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The purpose of this paper is to determine the amount of different kinds of solid wastes produced, segregated, collected, stored, transported and disposed off by the different industries/business in Kuwait.

Available industry information along with the use of monitoring data from a waste management system were used to analyze the generation, type and composition of industrial waste. Industrial activities were classified as follows: crude oil and chemical products industry; food and beverage industry, textiles and leather industry, wood industry, paper and printing industry, non‐metallic mineral products; metal industry and other industries. The wastes generated were classified according to their composition.

Kuwait has more than 5,000 industries and as a result more than 47,169 tons of industrial wastes are produced every year in Kuwait. It was observed that paper and cardboard, plastic, wood, and metals were the most common types of waste, mainly generated from packaging (45 percent of the total volume), as well as material used in containers and for wrapping products.

In the management of these industrial solid wastes, it was observed in most cases they were disposed of by dumping, and very rarely did businesses resort to reuse, recycling or valorization.

The paper systematically assesses the obstacles in the existing industrial solid waste management system in the different industries and businesses in Kuwait. In addition, it examines the legislation set by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in Kuwait. Subsequently, recommendations and improvements are suggested.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the amount of different kinds of solid wastes produced, segregated, collected, stored, transported and disposed off in the governmental hospitals of Kuwait.

The research in this paper shows that all governmental hospitals were assessed in a period of six months (September, 2005 through December, 2005 and June, 2006 through July, 2006). The weight fraction of each component in the sorting sample was calculated by the weights of the components. The amount of non‐infectious and infectious waste generated in kg/day in each ward and various hospital blocks were determined and recorded.

The findings in this paper indicated that the waste generation rate is between 3.87 kg/bed/day and 7.44 kg/bed/day. Subsequently, this waste consists of 10,534.5 kg (71.44 percent) of domestic waste, 4,099.4 kg (27.8 percent) of hazardous/infectious waste, and 112.1 kg (0.76 percent) of sharps. Hospital waste makes up approximately 30 percent of all the hazardous waste generated in Kuwait. Segregation of the different types of wastes is practiced in nearly all of the hospitals. All infectious/medical wastes are finally disposed of through incineration.

The paper shows that the hospitals under study do not organize training courses on hospital waste management and the hazards associated with them. There is a need to establish a detailed database regarding the quantity and quality of the waste generated by the various hospitals.

This paper systematically assesses the obstacles in the existing hospital solid waste management system in all governmental hospitals in Kuwait. Subsequently, recommendations and improvements are suggested.

This study aims to evaluate the effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on the indoor and outdoor air quality in Kuwait due to vehicular traffic.

About 700 VOCs samples were collected from randomly selected residences within Kuwait. For simplicity, the study was divided into three areas: area A between the first and third ring roads, area B between the third and fifth ring roads and area C between the fifth and sixth ring roads. Hazardous Air Pollutants on Site (HAPSITE), a portable Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS), was used to gather air samples inside and outside of the residences selected in the study area for a period of three months during 2008.

Median indoor air quality levels in the study area were similar to the outdoor levels. Indoor/outdoor ratios varied from 0.5 to 8 for most compounds, suggesting that the indoor air quality was less than the outdoor air quality. It was found that none of the indoor VOC concentrations measured exceeded the upper limits of the indoor air quality set by the Kuwait Environmental Protection Agency (KEPA), with the exception of only one residence where the benzene concentration was observed to be in excess of 17 per cent of the KEPA limit. Moreover, the indoor air quality for the study areas was found to be in accordance with level 1 set by KEPA, indicative of very good air quality.

This is the first study conducted in Kuwait to collect VOCs samples and to explore the air quality inside and outside of residential buildings.