Municipal solid waste management in India: From waste disposal to recovery of resources?

Unlike that of western countries, the solid waste of Asian cities is often comprised of 70-80% organic matter, dirt and dust. Composting is considered to be the best option to deal with the waste generated. Composting helps reduce the waste transported to and disposed of in landfills. During the course of the research, the author learned that several developing countries established large-scale composting plants that eventually failed for various reasons. The main flaw that led to the unsuccessful establishment of the plants was the lack of application of simple scientific methods to select the material to be composted. Landfills have also been widely unsuccessful in countries like India because the landfill sites have a very limited time frame of usage. The population of the developing countries is another factor that detrimentally impacts the function of landfill sites. As the population keeps increasing, the garbage quantity also increases, which, in turn, exhausts the landfill sites. Landfills are also becoming increasingly expensive because of the rising costs of construction and operation. Incineration, which can greatly reduce the amount of incoming municipal solid waste, is the second most common method for disposal in developed countries. However, incinerator ash may contain hazardous materials including heavy metals and organic compounds such as dioxins, etc. Recycling plays a large role in solid waste management, especially in cities in developing countries. None of the three methods mentioned here are free from problems. The aim of this study is thus to compare the three methods, keeping in mind the costs that would be incurred by the respective governments, and identify the most economical and best option possible to combat the waste disposal problem.     

Municipal solid waste management in Africa: strategies and livelihoods in Yaoundé, Cameroon

This paper provides an overview of the state of municipal solid waste (MSW) management in the capital of Cameroon, Yaoundé, and suggests some possible solutions for its improvement. The institutional, financial, and physical aspects of MSW management, as well as the livelihoods of the population, were analyzed. Our study revealed that distances and lack of infrastructure have a major impact on waste collection. Garbage bins are systematically mentioned as the primary infrastructure needed by the population in all quarters, whether it be a high or low standard community. The construction of transfer stations and the installation of garbage bins are suggested as a solution to reduce distances between households and garbage bins, thus improving waste collection vehicle accessibility. Transfer stations and garbage bins would enable the official waste collection company to expand its range of services and significantly improve waste collection rates. Several transfer stations have already been set up by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs), but they require technical, institutional and funding support. Research is needed on the quality and safety of community-made compost, as well as on soil fertility in urban and peri-urban areas. Most of the stakeholders, municipalities, the official waste collection company and households acknowledge the need for better monitoring and regulation of MSW management. The urban community of Yaoundé also needs to maintain its support of MSW management and promote the sustainability of NGOs and CBOs operating in underserved areas not yet covered by adequate infrastructures. A major opportunity for implementation of such waste policy is the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) program dedicated to urban planning and good governance.     

Municipal solid waste characteristics and management in Gümüşhane, Turkey

This paper presents a general overview of the current municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Gümüşhane Province, Turkey. In order to characterize the solid waste stream in the Municipality of Gümüşhane, a long-term study was conducted over a 52-week period between the spring of 2004 and the winter of 2005. In this study, percentage of components and specific weight of the MSW, the composting parameters (moisture content, total organic carbon, total nitrogen and pH), organic matter content, calorific value and the heavy metal concentrations (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Fe, Mn, Co) of the compostable wastes sorted from the mixed MSW were determined and evaluated. In Gümüşhane, a mean of 70 tons of MSW are generated each day or 1 kg/day/capita. Approximately 4500 kg of the MSW were collected and sorted in a year, and the mean specific weight of these is 308 kg/m³. Approximately 30% of the MSW generated is compostable wastes and the yearly mean moisture content, organic matter content, C/N ratio and pH of these are 78%, 92.1%, 21.6/1 and 4.73, respectively, and approximately 24% of the MSW consists of recyclable materials. The recommended system deals with maximizing recycling and minimizing landfilling of the MSW, and consists of separation at source, collection, sorting, recycling, composting and sanitary landfilling. Heavy metal concentrations of the compostable wastes from the open dump were determined to decrease in the following order: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cr > Cu > Pb > Ni > Cd > Co.     

