HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTES - DISCARD PATTERNS AND MANAGEMENT OPTIONS

Households discard hazardous products to municipal landfills in rural areas. This paper derives a model to predict discarded quantities of household hazardous products in a rural community in Alberta. The results were used to predict discard rates of hazardous products to the landfill. The predicted rates were compared with the quantities determined by a yearlong waste stream analysis. The model combines purchased and stored-volume data to predict household hazardous-waste discards to within 3% of measured quantities. The predictive models are useful to obtain rough estimates of hazardous-product volumes in municipal refuse streams. The current yearly toxic roundup captures less than 2% of the hazardous-product weight disposed of in the landfill. To evaluate alternatives to the conventional toxic roundup for household hazardous wastes, several waste-reduction, collection, and disposal programs are evaluated. An approach of waste reduction through short-loop reuse combined with an intensified depot-based collection program is recommended to better serve small-quantity generators in rural communities.