AN INTEGRATED SOLID

WASTE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM IN KUWAIT
OSKA ADE CHANDRA
 INTRODUCTION

• KUWAIT, BEING ONE OF THE RICHEST COUNTRIES, IS AMONG THE HIGHEST PER
CAPITA WASTE GENERATORS IN THE WORLD.
• EACH YEAR MORE THAN 2 MILLION TONS OF SOLID WASTE IN GENERATED IN
THE TINY ARAB NATION.
• HIGH STANDARDS OF LIVING AND RAPID ECONOMIC GROWTH HAS BEEN A
MAJOR FACTOR BEHIND VERY HIGH PER CAPITA WASTE GENERATION OF 1.4 TO
1.5 KG PER DAY.
 TYPE OF WASTE
• MOST PEOPLE THINK THAT WASTE IS WORTHLESS MATERIAL TO BE THROWN
AWAY AND THAT IT CANNOT BE REUSED FOR USEFUL PURPOSES. THIS
INDICATES THE INATTENTION OF PEOPLE TO WASTE AS A GREAT RESOURCE. IN
FACT, WASTE ARE LEFTOVERS THAT CAN BE VALUABLE ONCE SEPARATED
INTO RECYCLABLES AND NON-RECYCLABLE
• ON THE BASIS OF THEIR PHYSICAL STATE, WASTE ARE CLASSIFIED INTO SOLIDS,
LIQUIDS AND GASES. THIS STUDY MAINLY DISCUSSES SOLID WASTE, WHICH IS
CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO ITS RESOURCE AND MATERIAL TYPES.
• SOURCES OF SOLID WASTE INCLUDE HOUSEHOLD, INDUSTRIAL,
CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION, COMMERCIAL AND AGRICULTURE WASTE.
MATERIAL TYPES DISCUSSED IN THIS STUDY INCLUDE PLASTIC, TIRES, PAPER,
METAL, GLASS, ORGANIC AND CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION (C&D) WASTE.
 4
WASTE QUANTITY IN KUWAIT
Year Domestic Solid Waste (ton) Construction Waste (ton)

2002 1059880 4792780

2003 976185 3797770
2004 840005 4309200
2005 836610 4718370
2006 987295 4187909
2007 1000565 3926280
2008 1310036 4421565
2009 1153233 3606804
2010 1408433 4165855
2011 1350645 6897786
COMPOSITION WMS STREAM IN KUWAIT
Source of Waste
Other
5% Metals
3%Glass
3%Textiles
5%

Plastics
Organic 13%
50%

Papers and
Cardboards
21%
 THE CURRENT WMS IN KUWAIT
• AT PRESENT, ALL WASTES ARE RANDOMLY DUMPED INTO LANDFILLS
WITHOUT CONSIDERING SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRECAUTIONS
FROM THE POINT OF COLLECTION AND TRANSPORTATION TO THE LAST
STEP OF FINAL COVER IN A LANDFILL.
• AT PRESENT, THE FIRST STEPS ARE THE COLLECTION AND
TRANSPORTATION OF WASTE, WHICH IS DONE ONCE OR TWICE A DAY BY
4-5 WORKERS BY MEANS OF TRUCK
• FINALLY, THE COLLECTED WASTE GOES TO RECYCLING, TREATMENT OR
DISPOSAL. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE ARE ONLY A FEW RECYCLING
COMPANIES IN KUWAIT, AND THESE DEAL WITH A SMALL PORTION OF
THE DISCARDED MATERIALS.
 LANDFILL IN KUWAIT
• CURRENTLY, THERE ARE SIXTEEN LANDFILLS IN KUWAIT. THIRTEEN ARE
CLOSED; ONLY THREE ARE ACTIVE. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE IS NOT ONE
LANDFILL THAT MEETS THE CRITERIA OF A SANITARY LANDFILL. INSTEAD,
ALL OF THE WASTE IS DUMPED INTO RANDOM HOLES.
• LANDFILLS OCCUPY 45.5 KM2 OF KUWAITI LAND, AND THIS AREA IS
EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO 60 KM2 BY 2025. WITH THIS SHORTAGE OF
LAND, GIVEN THAT ONLY 25% OF KUWAIT IS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC USE
AND 75% IS OWNED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND PETROLEUM SECTOR.
• SELECTING THE RIGHT LOCATION HAS A HUGE IMPACT ON THE
ENVIRONMENT, HUMAN HEALTH AND THE VALUE OF THE SURROUNDING
AREAS. DUMPING WASTE IN AN IMPROPER MANNER IS A WASTE OF MONEY
AND RESOURCES AND COULD CAUSE PROBLEM.
 THE 4R’S AND L STRATEGY

