Municipal solid waste management in China: a comparative analysis

This paper illustrates an overview of the past and present MSWM strategies in China. A comparison is made with MSWM in China, and other developed and developing countries to identify and analyze the problems of existing MSWM, and evaluate some effective suggestion to overcome the limitations. Rapid urbanization and economic growth are the main factors of increasing MSW generation in China. The generating MSW has 55.86 % food waste with high moisture contain due to unavailable source separation. Chinese MSWM is dominated by 60.16 % landfilling, whereas incineration, untreated discharge, and other treatments are 29.84, 8.21, and 1.79 %, respectively. In 2014, a total of 604 sanitary landfills, 188 incineration plants, and 26 other units were used for MSWM. With the magnitude of timing, the increasing rate of incineration unit and disposal capacity is higher than the landfill. In 2004–2014, the disposal capacity of landfill and incineration is increased from 68.89 to 107.44 and 4.49 to 53.3 million tons, respectively. However, the heating value in the majority of Chinese incineration plants is 3000–6700 kJ/kg and the inappropriate leachate treatment can be found in 47 % landfill sites. A proper taxation system for MSW disposal is not fully implemented in China, which has a negative impact on overall MSW recycling. From the comparative study of MSWM, it is revealed that the source separation MSW collection, high energy recovery from incineration plants, appropriate leachate treatment, effective landfill location and management, increase waste recycling and proper taxation system for MSW disposal are essential to improve MSWM in China.     

A historical context of municipal solid waste management in the United States.

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in the United States is a system comprised of regulatory, administrative, market, technology, and social subcomponents, and can only be understood in the context of its historical evolution. American cities lacked organized public works for street cleaning, refuse collection, water treatment, and human waste removal until the early 1800s. Recurrent epidemics forced efforts to improve public health and the environment. The belief in anticontagionism led to the construction of water treatment and sewerage works during the nineteenth century, by sanitary engineers working for regional public health authorities. This infrastructure was capital intensive and required regional institutions to finance and administer it. By the time attention turned to solid waste management in the 1880s, funding was not available for a regional infrastructure. Thus, solid waste management was established as a local responsibility, centred on nearby municipal dumps. George Waring of New York City organized solid waste management around engineering unit operations; including street sweeping, refuse collection, transportation, resource recovery and disposal. This approach was adopted nationwide, and was managed by City Departments of Sanitation. Innovations such as the introduction of trucks, motorized street sweepers, incineration, and sanitary landfill were developed in the following decades. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA), is the defining legislation for MSWM practice in America today. It forced the closure of open dumps nationwide, and required regional planning for MSWM. The closure of municipal dumps caused a 'garbage crisis' in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Private companies assumed an expanded role in MSWM through regional facilities that required the transportation of MSW across state lines. These transboundary movements of MSW created the issue of flow control, in which the US Supreme Court affirmed the protection of garbage under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Thus MSWM in America today is largely managed by municipalities, and operated by a relatively small number of private companies. It consists of a mixture of landfill, incineration, recycling, and composting, and is regulated under RCRA, the Clean Air Act and other related federal and state laws.     

Municipal solid waste disposal in Portugal

In recent years municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal has been one of the most important environmental problems for all of the Portuguese regions. The basic principles of MSW management in Portugal are: (1) prevention or reduction, (2) reuse, (3) recovery (e.g., recycling, incineration with heat recovery), and (4) polluter-pay principle. A brief history of legislative trends in waste management is provided herein as background for current waste management and recycling activities. The paper also presents and discusses the municipal solid waste management in Portugal and is based primarily on a national inquiry carried out in 2003 and directed to the MSW management entities. Additionally, the MSW responsibility and management structure in Portugal is presented, together with the present situation of production, collection, recycling, treatment and elimination of MSW. Results showed that 96% of MSW was collected mixed (4% was separately collected) and that 68% was disposed of in landfill, 21% was incinerated at waste-to-energy plants, 8% was treated at organic waste recovery plants and 3% was delivered to sorting. The average generation rate of MSW was 1.32 kg/capita/day.     

