Techno-economic assessment of municipal solid waste management in Jordan

Mismanagement of solid waste leads to public health risks, adverse environmental impacts and other socio-economic problems. This is obvious in many developing countries around the world. Currently, several countries have realized that the way they manage their solid wastes does not satisfy the objectives of sustainable development. Therefore, these countries, including Jordan, which forms the case study presented here, have decided to move away from traditional solid waste management (SWM) options to more integrated solid waste management approaches. Unfortunately, in many developing countries like Jordan, the lack of adequate resources to implement the necessary changes is posing a serious obstacle. The present paper discusses the various practices and challenges of solid waste management in Jordan from both a technical and economic perspective. An overview of the current practices and their environmental implications in three major cities of the country, which generate more than 70% of the country's solid waste, is presented. Recent literature on solid waste management in Jordan has been reviewed; and data on the total amount of municipal solid waste generated, compositional variations over the last two decades, and future projections are presented. The necessity, importance and needs of solid waste recovery and reuse are identified. The review of the legal frameworks indicated that there is a need for detailed and clear regulations dealing specifically with solid waste. The service cost analysis revealed that none of the municipalities in Jordan sufficiently recover the cost of the services, with more than 50% being subsidized from the municipalities' budgets. The allocation of the available resources was analyzed and service performance indicators assessed. Factors that should be taken into consideration when making the decision to move from a traditional SWM approach to a more integrated approach are highlighted and suggestions for a more smooth transition are recommended.     

Life cycle assessment of different municipal solid waste management options: a case study of Algiers (Algeria)

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This paper examines four strategies of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) for Algiers city using life cycle assessment methodology. Analyzed...     

Community-based solid waste bank program for municipal solid waste management improvement in Indonesia: a case study of Padang city

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Indonesia has a regulation UU No. 18/2008 which changes the paradigm from waste dumping to recycling. The purpose of this study is to understand...     

Health risk assessment of air emissions from a municipal solid waste incineration plant--a case study

A health risk assessment of long-term emissions of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic air pollutants has been carried out for the municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) of the city of Taranto, Italy. Ground level air concentrations and soil deposition of carcinogenic (Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins/Furans and Cd) and non-carcinogenic (Pb and Hg) pollutants have been estimated using a well documented atmospheric dispersion model. Health risk values for air inhalation, dermal contact, soil and food ingestion have been calculated based on a combination of these concentrations and a matrix of environmental exposure factors. Exposure of the surrounding population has been addressed for different release scenarios based on four pollutants, four exposure pathways and two receptor groups (children and adults). Spatial risk distribution and cancer excess cases projected from plant emissions have been compared with background mortality records. Estimated results based on the MSWI emissions show: (1) individual risks well below maximum acceptable levels, (2) very small incremental cancer risk compared with background level.     

Life cycle assessment of four municipal solid waste management scenarios in China

A life cycle assessment was carried out to estimate the environmental impact of municipal solid waste. Four scenarios mostly used in China were compared to assess the influence of various technologies on environment: (1) landfill, (2) incineration, (3) composting plus landfill, and (4) composting plus incineration. In all scenarios, the technologies significantly contribute to global warming and increase the adverse impact of non-carcinogens on the environment. The technologies played only a small role in the impact of carcinogens, respiratory inorganics, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and non-renewable energy. Similarly, the influence of the technologies on the way other elements affect the environment was ignorable. Specifically, the direct emissions from the operation processes involved played an important role in most scenarios except for incineration, while potential impact generated from transport, infrastructure and energy consumption were quite small. In addition, in the global warming category, highest potential impact was observed in landfill because of the direct methane gas emissions. Electricity recovery from methane gas was the key factor for reducing the potential impact of global warming. Therefore, increasing the use of methane gas to recover electricity is highly recommended to reduce the adverse impact of landfills on the environment.     

Environmental impact assessment on the construction and operation of municipal solid waste sanitary landfills in developing countries: China case study

An inventory of material and energy consumption during the construction and operation (C&O) of a typical sanitary landfill site in China was calculated based on Chinese industrial standards for landfill management and design reports. The environmental impacts of landfill C&O were evaluated through life cycle assessment (LCA). The amounts of materials and energy used during this type of undertaking in China are comparable to those in developed countries, except that the consumption of concrete and asphalt is significantly higher in China. A comparison of the normalized impact potential between landfill C&O and the total landfilling technology implies that the contribution of C&O to overall landfill emissions is not negligible. The non-toxic impacts induced by C&O can be attributed mainly to the consumption of diesel used for daily operation, while the toxic impacts are primarily due to the use of mineral materials. To test the influences of different landfill C&O approaches on environmental impacts, six baseline alternatives were assessed through sensitivity analysis. If geomembranes and geonets were utilized to replace daily and intermediate soil covers and gravel drainage systems, respectively, the environmental burdens of C&O could be mitigated by between 2% and 27%. During the LCA of landfill C&O, the research scope or system boundary has to be declared when referring to material consumption values taken from the literature; for example, the misapplication of data could lead to an underestimation of diesel consumption by 60–80%.     

