Journal of Environmental Protection, 2013, 4, 1-4
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jep.2013.48A2001 Published Online August 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/jep)
Solid Waste Characterization, Fats and Oils in Two
Tourist Resorts Cartagena Colombia
Claudia Diaz Mendoza, Juan Carlos Valdelamar, Jhon Jairo Jimenez, Gilma Rosa Avila
Fundacion Universitaria Tecnologico Comfenalco Colombia, Cartagena, Colombia.
Received May 26th, 2013; revised July 3rd, 2013; accepted August 5th, 2013
Copyright © 2013 Claudia Diaz Mendoza et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
ABSTRACT
The objective of the proposed work was collecting samples continuously. Once a month, for a period of two years, it
was conducted to determine the types of solid waste generated and deposited in the sand of the tourist beaches, finding
that there are predominance waste plastics, cigarette butts and organic debris. Other parameter analyzed was determina-
tion of fats and oils in sand whose results ind icate that the levels found are above the detection limit. We have co me to
conclusion that solid waste types commonly arranged in the sand are plastic, and the presence of fats and oils in the
sand affects the environmental quality of the beach .
Keywords: Waste; Sand; Beaches; Fats; Quality
1. Introduction
Evaluating the quality of a beach usually is performed in
response to a sing le or a very restricted set of factors that
determine it. Within the framework of an integrated
management of the coast, it is of great interest to learn
what are the factors that determine the quality of a b each
from the point of view of its use as recreational and tour-
ism resource [1].
The quality of the beach among other aspects is related
to quality healthcare, quality recreational and ecosystem
quality. Within the above indicators are parameters that
can be measured directly on the beaches, so as in the
study aimed at determinations of the presence of solid
waste, waste classification found, most representative
day (morning, noon, evening), location and presence of
fat and oils sands tourist beaches.
Research in Brazil [2] relates the solid residues with
aesthetic conditions, health and environment, which in
turn influences the influx of tourists to the beaches. Stu-
dies [3] suggest that most of the waste deposites on the
sand are made of plastic, which affects the quality of the
beach, additional proposed mechanism to reduce this
waste, strengthening environmental education for tourists
and staff working on the beaches. The results indicate
that the predominant waste on the beaches studied are
plastic, cigarette butts and organic debris, confirming the
data shown in st udies by other a ut h ors .
As a result of the investigation, it was determined
quantitatively the presence of fats and oils in the sand,
there was further qualification of solid waste found in the
sand of the beaches according to the type of waste and
frequency of discovery. This research is of great impor-
tance because of the management plans for solid wastes
in beaches and the environmental education programs to
be developed with users and workers in the beaches, that
will be generated in a later stage, from the wastes charac-
terization obtained.
2. Materials and Methods
The study was conducted in two tourist beaches in Boca-
grande, Cartagena city, in to which two sampling statio ns
were established and in Tierra Bomba Island where it
was established a station. Sand samples were collected in
the morning and in the afternoon, in the period between
October 2011 and November 2012, it was assessed the
presence of fats and oils (SM 5520-B) and solid waste on
the beach sand, qualitative determination was made of
solid, using the statistical package Statgraphic® Centu-
rion XV, finding the frequency with which it is presen ted
and type of waste disposal common place, according to
zoning and considering the area made Z1 as the closest to
the boardwalk and pathway, Z2 as one area where the
tents are located off the Z3 zone and located near the sea.

Solid Waste Characterization, Fats and Oils in Two Tourist Resorts Cartagena Colombia 2
3. Results and Discussion
The study wa s conducted in Bocagrande tourist beach on
the island of Tierra Bomba industry Punta Arena, Cart-
agena, Colombia, the coordinates are given in Table 1.
The presence of oils and fats was evaluated according
to the standard (NTS-TS 001-2), which says that there
should be no obvious stains from grease, oil and oil resi-
dues in sand [4]. In Figure 1, as evidenced during the
two years of sampling was recorded the presence of oils
and fats critical values between 2500 - 4500 mg/kg (de-
tection benchmark 500 mg/kg), with January being the
month when gave the highest levels of fats and oils in
both years, also found that the beach that presents higher
values in this parameter correspond s to the pump ground
island, a phenomenon that can be attributed to motor bo at
traffic in this area, as well as the influence of water from
the channel of the dam, due to currents and winds are
brought to the island [5].
The qualification of solid waste is carried out taking
into account the presence of nine types of solid waste [6],
identified as paper and cardboard, plastics, ordinary glass,
organic waste, textiles, inert, wood and metal, it took 21
samples recorded between the months of October 2010
and December 2012, in Figure 2 there is a trend in terms
of solid waste units, the predominant sand are cigarette
butts and metals. Metals affect the quality in terms of
landscape and health indicator, as the predominant metal
cans and lids, which can cause injury to users and cut
about cigarette butts affect landscape indicator and also
as research conducted about 80% of the cigarettes have
filters is cellulose acetate, which concentrate nicotine, tar,
arsenic, cadmium, lead, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons,
which may adversely affect the environment [7].
Table 1. Locating sampling points.
Point Location Name of the beach
75˚33'16.4"W
P-1 10˚24'2,4"N Bocagrande
75˚33'22"W
P-2 10˚24'13.4"N Bocagrande
75˚33'32.5"W
P-3 10˚24' 03"N Bocagrande
75˚33'41.0"W
P-4 10˚28'56.7"N Bocagrande
75˚33' 04.8"W
P-5 10˚21'56.9" Isla tierra Bomba
Date
0
Beach 3 (pm)
Beach 3
(
am
)
Beach 2
(p
m
)
Beach 2 (am)
Beach 1
(p
m
)
Beach 1 (am)
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
Oil s and Fats (mg/kg)
nov-10
dec-10
feb-11
jan-11
jun-11
jul-11
0ct-11
nov-11
feb-12
mar-12
may-12
jun-12
jul-12
dec-12
Figure 1. Presence of oils and fats in the sand on tour ist beaches.
Date
0.00
Cigarette butts
Average Number (und)
dec-10
feb-11 jun-11
ago-11
0ct-10
nov-12
feb-12
Debrits
Organic material
Styrofoam
Metal
Wood
Others
Paper and Carton
Plastics
Fabrics
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
80.00
90.00
100.00
april-11
0ct-11
april-12
jun-12
sep-12
Figure 2. Average amount of waste per year.

