Characteristics of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Composition of Two Different Cities in Taiwan

The characteristics of physical and chemical composition of municipal solid waste (MSW) of two different cities in Taiwan were examined. Population in Kaohsiung City way higher (12.2 folds) than Taitung County population, waste generation is also higher (13.08 folds) than in Taitung County. Nonetheless, there is no significant difference (8% difference) between Kaohsiung City and Taitung County for waste generation rate. It is found that food wastes account for the most proportion of the reusable waste of Kaohsiung City (36.88%) and Taitung County (6.43%), and moreover, the proportion of reusable waste of Taitung County is much less than that of Kaohsiung City. It is because Taitung County is an agricultural area, reusable waste can be reused by residents and not released to the garbage collection system. Furthermore, there was no significant difference of MSW composition between the Kaohsiung City and Taitung City (an administrative region of Taitung County). Paper, food wastes, and plastic accounted for a higher proportion. Food wastes were the major content in both cities because food wastes not included in the disposal system until ten years ago. These results show that organic waste such as food wastes remained significant, with room for more promotion as a resource recycling task.