An Overview of Solid Waste Management and Plastic Recycling in Qatar

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) constitutes one of the most crucial health and environmental problems facing authorities in the Arabian Gulf. Recent literature on current solid waste management (SWM) in Qatar has been reviewed in this paper, and a focused study has been carried out to provide a review on the total amount of municipal solid waste generated, stored, collected, disposed as well as the constituents of the waste. The analysis showed that Qatar produced around 2,000,000 tons of solid municipal waste annually, corresponding to a daily generation rate per capita of about 2.5 kg. About 60% of MSW is organic material and about 300 kg is composed daily. Landfill and composting is considered the most appropriate waste disposal techniques in Qatar. Um-Al-Afai landfill has nearly 80% of MSW. Because of the increased migration in Qatar, there is a sharp rise in the volume and also in the variety of solid waste. It is important to alleviate societal concerns over the increased rate of resource consumption and waste production; thus, policy makers have encouraged recycling and reuse strategies to reduce the demand for raw materials and to decrease the quantity of waste going to landfill. An example of the benefit of mechanical recycling of plastics compared to land filling and composting was conducted by GaBi 4 life cycle analysis tool which showed the benefits to the global warming and human toxicity. Recycling is the favored solution for plastic waste management, because it has a lower environmental impact on the defined impact categories, from Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Human Toxicity Potentials (HTP) indicators.     

Occurrence of phenols in leachates from municipal solid waste landfill sites in Japan

The concentrations of 41 phenols in leachates from 38 municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill sites in Japan were measured. The main phenols detected in leachates were phenol, three cresols, 4-tert-butylphenol, 4-tertoctylphenol, 4-nonylphenol, bisphenol A, and some chlorophenols. The concentration levels of phenols were affected by the pH values of the leachates and the different types of landfill waste. The origins of phenol and p-cresol were considered to be incineration residues, and the major origin of 4-tert-butylphenol, bisphenol A, and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol was considered to be solidified fly ash. In contrast, the major origins of 4-tert-octylphenol and 4-nonylphenol were considered to be incombustibles. The discharge of leachates to the environment around MSW landfill sites without water treatment facilities can cause environmental pollution by phenols. In particular, the disposal of incineration residues including solidified fly ash and the codisposal of solidified fly ash and incombustibles might raise the possibility of environmental pollution. Moreover, the discharge of leachates at pH values of 9.8 or more could pollute the water environment with phenol. However, phenol, 4-nonylphenol, and bisphenol A can be removed to below the con centration levels that impact the environment around landfill sites by a series of conventional water treatment processes.     

A comparison of municipal solid waste management in Berlin and Singapore

A comparative analysis of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in Singapore and Berlin was carried out in order to identify its current status, and highlight the prevailing conditions of MSWM. An overview of the various aspects of MSWM in these two cities is provided, with emphasis on comparing the legal, technical, and managerial aspects of MSW. Collection systems and recycling practiced with respect to the involvement of the government and the private sector, are also presented.Over last two decades, the city of Berlin has made impressive progress with respect to its waste management. The amounts of waste have declined significantly, and at the same time the proportion that could be recovered and recycled has increased. In contrast, although Singapore’s recycling rate has been increasing over the past few years, rapid economic and population growth as well as change in consumption patterns in this city-state has caused waste generation to continue to increase. Landfilling of MSW plays minor role in both cities, one due to geography (Singapore) and the other due to legislative prohibition (Berlin). Consequently, both in Singapore and Berlin, waste is increasingly being used as a valuable resource and great efforts have been made for the development of incineration technology and energy recovery, as well as climate protection.     

An environmental analysis for comparing waste management options and strategies

The debate on different waste management practices has become an issue of utmost importance as human activities have overloaded the assimilative capacity of the biosphere. Recent Italian law on solid waste management recommends an increase in material recycling and energy recovery, and only foresees landfill disposal for inert materials and residues from recovery and recycling. A correct waste management policy should be based on the principles of sustainable development, according to which our refuse is not simply regarded as something to eliminate but rather as a potential resource. This requires the creation of an integrated waste management plan that makes full use of all available technologies. In this context, eMergy analysis is applied to evaluate three different forms of waste treatment and construct an approach capable of assessing the whole strategy of waste management. The evaluation included how much investment is needed for each type of waste management and how much "utility" is extracted from wastes, through the use of two indicators: Environmental yield ratio (EYR) and Net eMergy. Our results show that landfill is the worst system in terms of eMergy costs and eMergy benefits. Composting is the most efficient system in recovering eMergy (highest EYR) from municipal solid waste (MSW) while incineration is capable of saving the greatest quantity of eMergy per gram of MSW (highest net eMergy). This analysis has made it possible to assess the sustainability and the efficiency of individual options but could also be used to assess a greater environmental strategy for waste management, considering a system that might include landfills, incineration, composting, etc.     

