Abstract
Municipal solid waste (MSW) composition study is
very important as a baseline to utilizing fresh fruit and
vegetables (FFVs) wastes in waste to energy (WtE) project. The
aim of this paper is to determine the composition of various
waste components at the Johannesburg FFVs market. The
study was conducted during the summer in 2015 to evaluate
the various components of fruit and vegetable wastes (FVWs)
generated at the market. This was done in order to evaluate the
amount of FVWs that are generated daily at the market as a
starting point for waste to energy (WtE) proposition for the
City of Johannesburg (CoJ). Two international standards:
ASTM D5231-92 - 2008 (American Standard Test Method) and
UNEP/IETC -2009 (United Nations Environment
Programme/International Environmental Technology Centre)
were used as yardsticks for the procedure used. Samples were
classified based on their colours; green (vegetables and fruits),
blue/purple (vegetables and fruits), tan/brown (vegetables and
fruits), yellow/orange (vegetables and fruits), red (vegetables
and fruits) and other wastes which include corrugated boxes,
metals, woods, plastic crates and other composite wastes.
Samples were further classified into 135 classes in which some
were not available due to seasonal variation and the samples
were manually sorted by hands. From the results of the
analysis, fruits constituted 55%, vegetables 38%, corrugated
boxes and cartons 3%, metals, plastics, woods and other wastes
all constituted 1% each.