• THE 4 R'S & L STRATEGY IS AN INCLUSIVE APPROACH

TOW SUSTAINABLE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT. Reduce
• THE 4 R'S & L STRATEGY CONSISTS OF: REDUCE, REUSE,
RECYCLE, RECOVER AND LANDFILL.
• THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE 4R’S & L STRATEGY IS TO Landfil
Reuse
MINIMIZE THE AMOUNT OF WASTE GENERATED AS FAR
l
AS POSSIBLE.
• THE 4R’S STRATEGY HELPS TO PROTECT HUMAN
HEALTH, PROVIDES A CLEAN AND SAFE ENVIRONMENT,
SAVES LANDFILL AREA, AND SAVES ENERGY AND Recove
NATURAL RESOURCES, IN ADDITION TO SAVING WASTE Recycle
r
MANAGEMENT COSTS.
 THE 4R’S AND L STRATEGY
• Reduction involves the prevention and avoidance of waste
Reduce resource production. It is the easiest and most preferable option
to minimize the amount of waste produced
• Reuse refers to using items repeatedly, either for the same
Reuse purpose or for other purposes. Reuse does not necessitate
reprocessing. Therefore, it has low energy requirements
• Recycling means reforming new products by reprocessing waste
materials. It saves non-renewable natural resources, conserves landfill
Recycle space, reduces air and land pollution by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions and saves energy

• Recover refers to converting non-recyclable waste

Recover materials into energy or useable materials, such as
compos
• The least-favored option is landfilling. Non-recyclable, non-
Landfill combustible materials are sent to the landfill to be disposed of in
a sanitary.
 ACTION PLAN

Transfer Transportatio
Waste Size
Station n Method

Design of The Collection Economic

Plants Method Effect

Collection
and
Location
Add a footer
Transportatio
n
 WASTE SIZE
A forecast has been made to estimate future demands in order to design the plants ccordingly. The forecast is based
on data collected from the Kuwait central statistical bureau from 2001-2012 [1].

The prediction was obtained using best-fit linear regression. Linear regression shows a very good fit for such data.
The amount of waste produced increases at a nearly constant rate each year. The R2 value for MSW is 0.9066,
which indicates a good linear relationship between values. The results for 2025 and 2040 are shown Table

Year Populatio Constructi Organic Paper and Plastic Glass Metals

n Solid on waste Cardboar
Garbage (tons/year ds
)
2025 2315083 7509757 1157541 486167 300961 140988 69452
2040 3330484 10141825 1665242 699402 432963 202826 99915
 DESIGN OF THE PLANTS
As is made clear in the design, the total proportion of recycled MSW will be 76.2%. The remaining 23.8% of MSW
will be sent to the landfill. A total of 95% of the waste tires will be recycled, and5% will be landfilled. For the C&D
waste, 90% of the waste is recycled, whereas the remaining 10% will be sent to a landfill specially designed for this
type of waste.

Plant Plastic Paper Glass Metals Organic Waste C and D Tires Sorting

% From total 13 21 3 3 50
WMS

% Total ton/hour 62.7 101 29 29 241 1564.5 2775 462.7

Produced

% Recycled 50 80 90 90 95 90 95

% Recycled from 6.5 16.8 2.7 2.7 47.5

total WMS

Machine 31 81 26 26 229 1408 2.65 462.7

Capacity
ton/hours
Working Hours 16 16 8 8 16 16 8 16

# of Shift 2 2 1 1 2 2 1 2

# of lines 2025 5 5 1 1 1 3 3 10

3 of lines 2040 7 7 2 2 2 4
 COLLECTION AND TRANSPORTATION
• The plan for collection and transportation covers aspects including the location of the industrial city, the
collection methods, the location of the transfer stations and the transportation methods. The collection and
transportation processes are interrelated.