Municipal solid waste management in Indian cities - A review

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is one of the major environmental problems of Indian cities. Improper management of municipal solid waste (MSW) causes hazards to inhabitants. Various studies reveal that about 90% of MSW is disposed of unscientifically in open dumps and landfills, creating problems to public health and the environment. In the present study, an attempt has been made to provide a comprehensive review of the characteristics, generation, collection and transportation, disposal and treatment technologies of MSW practiced in India. The study pertaining to MSWM for Indian cities has been carried out to evaluate the current status and identify the major problems. Various adopted treatment technologies for MSW are critically reviewed, along with their advantages and limitations. The study is concluded with a few fruitful suggestions, which may be beneficial to encourage the competent authorities/researchers to work towards further improvement of the present system.     

Municipal solid waste management strategies in Turkey

Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a major environmental problem in Turkey, as in many developing countries. Problems associated with municipal solid waste are difficult to address, but efforts towards more efficient collection and transportation and environmentally acceptable waste disposal continue in Turkey. Although strict regulations on the management of solid waste are in place, primitive disposal methods such as open dumping and discharge into surface water have been used in various parts of Turkey. This study presents a brief history of the legislative trends in Turkey for MSW management. The study also presents the MSW responsibility and management structure together with the present situation of generation, composition, recycling, and treatment. The results show that approximately 25 million ton of MSW are generated annually in Turkey. About 77% of the population receives MSW services. In spite of efforts to change open dumping areas into sanitary landfills and to build modern recycling and composting facilities, Turkey still has over 2000 open dumps.     

Application of system dynamics modeling for evaluation of different recycling scenarios in Singapore

The influence of socioeconomic factors, such as population and rapid economic growth, and the change of consumption and living patterns make waste management in Singapore, a complex issue. Due to limited land and resources, the solid waste management scheme requires a comprehensive approach. Therefore, system dynamics (SD) modeling was applied to assess alternative strategies for solid waste management by interconnecting landfill capacity and recycling efficiency with reference to the projection on waste generation. Nine different scenarios were investigated to identify the best approach to maintain environmental sustainability without inhibiting the economic growth. Four subsystems (i.e., population, economy, waste recycling, and waste disposal) have been incorporated into the SD model to broaden the effectiveness of the waste management system. Research findings revealed that a high economic pattern and a high recycling rate are recommended to satisfy the requirements for economic growth and environmental sustainability while extending landfill capacity for waste disposal. Even though the balance of expenditure could be increased by the high recycling rate, it meets the need for long-term incineration and landfill planning.     

Sustainable recycling of municipal solid waste in developing countries

This research focuses on recycling in developing countries as one form of sustainable municipal solid waste management (MSWM). Twenty-three case studies provided municipal solid waste (MSW) generation and recovery rates and composition for compilation and assessment. The average MSW generation rate was 0.77 kg/person/day, with recovery rates from 5-40%. The waste streams of 19 of these case studies consisted of 0-70% recyclables and 17-80% organics. Qualitative analysis of all 23 case studies identified barriers or incentives to recycling, which resulted in the development of factors influencing recycling of MSW in developing countries. The factors are government policy, government finances, waste characterization, waste collection and segregation, household education, household economics, MSWM (municipal solid waste management) administration, MSWM personnel education, MSWM plan, local recycled-material market, technological and human resources, and land availability. Necessary and beneficial relationships drawn among these factors revealed the collaborative nature of sustainable MSWM. The functionality of the factor relationships greatly influenced the success of sustainable MSWM. A correlation existed between stakeholder involvement and the three dimensions of sustainability: environment, society, and economy. The only factors driven by all three dimensions (waste collection and segregation, MSWM plan, and local recycled-material market) were those requiring the greatest collaboration with other factors.     

Urban solid waste management in Chongqing: challenges and opportunities

The dual influences of the resource supply and protection in ecological environments will pose a significant challenge to China's sustainable development. Solid waste management offers opportunities to improve profits by conserving resources and improving environmental performance. This paper examines municipal solid waste (MSW) management in urban Chongqing, the nation's fourth largest municipality after Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. In this paper, we will provide information on the quantity and composition of MSW, as well as give an overview of different methods for collection, transport, treatment and disposal of MSW. At present the daily amount of MSW generated per person is about 1.08 kg; food waste accounts for about 59% of total MSW. MSW in Chongqing has a higher moisture content (64.1%) and a lower LHV (3728 kJ/kg) than other cities in Asia, which is an obstruction for incineration. Landfills are the main method of disposal in Chongqing, but pollution caused by simple landfills and lack of backup MSW disposal capacity are becoming major problems in the main districts of Chongqing. In this paper, the challenges being faced and opportunities to MSW in Chongqing are analyzed and some suggestions are given for improving the MSW system in the future.     

