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May 5, 2017
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Jan 1, 2017
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Abstract

There is a lack of data on the generation and composition of waste in rural areas worldwide. The present study analyzed the composition of solid waste in Al Jabal Al Akhdar, a rural mountain region in the Sultanate of Oman, which is presently experiencing a rapid rate of urbanization due to tourism development. The solid wastes here are generated by the municipality collecting waste from residential, commercial, institutional and recreational areas, the military from a training camp and a few non-governmental private companies from their camps and hotels. The whole load from each of the three sources was manually segregated each month from June 2013 – May 2014. The results indicated that plastic is the dominant category in the wastes collected by the municipality and accounts for 26.7%, followed by paper (17.9%) and then food (14.4%). Food is the dominant category in the wastes collected by the military and private companies and accounts for 36.5% and 45.5% respectively. Management issues associated with solid waste are briefly considered. The study concluded that the municipality should implement an improved system for the collection of plastic waste and initiate a system for recycling it; the military and private companies should reduce the quantities of food waste by improved planning and management of the catering services.

 

 

 

Keywords

Solid waste Rural areas Al Jabal Al Akhdar Oman Statistical analysis Composition.

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