Impact of socioeconomic status on municipal solid waste generation rate D. Khan, A. Kumar, S.R. Samadder ⇑ Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad-826004, India article info Article history: Received 14 August 2015 Revised 1 January 2016 Accepted 15 January 2016 Available online xxxx Keywords: Municipal solid waste generation rate Socioeconomic group Solid waste composition Solid waste management abstract The solid waste generation rate was expected to vary in different socioeconomic groups due to many environmental and social factors. This paper reports the assessment of solid waste generation based on different socioeconomic parameters like education, occupation, income of the family, number of fam- ily members etc. A questionnaire survey was conducted in the study area to identify the different socioe- conomic groups that may affect the solid waste generation rate and composition. The average waste generated in the municipality is 0.41 kg/capita/day in which the maximum waste was found to be gen- erated by lower middle socioeconomic group (LMSEG) with average waste generation of 0.46 kg/capita/ day. Waste characterization indicated that there was no much difference in the composition of wastes among different socioeconomic groups except ash residue and plastic. Ash residue is found to increase as we move lower down the socioeconomic groups with maximum (31%) in lower socioeconomic group (LSEG). The study area is a coal based city hence application of coal and wood as fuel for cooking in the lower socioeconomic group is the reason for high amount of ash content. Plastic waste is maximum (15%) in higher socioeconomic group (HSEG) and minimum (1%) in LSEG. Food waste is a major component of generated waste in almost every socioeconomic group with maximum (38%) in case of HSEG and mini- mum (28%) in LSEG. This study provides new insights on the role of various socioeconomic parameters on generation of household wastes. Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is one of the major environmental challenges in most of the cities of developing countries like India. Improper management of municipal solid waste (MSW) causes hazards to inhabitants and environment. The solid waste management system needs to be updated to suit the waste quality, quantity and composition (Kalantarifard and Yang, 2011). The quantification of waste generation rate and char- acterization of its composition are essential to plan and design an effective solid waste management systems of any given region (Gidarakos et al., 2006; Gomez et al., 2008). Various authors con- ducted research to establish the relationship between waste gener- ation, their composition and socioeconomic factors (Wang and Wu, 2001; Qu et al., 2009; Sujauddin et al., 2008; Saeed et al., 2009; Philippe and Culot, 2009; Ojeda-Benitez et al., 2008; Marquez et al., 2008). Medina (1997) reported that the solid waste genera- tion is directly dependent on the income levels, and the upper- income individuals tend to consume more industrialized products, their garbage contains more recyclable materials than that of low- income communities. The consumption pattern of household is directly linked to the increase in income which results in changed composition and quantities of household waste (Ogwueleka, 2013). However, it has been found that this is not the only govern- ing factor. Amongst other socioeconomic factors that have been said to influence MSW generation rate are number of family mem- bers, education, occupation, etc. (Bandara et al., 2007). The findings of Suthar and Singh (2015) suggest that there is a strong correla- tion between waste generation and family size of a household. The more a household get educated and aware of the side effect of unmanaged solid waste, the more it appreciate an effective waste management (Kayode and Omole, 2011). Viswanathan and Trankler (2003) reported that in a family with rich socioeconomic condition, daily waste generation rates are generally higher than the lower socioeconomic families. The waste quantity is increasing at an alarming rate in India due to rapid urbanization and high population growth. The growth rate of population for India in last decade was 17.6% (Census of India, 2011). Urban waste generation rate in India is lower compared to other developing countries and approximately one-third to half that of developed countries (Asnani, 2006). A World Bank http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2016.01.019 0956-053X/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Corresponding author. E-mail address: sukh_samadder@yahoo.co.in (S.R. Samadder). Waste Management xxx (2016) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Waste Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman Please cite this article in press as: Khan, D., et al. Impact of socioeconomic status on municipal solid waste generation rate. Waste Management (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2016.01.019