| Abstrakt: |
In this paper we look at the impact of the frequency of waste collection in Slovak cities and municipalities and its impact on the sorting rate of mixed municipal waste. We focused on the occurrence of collection bins for sorted waste (paper, plastic, glass, metal) and the frequency of their export in 22 municipalities and towns in Slovakia. By analysing a sample of mixed municipal waste (11891.6 kg), we found the average percentage share of each waste component in mixed municipal waste in each municipality, and we further looked only at the 4 waste components mentioned above (paper 7.02%; plastic 11.32%; glass 5.07%; metal 2.74%). We demonstrated a statistically significantly lower percentage of paper (p= 0.0124) in mixed municipal waste in municipalities where the frequency of paper export was on a weekly basis, compared to monthly paper export. Similar results were obtained for glass (p= 0.0267) and metal (p= 0.0090). We did not show a statistically significantly lower percentage of plastic (p= 0.7904). We further looked at the comparison of urban (over 5,000 inhabitants) and rural (under 5,000 inhabitants) and individual housing, and complex housing, and did not show a statistically significant difference in any of the waste components studied. We can conclude that an increase in the frequency of export of sorted collection may have a positive impact on the rate of separation of mixed municipal waste in Slovakia. Other measures leading to higher sorting rates are, for example, education of the population, lower delivery distances, availability of containers for sorted waste, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
