Investigation of quantitative and qualitative of municipal solid waste in Tabriz city, Iran

Introduction: The amount and composition of municipal solid waste, as basic data, require to design, operation and optimization of waste management systems. The aim of this study was to investigate the qualitative and quantitative of municipal solid waste in tabriz city. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. The samples were collected from all regions (10 regions) of Tabriz city. The samples have chosen according random cluster sampling during a year. 12 samples were collected in each season. Then, the data were analyzed by SPSS and Excel softwares. Results: The results indicated that amount of MSW was 1200 tons per day. The content of organic material, paper & cardboard and recyclable (plastic, metal, glass and etc) was 52%, 13.15% and 19%, respectively. The maximum and minimum production rate was in august and January, respectively. Conclusion: Approximately, 85% of wastes included the recyclable and organic materials which the reuse of this material prevents the environmental pollution. The citizens believed that the most important of MSW program should be the promoting awareness, waste reduction and recycling.