Selective Collection - An Essential Component Of Integrated Waste Management

This paper proposes a selective collection scheme for household waste management in the city of Cluj-Napoca. The scheme is designed to serve the city of Cluj-Napoca, with a stable population of 410,923 inhabitants. The proposed scheme is based on the finding that currently, in the investigated area, the household waste management is partially organized. Often, the selective collection points are located at quite distant places, over 1000 m, which creates the discomfort of moving for many citizens. In addition, the waste components that were selected at collection points (paper/cardboard, plastic, metal, glass) are collected together, being mixed in the same transportation car, so citizens that were otherwise responsible from the environmental protection point of view will be discouraged to continue the selective collection of waste.This scheme is based on principle of population access to sanitation services, under which public authorities are responsible for organizing public services of the community so that all members have equal access to these services. In order to implement an appropriately waste collection system, the participation of citizens is necessary. By applying the proposed scheme, we aim to achieve the following goals: empowering people in terms of practical activities for selective waste collection, sanitation services at affordable prices, the reduction of generated waste and the recovery of useful materials contained in waste (paper/cardboard, glass, plastics and metal), purposeful actions that lead to a clean and healthy environment. In calculations across this paper, the habitation density was considered different from one neighborhood to another. This means that the city has neighborhoods in which blocks of flats prevail. In this case, the habitation density is high. But some neighborhoods (districts) are less crowded, where houses are predominant. In this case, the habitation density is lower.The citizens of Cluj-Napoca must understand their role in the waste management system and co-operate with the local authorities for the system to work. Implementing this collection system should ensure the optimum number of collection points so that the population responds positively to all the actions of the local authorities in order to increase the amount of waste that will be recycled.