Investigation of integrated municipal solid waste management strategies for Oman: an assessment of waste diversion,electricity generation and greenhouse-gas emissions

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The need of an integrated municipal solid waste (MSW) management system to maximize resource recovery and simultaneously reduce greenhouse-gas...     

Attitude towards the incorporation of the selective collection of biowaste in a municipal solid waste management system. A case study

European waste legislation has been encouraging for years the incorporation of selective collection systems for the biowaste fraction. European countries are therefore incorporating it into their current municipal solid waste management (MSWM) systems. However, this incorporation involves changes in the current waste management habits of households. In this paper, the attitude of the public towards the incorporation of selective collection of biowaste into an existing MSWM system in a Spanish municipality is analysed. A semi-structured telephone interview was used to obtain information regarding aspects such as: level of participation in current waste collection systems, willingness to participate in selective collection of biowaste, reasons and barriers that affect participation, willingness to pay for the incorporation of the selective collection of biowaste and the socioeconomic characteristics of citizens who are willing to participate and pay for selective collection of biowaste. The results showed that approximately 81% of the respondents were willing to participate in selective collection of biowaste. This percentage would increase until 89% if the Town Council provided specific waste bins and bags, since the main barrier to participate in the new selective collection system is the need to use specific waste bin and bags for the separation of biowaste. A logit response model was applied to estimate the average willingness to pay, obtaining an estimated mean of 7.5% on top of the current waste management annual tax. The relationship of willingness to participate and willingness to pay for the implementation of this new selective collection with the socioeconomic variables (age, gender, size of the household, work, education and income) was analysed. Chi-square independence tests and binary logistic regression was used for willingness to participate, not being obtained any significant relationship. Chi-square independence tests, ordinal logistic regression and ordinary linear regression was applied for willingness to pay, obtaining statistically significant relationship for most of the socioeconomic variables.     

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.     

生活垃圾焚烧处理方式的生命周期评价

与填埋、堆肥处理相比,生活垃圾焚烧处理在减量化和资源化方面有着巨大的优势,在未来将成为大城市生活垃圾的主要处理方式。采用生命周期评价方法,对不同余热利用和尾气处理方式下的生活垃圾焚烧处理方案对环境的影响进行评价。结果表明,在尾气处理系统中,干法、湿法、半干法3种酸性气体处理方式中,湿法处理的环境影响潜值最小,但是其资源耗竭系数最大。添加SNCR脱氮系统可以在酸性气体净化基础上将环境影响潜值降低70%左右,而资源耗竭系数变化不大。在单纯供热、供电和热电联供3种余热利用方式中,单纯供电的热利用效率最低,直接供热的热利用效率最高。     

Environmental impact assessment of the incineration of municipal solid waste with auxiliary coal in China

The environmental impacts of waste incineration with auxiliary coal were investigated using the life-cycle-based software, EASEWASTE, based on the municipal solid waste (MSW) management system in Shuozhou City. In the current system, MSW is collected, transported, and incinerated with 250kg of coal per ton of waste. Based on observed environmental impacts of incineration, fossil CO(2) and heavy metals were primary contributors to global warming and ecotoxicity in soil, respectively. Compared with incinerators using excess coal, incineration with adequate coal presents significant benefits in mitigating global warming, whereas incineration with a mass of coal can avoid more impacts to acidification, photochemical ozone and nutrient enrichment because of increased electricity substitution and reduced emission from coal power plants. The "Emission standard of air pollutants for thermal power plants (GB13223-2011)" implemented in 2012 introduced stricter policies on controlling SO(2) and NO(x) emissions from coal power plants. Thus, increased use of auxiliary coal during incineration yields fewer avoided impacts on acidification and nutrient enrichment. When two-thirds of ash is source-separated and landfilled, the incineration of rest-waste presents better results on global warming, acidification, nutrient enrichment, and even ecotoxicity in soil. This process is considered a promising solution for MSW management in Shuozhou City. Weighted normalized environmental impacts were assessed based on Chinese political reduction targets. Results indicate that heavy metal and acidic gas emissions should be given more attention in waste incineration. This study provides scientific support for the management of MSW systems dominated by incineration with auxiliary coal in China.     

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.     

Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions of municipal solid waste management system: case study of Chengdu,China

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Municipal solid waste management has become a worldwide concern. Chengdu municipality has decided to adopt the “zero landfilling”...     

Sustainability assessment of municipal solid waste management in Sri Lanka: problems and prospects

Solid waste disposal in Sri Lanka has been assessed using environmental, economic, and social indicators, based on a life cycle approach. The existing situation of open dumping in Sri Lanka was compared with that of a sanitary landfill with gas recovery, since the latter is anticipated to constitute an initial step towards sustainable development. The results revealed the extent to which sanitary landfills with gas recovery systems could contribute to reducing environmental impacts such as global warming potential, acidification potential, and eutrophication potential. Assessment of life cycle cost and damage to human health also showed results in favour of sanitary landfills with gas recovery system. The results obtained quantify the sustainability benefits of the proposed option for solid waste management, and can be useful for justifying policy measures that encourage the replacement of open dumping with sanitary landfills.     

Waste management health risk assessment: A case study of a solid waste landfill in South Italy

An integrated risk assessment study has been performed in an area within 5 km from a landfill that accepts non hazardous waste. The risk assessment was based on measured emissions and maximum chronic population exposure, for both children and adults, to contaminated air, some foods and soil. The toxic effects assessed were limited to the main known carcinogenic compounds emitted from landfills coming both from landfill gas torch combustion (e.g., dioxins, furans and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs) and from diffusive emissions (vinyl chloride monomer, VCM). Risk assessment has been performed both for carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects. Results indicate that cancer and non-cancer effects risk (hazard index, HI) are largely below the values accepted from the main international agencies (e.g., WHO, US EPA) and national legislation (D.Lgs. 152/2006 and D.Lgs. 4/2008).     

Environmental impact assessment of solid waste management in Beijing City, China

The environmental impacts of municipal solid waste management in Beijing City were evaluated using a life-cycle-based model, EASEWASTE, to take into account waste generation, collection, transportation, treatment/disposal technologies, and savings obtained by energy and material recovery. The current system, mainly involving the use of landfills, has manifested significant adverse environmental impacts caused by methane emissions from landfills and many other emissions from transfer stations. A short-term future scenario, where some of the landfills (which soon will reach their capacity because of rising amount of waste in Beijing City) are substituted by incinerators with energy recovery, would not result in significant environmental improvement. This is primarily because of the low calorific value of mixed waste, and it is likely that the incinerators would require significant amounts of auxiliary fuels to support combustion of wet waste. As for the long-term future scenario, efficient source separation of food waste could result in significant environmental improvements, primarily because of increase in calorific value of remaining waste incinerated with energy recovery. Sensitivity analysis emphasized the importance of efficient source separation of food waste, as well as the electricity recovery in incinerators, in order to obtain an environmentally friendly waste management system in Beijing City.     

A multi-echelon supply chain model for municipal solid waste management system

In this paper, a multi-echelon multi-period solid waste management system (MSWM) was developed by inoculating with multi-echelon supply chain. Waste managers, suppliers, industries and distributors could be engaged in joint strategic planning and operational execution. The principal of MSWM system is interactive planning of transportation and inventory for each organization in waste collection, delivery and disposal. An efficient inventory management plan for MSWM would lead to optimized productivity levels under available capacities (e.g., transportation and operational capacities). The applicability of the proposed system was illustrated by a case with three cities, one distribution and two waste disposal facilities. Solutions of the decision variable values under different significant levels indicate a consistent trend. With an increased significant level, the total generated waste would be decreased, and the total transported waste through distribution center to waste to energy and landfill would be decreased as well.     

A novel sustainable decision making model for municipal solid waste management

This paper reviews several models developed to support decision making in municipal solid waste management (MSWM). The concepts underlying sustainable MSWM models can be divided into two categories: one incorporates social factors into decision making methods, and the other includes public participation in the decision-making process. The public is only apprised or takes part in discussion, and has little effect on decision making in most research efforts. Few studies have considered public participation in the decision-making process, and the methods have sought to strike a compromise between concerned criteria, not between stakeholders. However, the source of the conflict arises from the stakeholders' complex web of value. Such conflict affects the feasibility of implementing any decision. The purpose of this study is to develop a sustainable decision making model for MSWM to overcome these shortcomings. The proposed model combines multicriteria decision making (MCDM) and a consensus analysis model (CAM). The CAM is built up to aid in decision-making when MCDM methods are utilized and, subsequently, a novel sustainable decision making model for MSWM is developed. The main feature of CAM is the assessment of the degree of consensus between stakeholders for particular alternatives. A case study for food waste management in Taiwan is presented to demonstrate the practicality of this model.