A Study of Solid Waste Management of Municipality in the North-eastern Region of Thailand

Abstract

This survey research aimed to study backgrounds, the state of solid waste management by municipalities and by community. The sampled group of the study consisted of 276 municipalities selected from 889 municipality population. Questionnaires were used to collect data during November, 2015 to March, 2016. The results showed that among 276 sampled municipalities, there have been three types of municipalities: 2 metro, 11 city, and sub-district
ones. The responsible areas covered 28.93 square kilometers with 12
communities, 2,804 households which averaged 8,133 people. Fifty
percent of the population were in upcountry. There were 87.32 percent of the
municipalities managed solid waste through collection and transportation it for disposal. This cost the municipalities 2,916.10 tons with 791.26 baht per ton per year. Besides, 71.78 percent of municipalities disposed solid waste in their own areas. Among these municipalities, only 21.99 percent used sanitary landfill that cost 241.44 baht per ton. For the solid waste management run by the community through Community-based Solid Waste Management (CBM), 59.06 percent used organic waste separation and utilization, 65.58 percent used recycle waste separation and increase value, 19.93 percent did hazardous waste separation and transport to disposal. Other solid waste management approaches were also applied including inventing materials from garbage (34.42%), making street-free trash (20.29%), formulating community rules for solid waste management (36.23%), building good practice communities on solid waste management (30.43%), and constructing a learning center for community-based solid waste management (17.39%). There had been other sectors to participate and support in the aforementioned activities (51.09%). They included 1) the campaign to promote the separation of waste at source, 2) the organic waste separation and utilization, 3) the recycle of waste
separation and adding value, 4) the general waste separation and adding value, 5) the hazardous waste separation and transport to disposal, 6) the potential promotion on solid waste management for the people in community, and
7) the first-time operational activities of municipal solid waste management groups