Assessment of Air Pollution from Household Solid Waste Open Burning in Thailand

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess household solid waste management in areas governed by local administrative organizations (LAOs). The obtained results would be used to assess the amount of air pollution emitted from household solid waste open burning. A survey was employed, through the use of questionnaires, to collect data from a random sample of 4300 households residing in areas governed by 96 LAOs. According to the results, it was evident that a total of 26.17 Mt of solid waste were generated per year, of which 6.39 Mt/year was not collected by the LAOs and was eliminated by households. Moreover, the percentage of waste burned on or outside the households’ property was 53.7%, or an equivalent of 3.43 Mt/year of solid waste burned in open areas. In addition, it was found that 0.66 Mt/year of solid waste collected by the LAOs was burned in open areas and was not eliminated properly. Hence, the total amount of solid waste from these two sources was 4.09 Mt/year, which resulted in the emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide, and particulate matter of 1247.3 kt/year, 103.0 kt/year, 1.2 kt/year, 7.4 kt/year, and 19.6 kt/year, respectively.