• They play a major role in increasing the productivity and efficiency of the entire plant system. The transportation
system is considered one of the main components of the design. Because roads in Kuwait are often congested,
there must be a cost- and time- based plan to utilize these roads and highways.

• The planning of these operations is a critical case because it is governed by constraints such as government rules
and regulations, the cost and availability of resources and the location of the industrial city.
 LOCATION
• The industrial city will be located in an industrial area located in the middle of the state of Kabd in Kuwait so
that the plants will be far from the city and residential areas, thus reducing the pollution to the city 57 and public
disruption.

• Moreover, the availability of land at Kabd and its location in the center of the three active landfills facilitate
access and the delivery of waste to the plant
 COLLECTION METHOD
• Our suggested method for the collection process is the same as the current method, which is used by private
firms that contract with the city government to collect the waste from all regions in Kuwait and to deliver it to
the active landfills. This option is efficient, economical and makes the management efforts easier and more
flexible.
 TRANSFER STATION
• The second operation after waste collection is transporting waste to the transfer stations.
• Transfer stations are the intermediate points between the collection of solid waste and transportation to recycling
and disposal facilities.
• In the case of the industrial city transfer, these stations are considered to be the three current active landfills
(South 7th Ring road, Al-Jahra and Mina Abdullah).
• The purpose of the waste transfer stations as described by the USEPA is to reduce the long distances of waste
shipment and to lower the cost of transportation to disposal sites.
• At these stations, the collected waste will be discharged into large trucks, containers or dumpsites where there
will be vehicles to transfer the waste to the disposal sites.
• The advantages of the transfer stations can be summarized as follows: saving transportation cost by reducing the
distance to disposal facilities, lower maintenance costs and fuel consumption, reducing traffic volume and air
pollution and enabling scanning and segregation of the materials
 TRANSPORATATION METHOD
• The third and last operation before recycling and disposal is transportation.
• Selecting a suitable method requires an understanding of the following:
1. The distances between the transfer stations and the city are approximately 45 km, 87 km and 55 km for
the South 7th Ring Road, Al-Jahra and Mina Abdullah landfills, respectively.
2. Transportation should be controlled to achieve a constant rate of waste flow to the plant and to avoid
leakage of raw materials from the transferred solid waste.
3. The time required for the collection and transportation of solid waste should not exceed either the period
of time for the waste to rot and start releasing odors or the period for fly breeding (to avoid disease
transmission).
• Trucks are chosen to be the transportation method due to their availability, the low price of fuel in Kuwait and
the short distance between the waste resource and the plant’s location.
 ECONOMIC EFFECT
• After calculating all the required costs, it was found that the total capital cost is $ 240,000,000 USD, while the
total operating cost is $ 55,000,000 USD per year.

• However, the total revenue is $ 137,000,000 USD per year. This means that the payback period is 9.5 years from
the start of the project.

• The internal rate of return (IRR) must be greater than the minimum attractive rate of return (MARR) to consider
the project as a good investment. In this project, the IRR value of 12% is greater than the MARR value of 10%,
so this project is acceptable and a good investment
 CONCLUTION
• The study showed that Kuwait suffers from a poor waste management system.
• Applying an WMS, which focuses on finding alternatives to the current disposal methods, could remedy most of
the waste management problems. Through this study, it was found that 76% of waste in Kuwait could be
recycled, whereas only 24% would be sent to a sanitary landfill.
• The yearly revenue from selling the raw materials would be equal to $ 137 million USD, and the estimated total
profit of the project at the year 2040 is $ 450 million USD, with a payback period of 9.5 years from the date of
initiation of the project. Therefore, implementing an WMS action plan could achieve financial and
environmental benefits.