Estimation of Waste Generation and Recycling Potential from Traditional Market: A Case Study in Hue City, Vietnam

This study was conducted to provide a detailed description of waste generation and characteristics from a traditional market in Hue city, located in central Vietnam. The authors conducted a waste generation survey and a waste composition survey for 309 stalls/vendors in five markets by 17 business categories for 10 consecutive days. The waste generation rates by stall/vendor and by floor area were assessed in three waste categories: general waste, recyclable, and food residues. The general waste that would be sent to a landfill site was classified into 10 physical categories and 77 sub-categories. For general waste, food waste accounted for the largest part, followed by plastic and grass. By multiplying the waste generation rate by stall/vendor by the total number of stall/vendors in 23 markets, the authors estimated the total amounts of general waste, recyclable, food residue and total waste by business category. The total waste generated from market was 17.0 tons/day, of which 4.6 tons (27.1%) were collected by pig farmers for feeding livestock and 0.6 tons (3.6%) were sold to the recycling market. The composting potential accounted for 55.2% of total waste generation from the traditional market in Hue. The recycling potential accounted for 5.1%. The total disposal amount sent to the landfill site would be reduced from 69.2% to 8.8% of the total. The 95% confidence interval (CI) of total waste amount from 23 markets was also estimated using Monte Carlo simulation based on the mean and standard error of the waste generation rate. The range of 95% CI was 14.9 18.9 tons/day.