Financial sustainability in municipal solid waste management – Costs and revenues in Bahir Dar,Ethiopia

Providing good solid waste management (SWM) services while also ensuring financial sustainability of the system continues to be a major challenge in cities of developing countries. Bahir Dar in northwestern Ethiopia outsourced municipal waste services to a private waste company in 2008. While this institutional change has led to substantial improvement in the cleanliness of the city, its financial sustainability remains unclear. Is the private company able to generate sufficient revenues from their activities to offset the costs and generate some profit?This paper presents a cost-revenue analysis, based on data from July 2009 to June 2011. The analysis reveals that overall costs in Bahir Dar’s SWM system increased significantly during this period, mainly due to rising costs related to waste transportation. On the other hand, there is only one major revenue stream in place: the waste collection fee from households, commercial enterprises and institutions. As the efficiency of fee collection from households is only around 50%, the total amount of revenues are not sufficient to cover the running costs. This results in a substantial yearly deficit. The results of the research therefore show that a more detailed cost structure and cost-revenue analysis of this waste management service is important with appropriate measures, either by the privates sector itself or with the support of the local authorities, in order to enhance cost efficiency and balance the cost-revenues towards cost recovery. Delays in mitigating the evident financial deficit could else endanger the public-private partnership (PPP) and lead to failure of this setup in the medium to long term, thus also endangering the now existing improved and currently reliable service.We present four options on how financial sustainability of the SWM system in Bahir Dar might be enhanced: (i) improved fee collection efficiency by linking the fees of solid waste collection to water supply; (ii) increasing the value chain by sales of organic waste recycling products; (iii) diversifying revenue streams and financing mechanisms (polluter-pays-, cross-subsidy- and business-principles); and (iv) cost reduction and improved cost-effectiveness.We argue that in a PPP setup such as in Bahir Dar, a strong alliance between the municipality and private enterprise is important so that appropriate solutions for improved financial sustainability of a SWM system can be sought and implemented.     

Municipal solid waste management—An example of a partnership between five municipalities

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s many joint municipal partnerships were established in Denmark to take responsibility for the planning and handling of waste on behalf of municipalities in the partnership. RENO SYD is a typical joint municipal partnership, established to handle the municipal solid waste of five municipalities with a total of 65,000 inhabitants. The paper reviews the by-laws and organization of RENO SYD; the facility financing ownership or leasing; the collection of the various waste types; the reception at recycling cites; the refuse treatment, energy recovery, waste separation, treatment and landfill disposal; recycling; and economics, including tipping fees and taxation.     

Inexact fuzzy-stochastic constraint-softened programming – A case study for waste management

In this study, an inexact fuzzy-stochastic constraint-softened programming method is developed for municipal solid waste (MSW) management under uncertainty. The developed method can deal with multiple uncertainties presented in terms of fuzzy sets, interval values and random variables. Moreover, a number of violation levels for the system constraints are allowed. This is realized through introduction of violation variables to soften system constraints, such that the model’s decision space can be expanded under demanding conditions. This can help generate a range of decision alternatives under various conditions, allowing in-depth analyses of tradeoffs among economic objective, satisfaction degree, and constraint-violation risk. The developed method is applied to a case study of planning a MSW management system. The uncertain and dynamic information can be incorporated within a multi-layer scenario tree; revised decisions are permitted in each time period based on the realized values of uncertain events. Solutions associated with different satisfaction degree levels have been generated, corresponding to different constraint-violation risks. They are useful for supporting decisions of waste flow allocation and system-capacity expansion within a multistage context.     

Integration of the informal sector into municipal solid waste management in the Philippines – What does it need?

The integration of the informal sector into municipal solid waste management is a challenge many developing countries face. In Iloilo City, Philippines around 220 tons of municipal solid waste are collected every day and disposed at a 10 ha large dumpsite. In order to improve the local waste management system the Local Government decided to develop a new Waste Management Center with integrated landfill. However, the proposed area is adjacent to the presently used dumpsite where more than 300 waste pickers dwell and depend on waste picking as their source of livelihood. The Local Government recognized the hidden threat imposed by the waste picker’s presence for this development project and proposed various measures to integrate the informal sector into the municipal solid waste management (MSWM) program. As a key intervention a Waste Workers Association, called USWAG Calahunan Livelihood Association Inc. (UCLA) was initiated and registered as a formal business enterprise in May 2009. Up to date, UCLA counts 240 members who commit to follow certain rules and to work within a team that jointly recovers wasted materials. As a cooperative they are empowered to explore new livelihood options such as the recovery of Alternative Fuels for commercial (cement industry) and household use, production of compost and making of handicrafts out of used packages. These activities do not only provide alternative livelihood for them but also lessen the generation of leachate and Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions from waste disposal, whereby the life time of the proposed new sanitary landfill can be extended likewise.     

