Evaluation and Assessment of Recyclables in Households of Samanabad Town, Lahore, Pakistan

Recycling today constitutes the most environmental friendly method of managing solid wastes. This research work was carried out to evaluate the existing situation of recyclables in the households of Samanabad Colony, Lahore. A survey was carried out of 726 houses and questionnaires were filled by the housekeepers. The housekeepers were provided with large size shopping bags and requested to put the waste in these bags and hand them over to researchers. Physical analysis of the waste was done. Chemical analysis was also done in the laboratory of the College of Earth and Environmental Sciences. All data collected through questionnaire were fed in the computer and analysed. Generation rate and collection rate of the recyclables were calculated at 0.15kg/c/day and 0.11kg/c/day respectively. The rest waste was 0.40kg/c/day. The total material which is recycled or reused is 1620.1kg/day, in which 56% is newspaper, 3.2% is magazine, 2.5% is cardboard, 2.1% is glass jam bottles, 1.7% is glass juice bottles and 16.8% is iron items, 8% is non ferrous items and 8.6% is textile. The composition of solid waste in the research area was found as follows: Paper 6.42%, Plastic 8.17%, Metal 3.18%, Organic waste 62.9%, Hazardous Waste 3.7% and Textile 6.5%.