Multi-objective optimization of solid waste flows: environmentally sustainable strategies for municipalities

An approach to sustainable municipal solid waste (MSW) management is presented, with the aim of supporting the decision on the optimal flows of solid waste sent to landfill, recycling and different types of treatment plants, whose sizes are also decision variables. This problem is modeled with a non-linear, multi-objective formulation. Specifically, four objectives to be minimized have been taken into account, which are related to economic costs, unrecycled waste, sanitary landfill disposal and environmental impact (incinerator emissions). An interactive reference point procedure has been developed to support decision making; these methods are considered appropriate for multi-objective decision problems in environmental applications. In addition, interactive methods are generally preferred by decision makers as they can be directly involved in the various steps of the decision process. Some results deriving from the application of the proposed procedure are presented. The application of the procedure is exemplified by considering the interaction with two different decision makers who are assumed to be in charge of planning the MSW system in the municipality of Genova (Italy).     

An overview of municipal solid waste management in China

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in China warrants particular attention as China has become the largest MSW generator in the world and the total amount of MSW it produces continues to increase. In recent years, central and local governments have made great efforts to improve MSWM in China. New regulations and policies have been issued, urban infrastructure has been improved, and commercialization and international cooperation have been encouraged. Considering these developments, an overview is necessary to analyze the current state as well as new opportunities and challenges regarding MSWM in China. This paper shows that since the late 1990s, the amount of MSW collected has been largely decoupled from economic growth and incineration has become an increasingly widespread treatment method for MSW. We identify and discuss four major challenges and barriers related to China’s MSWM, and propose an integrated management framework to improve the overall eco-efficiency of MSWM.     

Municipal solid waste management challenges in developing countries--Kenyan case study

This paper provides an overview of the state of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) by local authorities in Kenya as a case study of a low-income developing country. Approaches of possible solutions that can be undertaken to improve municipal solid waste (MSW) services are discussed. Poor economic growth (1.1% in 1993) has resulted in an increase in the poverty level which presently stands at 56%. Migration from the rural areas to the urban areas has resulted in unplanned settlements in suburban areas accommodating about 60% of the urban population on only 5% urban land area. Political interference also hampers smooth running of local authorities. Vulnerability of pollution of surface and groundwater is high because local authorities rarely considered environmental impact in siting MSW disposal sites. Illegal dumping of MSW on the river banks or on the roadside poses environmental and economic threats on nearby properties. Poor servicing of MSW collection vehicles, poor state of infrastructure and the lack of adequate funding militate against optimization of MSW disposal service. The rural economy needs to be improved if rural-urban migration is to be managed. Involvement of stakeholders is important to achieve any meaningful and sustainable MSWM. The role of the informal sector through community-based organizations (CBOs), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the private sector in offering solutions towards improvement of MSWM also is explored.     

The use of LCA in selecting the best MSW management system

This paper focuses on the study of eleven environmental impact categories produced by several municipal solid waste management systems (scenarios) operating on a provincial scale in Southern Italy. In particular, the analysis takes into account 12 management scenarios with 16 management phases for each one. The only difference among ten of the scenarios (separated kerbside collection of all recyclables, glass excepted, composting of putrescibles, RDF pressed bales production and incineration, final landfilling) is the percentage of separated collection varying in the range of 35–80%, while the other two scenarios, for 80% of separate collection, consider different alternatives in the disposal of treatment residues (dry residue sorting and final landfilling or direct disposal in landfill). The potential impacts induced on the environmental components were analysed using the life cycle assessment (LCA) procedure called “WISARD” (Waste Integrated System Assessment for Recovery and Disposal). Paper recycling was the phase with the greatest influence on avoided impacts, while the collection logistics of dry residue was the phase with the greatest influence on produced impacts. For six impact categories (renewable and total energy use, water, suspended solids and oxydable matters index, eutrophication and hazardous waste production), for high percentages of separate collection a management system based on recovery and recycling but without incineration would be preferable.     