Greenhouse gases accounting and reporting for waste management – A South African perspective

This paper investigates how greenhouse gases are accounted and reported in the waste sector in South Africa. Developing countries (including South Africa) do not have binding emission reduction targets, but many of them publish different greenhouse gas emissions data which have been accounted and reported in different ways. Results show that for South Africa, inventories at national and municipal level are the most important tools in the process of accounting and reporting greenhouse gases from waste. For the development of these inventories international initiatives were important catalysts at national and municipal levels, and assisted in developing local expertise, resulting in increased output quality. However, discrepancies in the methodology used to account greenhouse gases from waste between inventories still remain a concern. This is a challenging issue for developing countries, especially African ones, since higher accuracy methods are more data intensive. Analysis of the South African inventories shows that results from the recent inventories can not be compared with older ones due to the use of different accounting methodologies. More recently the use of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) procedures in Africa, geared towards direct measurements of greenhouse gases from landfill sites, has increased and resulted in an improvement of the quality of greenhouse gas inventories at municipal level.     

Paper waste – Recycling,incineration or landfilling? A review of existing life cycle assessments

A review of existing life cycle assessments (LCAs) on paper and cardboard waste has been undertaken. The objectives of the review were threefold. Firstly, to see whether a consistent message comes out of published LCA literature on optimum disposal or recycling solutions for this waste type. Such message has implications for current policy formulation on material recycling and disposal in the EU. Secondly, to identify key methodological issues of paper waste management LCAs, and enlighten the influence of such issues on the conclusions of the LCA studies. Thirdly, in light of the analysis made, to discuss whether it is at all valid to use the LCA methodology in its current development state to guide policy decisions on paper waste. A total of nine LCA studies containing altogether 73 scenarios were selected from a thorough, international literature search. The selected studies are LCAs including comparisons of different management options for waste paper. Despite claims of inconsistency, the LCAs reviewed illustrate the environmental benefits in recycling over incineration or landfill options, for paper and cardboard waste. This broad consensus was found despite differences in geographic location and definitions of the paper recycling/disposal systems studied. A systematic exploration of the LCA studies showed, however, important methodological pitfalls and sources of error, mainly concerning differences in the definition of the system boundaries. Fifteen key assumptions were identified that cover the three paper cycle system areas: raw materials and forestry, paper production, and disposal/recovery. It was found that the outcome of the individual LCA studies largely depended on the choices made in some of these assumptions, most specifically the ones concerning energy use and generation, and forestry.     

Review of LCA studies of solid waste management systems – Part I: Lessons learned and perspectives

The continuously increasing solid waste generation worldwide calls for management strategies that integrate concerns for environmental sustainability. By quantifying environmental impacts of systems, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool, which can contribute to answer that call. But how, where and to which extent has it been applied to solid waste management systems (SWMSs) until now, and which lessons can be learnt from the findings of these LCA applications? To address these questions, we performed a critical review of 222 published LCA studies of SWMS. We first analysed the geographic distribution and found that the published studies have primarily been concentrated in Europe with little application in developing countries. In terms of technological coverage, they have largely overlooked application of LCA to waste prevention activities and to relevant waste types apart from household waste, e.g. construction and demolition waste. Waste management practitioners are thus encouraged to abridge these gaps in future applications of LCA. In addition to this contextual analysis, we also evaluated the findings of selected studies of good quality and found that there is little agreement in the conclusions among them. The strong dependence of each SWMS on local conditions, such as waste composition or energy system, prevents a meaningful generalisation of the LCA results as we find it in the waste hierarchy. We therefore recommend stakeholders in solid waste management to regard LCA as a tool, which, by its ability of capturing the local specific conditions in the modelling of environmental impacts and benefits of a SWMS, allows identifying critical problems and proposing improvement options adapted to the local specificities.     

A survey on municipal solid waste and residents’ awareness in Da Nang city, Vietnam

A survey on solid waste generation and residents’ awareness was conducted in Da Nang city, Vietnam in 2010. We took samples from residents, hotels, restaurants, and city markets. Data reveals that each resident generates on average 0.71 kg/capita/day (3 kg/household/day). Regarding the composition, organic waste (food, flowers, leaves, grass) accounts for about 70 % of residents’ waste followed by plastics. Likewise, about 14 % of residents’ waste can be recycled. Furthermore, we find that middle income households in the suburbs have the largest waste generation with 4.9 kg/household/day. We consider that this finding is explained by their dedication to agricultural activities, such as planting fruit trees and vegetables, and gardening. Finally, we find that only about 60 % of interviewees have knowledge of how to segregate waste, however more than 90 % of them are willing to cooperate with the introduction of a waste segregation program in the city.     

Quantification of solid waste management system efficiency using input–output indices

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The assessment of solid waste management systems is vital for continued improvement in the efficiency of waste management systems (WMSs). Many...     

