities to reduce environmental and health risks within a small rural population in Northwestern Mexico by following the Environmental Protection Agency’s waste management hierarchy.Design / Research methods: The study consisted of three phases. Firstly, a one-stage cluster sampling was conducted to characterize the household waste in this rural population. A cluster in this study was a block. There were 54 clusters, but only 40 with occupied houses. The clusters were selected by simple random sampling. During the second phase of this study, a survey was conducted to examine the waste management practices of the residents of sampled houses. Considering that 51 were the inhabited houses in the sampled clusters, a simple random sampling for finite populations was selected. Finally, a quadrant sampling method was conducted to characterize the waste material in a municipal landfill. The total area of the municipal landfill site was divided into black and white quadrants. The white color represented tails and the black color represented heads. The color of the sampled quadrants was selected after 50 virtual coin flips for true randomness.Conclusions/findings: The findings from this study indicate a willingness of the inhabitants in this rural location to participate in source reduction initiatives. The findings also showed that organic waste was the predominant material in household waste composition. Therefore, there are opportunities to enhance composting at home or even implement a community composting program. Originality/value of the article: Based on the waste stream analysis, there are opportunities to reduce the environmental and health risks at a small rural zone in Northwestern Mexico. In this regard, this study can serve as an example to analyze and compare sustainable opportunities in other rural zones around the world.

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