Developing an option for sustainable plastic waste management in Ghana: a case study of Sunyani Municipality, Ghana

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June, 2015
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Abstract
Urbanization and continuous economic growth of Sunyani municipality have resulted in rapid increase in volume and types of solid waste. This thesis provided a consolidated data on municipal solid waste (MSW) generation, as well as data on plastic waste component of the MSW which is quite problematic. The total amount of waste collected during the study period of one month was 6857.1 kg and an average of 685.68 kg per day. The study results shows that the total amount of 2,516,823.3 kg of solid waste is generated in the municipality for the period of one month which translate to an average of 83,894.11 kg of MSW generated daily. The solid waste generation rate was 0.57 kg per person per day. The average amount of plastic waste generated daily was found to be23851.7 kg and this represents 22.93% of the MSW. The plastic waste generation rate was 0.14 kg per person per day. The percentage of various sorted types of plastic in the MSW were as follows: PET (12.94%), HDPE (4.95%), PVC (0.01%), LDPE (17.26%),PP (14.59%), PS (11.24%), Others (5.14%) and HDPE/LDPE composite (sachet water plastic) (34.61%). The sachet water plastic, which is without resin code, was analysed and identified by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) machine. The sachet water plastic, which is also the most abundant plastic component in the MSW was pelletized into recyclate (pellets) which is stored and can be sold to other recycling companies.
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A thesis submitted to The Department of Chemistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science And Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Polymer Science and Technology, 2015
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