Review of LCA studies of solid waste management systems – Part II: Methodological guidance for a better practice

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is increasingly used in waste management to identify strategies that prevent or minimise negative impacts on ecosystems, human health or natural resources. However, the quality of the provided support to decision- and policy-makers is strongly dependent on a proper conduct of the LCA. How has LCA been applied until now? Are there any inconsistencies in the past practice? To answer these questions, we draw on a critical review of 222 published LCA studies of solid waste management systems. We analyse the past practice against the ISO standard requirements and the ILCD Handbook guidelines for each major step within the goal definition, scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment, and interpretation phases of the methodology. Results show that malpractices exist in several aspects of the LCA with large differences across studies. Examples are a frequent neglect of the goal definition, a frequent lack of transparency and precision in the definition of the scope of the study, e.g. an unclear delimitation of the system boundaries, a truncated impact coverage, difficulties in capturing influential local specificities such as representative waste compositions into the inventory, and a frequent lack of essential sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. Many of these aspects are important for the reliability of the results. For each of them, we therefore provide detailed recommendations to practitioners of waste management LCAs.     

Precious metals and rare earth elements in municipal solid waste – Sources and fate in a Swiss incineration plant

In Switzerland many kinds of waste, e.g. paper, metals, electrical and electronic equipment are separately collected and recycled to a large extent. The residual amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) has to be thermally treated before final disposal. Efforts to recover valuable metals from incineration residues have recently increased. However, the resource potential of critical elements in the waste input (sources) and their partitioning into recyclable fractions and residues (fate) is unknown. Therefore, a substance flow analysis (SFA) for 31 elements including precious metals (Au, Ag), platinum metal group elements (Pt, Rh) and rare earth elements (La, Ce, etc.) has been conducted in a solid waste incinerator (SWI) with a state-of-the-art bottom ash treatment according to the Thermo-Re® concept. The SFA allowed the determination of the element partitioning in the SWI, as well as the elemental composition of the MSW by indirect analysis. The results show that the waste-input contains substantial quantities of precious metals, such as 0.4 ± 0.2 mg/kg Au and 5.3 ± 0.7 mg/kg Ag. Many of the valuable substances, such as Au and Ag are enriched in specific outputs (e.g. non-ferrous metal fractions) and are therefore recoverable. As the precious metal content in MSW is expected to rise due to its increasing application in complex consumer products, the results of this study are essential for the improvement of resource recovery in the Thermo-Re® process.     

Use of recycled plastics in wood plastic composites – A review

The use of recycled and waste thermoplastics has been recently considered for producing wood plastic composites (WPCs). They have great potential for WPCs manufacturing according to results of some limited researches. This paper presents a detailed review about some essential properties of waste and recycled plastics, important for WPCs production, and of research published on the effect of recycled plastics on the physical and mechanical properties of WPCs.     

Household hazardous waste quantification,characterization and management in China’s cities: A case study of Suzhou

A four-stage systematic tracking survey of 240 households was conducted from the summer of 2011 to the spring of 2012 in a Chinese city of Suzhou to determine the characteristics of household hazardous waste (HHW) generated by the city. Factor analysis and a regression model were used to study the major driving forces of HHW generation. The results indicate that the rate of HHW generation was 6.16 (0.16–31.74, 95% CI) g/person/day, which accounted for 2.23% of the household solid waste stream. The major waste categories contributing to total HHW were home cleaning products (21.33%), medicines (17.67%) and personal care products (15.19%). Packaging and containers (one-way) and products (single-use) accounted for over 80% of total HHW generation, implying a considerable potential to mitigate HHW generation by changing the packaging design and materials used by manufacturing enterprises. Strong correlations were observed between HHW generation (g/person/day) and the driving forces group of “household structure” and “consumer preferences” (among which the educational level of the household financial manager has the greatest impact). Furthermore, the HHW generation stream in Suzhou suggested the influence of another set of variables, such as local customs and culture, consumption patterns, and urban residential life-style. This study emphasizes that HHW should be categorized at its source (residential households) as an important step toward controlling the HHW hazards of Chinese cities.     

Solid health care waste management status at health care centers in the West Bank – Palestinian Territory

Health care waste is considered a major public health hazard. The objective of this study was to assess health care waste management (HCWM) practices currently employed at health care centers (HCCs) in the West Bank – Palestinian Territory. Survey data on solid health care waste (SHCW) were analyzed for generated quantities, collection, separation, treatment, transportation, and final disposal. Estimated 4720.7 m³ (288.1 tons) of SHCW are generated monthly by the HCCs in the West Bank. This study concluded that: (i) current HCWM practices do not meet HCWM standards recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) or adapted by developed countries, and (ii) immediate attention should be directed towards improvement of HCWM facilities and development of effective legislation. To improve the HCWM in the West Bank, a national policy should be implemented, comprising a comprehensive plan of action and providing environmentally sound and reliable technological measures.