An environmentally sustainable decision model for urban solid waste management

The aim of this work is to present the structure and the application of a decision support system (DSS) designed to help decision makers of a municipality in the development of incineration, disposal, treatment and recycling integrated programs. Specifically, within a MSW management system, several treatment plants and facilities can generally be found: separators, plants for production of refuse derived fuel (RDF), incinerators with energy recovery, plants for treatment of organic material, and sanitary landfills. The main goal of the DSS is to plan the MSW management, defining the refuse flows that have to be sent to recycling or to different treatment or disposal plants, and suggesting the optimal number, the kinds, and the localization of the plants that have to be active. The DSS is based on a decision model that requires the solution of a constrained non-linear optimization problem, where some decision variables are binary and other ones are continuous. The objective function takes into account all possible economic costs, whereas constraints arise from technical, normative, and environmental issues. Specifically, pollution and impacts, induced by the overall solid waste management system, are considered through the formalization of constraints on incineration emissions and on negative effects produced by disposal or other particular treatments.     

Change in MSW characteristics under recent management strategies in Taiwan

Reduction and recycling initiatives such as producer responsibility and pay-as-you-throw are being implemented in Taiwan. This paper presents a study assessing the impact of recently implemented municipal solid waste (MSW) reduction and recycling management strategies on the characteristics of waste feedstock for incineration in Taiwan. Through the periodic sampling of two typical MSW incineration plants, proximate and ultimate analyses were conducted according to standard methods to explore the influence of MSW reduction and recycling management strategies on incineration feed waste characteristics. It was observed that the annual amount of MSW generated in 2005 decreased by about 10% compared to 2003 and that the characteristics of MSW have changed significantly due to recent management strategies. The heating value of the MSW generated in Taiwan increased yearly by about 5% after program implementation. A comparison of the monthly variations in chemical concentrations indicated that the chlorine content in MSW has changed. This change results from usage reduction of PVC plastic due to the recycling fund management (RFM) program, and the food waste as well as salt content reduction due to the total recycling for kitchen garbage program. This achievement will improve the reduction of dioxin emissions from MSW incineration. In summary, management strategies must be conducted in tandem with the global trend to achieve a zero-waste-discharge country. When implementing these strategies and planning for future MSW management systems, it is important to consider the changes that may occur in the composition and characteristics of MSW over time.     

Recent trends in recycling activities and waste management in Japan

Japan's basic approach to municipal solid waste (MSW) is (1) waste reduction, (2) promotion of recycling, (3) volume reduction by intermediate treatment, and (4) environmentally sound final disposal. A brief history of legislative trends in waste management is given as background for current waste management and recycling activities. The material recovery rate for MSW collected by local municipalities was only 5.6% in 1996. More than half of MSW, on a volume basis, consists of containers and packages, while great amounts of landfill space are also taken up by bulky wastes such as electric appliances. Therefore, in order to promote recycling and decrease landfill waste, Japan is targeting containers, packages, and electric appliances. A law promoting separate collection and recycling of containers and packages (Packaging Waste Recycling Law) and a law requiring the recycling of specific home electric appliances into new products (Home Electric Appliance Recycling Law) were introduced in June 1995 and June 1998, respectively. These laws are in line with the OECD policy Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Received: September 16, 1998 / Accepted: March 10, 1999     

Classification and categorization of treatment methods for ash generated by municipal solid waste incineration: A case for the 2 greater metropolitan regions of greece

The primary goal of managing MSW incineration residues is to avoid any impact on human health or the environment. Incineration residues consist of bottom ash, which is generally considered as rather harmless and fly ash which usually contains compounds which are potentially harmful for public health. Small quantities of ash (both bottom and fly) are produced currently in Greece, mainly from the healthcare waste incineration facility in Attica region. Once incineration plants for MSW (currently under planning) are constructed in Greece, the produced ash quantities will increase highly. Thus, it is necessary to organize, already at this stage, a roadmap towards disposal/recovery methods of these ash quantities expected.Certain methods, related to the treatment of the future generated ash which are more appropriate to be implemented in Greece are highlighted in the present paper. The performed analysis offers a waste management approach, having 2016 as a reference year for two different incineration rates; 30% and 100% of the remaining MSW after recycling process. The results focus on the two greater regions of Greece: Attica and Central Macedonia. The quantity of potential future ash generation ranges from 137 to 459 kt for Attica region and from 62 to 207 kt for central Macedonia region depending on the incineration rate applied. Three alternative scenarios for the treatment of each kind of ash are compiled and analysed. Metal recovery and reuse as an aggregate in concrete construction proved to be the most advantageous -in terms of economy-bottom ash management scenario. Concerning management of the fly ash, chemical treatment with phosphoric solution addition results to be the lowest total treatment cost and is considered as the most profitable solution. The proposed methodology constitutes a safe calculation model for operators of MSW incineration plants regardless of the region or country they are located in.