Solid Waste Characterization, Fats and Oils in Two Tourist Resorts Cartagena Colombia 3
Considering three zones of occurrence of the residue,
the area near the sea, tents and rest area and boardwalk
area, according to Figure 3, there is a slight tendency for
waste is most often prepared in the rest where the tents
are located, the former is a condition of great importanc e
on the quality of tour ist beaches b ecause it is an ind icator
of the generator or source of waste, which can be formu-
lated management plans or management of beaches di-
rected to solid waste management that integrates the
guild of people that manage economic activities on the
beaches to incline the conservation of environmental
quality in them.
Figure 4 shows that there is significant variation in the
frequency of occurrence of the residue with regard to
time of day, i.e. the tendency of generation remains to be
interchangeably morning, afternoon or evening. However
the trend observed in appearance of the residue still
shows cigarette butts and metals as waste predominant.
4. Conclusions
In the two be aches s tudied in Car tagen a and th e beach on
the island of Tierra Bomba, there is presence of oils and
fats in the sands, quantified values between 500 and 4500
mg/kg, these values are possibly attributed to the pres-
ence of motor boats circulating in the area.
In the presence of solid waste in the sand, the pre-
dominant waste cigarette butts and metals are found in
beach sand with the highest incidence of occurrence in
the area where the tents or rest area. The residues found
affect environmental quality directly affecting the health
quality indicators and landscape quality, con sidering also
that the waste generated can reach the ocean and affect
associated marine ecosystems.
The months with higher concentrations of waste are
the months related to the tourist season, significantly
increasing user density, however the trend generates
0
Cigar ette bu tt s
Average Number (und)
Plastics
Fabrics
Debrits
Organic materia l
Styrofoam
Woods
Metal
Others
Paper and Carton
Glass
N1 N2 N3
Level
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Figure 3. Average amount of waste in each level.
0
Cigar ette bu tt s
Average Number (und)
Plastics
Fabrics
Debrits
Organic material
Styrofoam
Woods
Metal
Others
Paper and Carton
Morning Noon
Day period
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Afternoon
Figure 4. Average amount of waste according to time of day (morning—evening).

Solid Waste Characterization, Fats and Oils in Two Tourist Resorts Cartagena Colombia 4
no significant difference in the time of day in which the
waste is generated.
5. Acknowledgements
The authors express their gratitude to Fundacion Univer-
sitaria Tecnologico Comfenalco (Comfenalco Techno-
logical University Foundation) for funding the project,
the agency program ICAPTU, Environmental Quality
Index Beaches Tours.
REFERENCES
[1] J. Buceta Miller, “Assessing the Quality of the Beaches,
Civil Engineering,” No. 128, 2002, pp. 145-154.
http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/revista?codigo=708
[2] M. C. B. De Araujo and M. F. Costa, “Municipal Services
on Tourist Beaches: Costs and Benefits of Solid Waste
Collection,” Journal of Coastal Research, Vol. 22, No. 5,
2006, pp. 1070-1075.
[3] J. S. Silva, S. C. T. Barbosa and M. F. Costa, “Flag Items
as a Tool for Monitoring Solid Wastes from Users on
Urban Beaches,” Journal of Coastal Research, Vol. 24,
No. 4, 2008, pp. 890-898.
[4] C. M. Botero and L. C. Garcia, “Quantification and Clas-
sification of Solid Waste in Tourist Beaches. Evaluation
on Three Beaches of Santa Marta, Colombia,” 2011.
[5] S. Botero and R. L. Diaz, “The Beach and Coastal Area
Particularly in Integrated Coastal Management, from the
Literature Review,” 2009.
[6] G. Hurtado and S. C. Botero, “Selection and Parameters
Proposed for the Determination of Environmental Quality
in the Colombian Caribbean Tourist Beaches,” 2009.
[7] Ocean Conservancy, International Coastal Cleanup.