Possible Revenue by Waste Management in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Comprehensive solid waste management programs are one of the greatest challenges to achieving campus sustainability. Conducting a waste characterization study is a critical first step in successful waste management planning and advancing the overall sustainability of an institution of higher education. This project on waste characterization studywas conducted at the campus of Palestine Polytechnic University. Palestinians from West Bank and Gaza generated about 1.59 Million tons or nearly 4,356 tons/ day in 2018. Average production per capita is about 0.9 kg/day2. Most of municipal waste (94%) is collected by municipalities, the UNRWA and JSCs. The JSCs collect about 65% of the municipal waste; the remaining waste is taken care off by the previously mentioned service providers and the private sector. The aim of the study was to determine the amount and composition of waste generated within key campus operational areas and to provide recommendations to senior university administration on strategies for waste minimization, higher rates of recycling and composting and improving the overall sustainability of the campus waste management program, and to estimate the amount of revenue possible after organizing the waste while also using different applications to do so. Because of the lack of information regarding the estimation of the quantities of the different type of waste generated, we use two previous studies that have evaluated the amount of waste generated regarding the different type of waste so we can evaluate the closer estimation in applying the study on our university because a study like this hasn’t happened before on our university Palestine Polytechnic University (PPU)