A Comparison of Two Waste Stream Quantification and Characterization Methodologies

This paper compares a traditional engineering approach (direct waste analysis) for collecting waste quantity and waste composition data to a social science approach (questionnaire surveys) for dealing with the same problem. The advantages and disadvantages of these two methodologies are discussed, and a comparison made of the results obtained from applying these methodologies to a case study of the industrial-commercial-institutional waste stream in Metropolitan Toronto. The study shows that while the two approaches produce fairly similar waste quantity estimates, their waste composition estimates are not as close and vary considerably by material.