A methodology for solid waste characterization based on diminishing marginal returns.

A methodology is developed for estimating the number of waste sorts for characterizing solid wastes into categories based on diminishing minimum incremental information. Convergence in the square of the coefficient of variation with successive waste sorts is used to indicate cost-efficient termination of sampling at substantially reduced numbers of sorts in comparison with existing methodologies. These findings indicate that the numbers of waste sorts beyond that determined using the proposed methodology do not add substantial marginal gains in information and/or reduction in the confidence interval of the estimate. The methodology is demonstrated using waste composition analyses from the Greater Vancouver Regional District where 22 waste sorts are examined. The proposed methodology is simple, and the number of waste sorts can be estimated with a hand-held calculator and utilized in the field.