title: Household hazardous waste quantification, characterization and management in China's cities: a case study of Suzhou.
abstract: A four-stage systematic tracking survey of 240 households was conducted from the summer of 2011 to the spring of 2012 in a Chinese city of Suzhou to determine the characteristics of household hazardous waste (HHW) generated by the city. Factor analysis and a regression model were used to study the major driving forces of HHW generation. The results indicate that the rate of HHW generation was 6.16 (0.16-31.74, 95% CI) g/person/day, which accounted for 2.23% of the household solid waste stream. The major waste categories contributing to total HHW were home cleaning products (21.33%), medicines (17.67%) and personal care products (15.19%). Packaging and containers (one-way) and products (single-use) accounted for over 80% of total HHW generation, implying a considerable potential to mitigate HHW generation by changing the packaging design and materials used by manufacturing enterprises. Strong correlations were observed between HHW generation (g/person/day) and the driving forces group of "household structure" and "consumer preferences" (among which the educational level of the household financial manager has the greatest impact). Furthermore, the HHW generation stream in Suzhou suggested the influence of another set of variables, such as local customs and culture, consumption patterns, and urban residential life-style. This study emphasizes that HHW should be categorized at its source (residential households) as an important step toward controlling the HHW hazards of Chinese cities.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Binxian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Weimo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: wanghk@nju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Haikun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Rongrong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Miaomiao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Yangqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Xiayu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Suzhou Environmental Sanitation Administration Agency, Suzhou 215000, China.
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Suzhou Environmental Sanitation Administration Agency, Suzhou 215000, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou 215011, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: jbi@nju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bi
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D006256:Hazardous Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012621:Seasons; D018505:Waste Management / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D006256:Hazardous Waste
keywords: Characteristics; Chinese city; Driving forces; Household hazardous waste; Systematic tracking survey