Measuring externalities of waste transfer stations in Israel using hedonic pricing

This study estimates the economic value of externalities related to waste transfer stations in Israel. Most externalities are associated with local disamenities experienced by residents living in close proximity to transfer stations - including noise, odor, litter, vermin, visual intrusion and any associated perceived discomfort. Following the mapping of all active transfer stations in Israel, problematic sites near residential areas were identified. Four of these sites were selected for detailed examination. The study involved estimating the economic value of disamenities using the Hedonic Price Method, which examines the impact of disamenities on property values. The results indicate that the maximum spatial extent of the impact occurs about 2.8km away from a transfer station with an increase of about $5000 in housing price for each additionalkm away from the site. Alternatively, an increase of 1% in the average distance of a house from the local transfer station is associated with a 0.06% rise in the price of the average house. These figures, representing the relationship between changes in environmental quality and property prices, indicate that transfer stations create externalities that should be taken into account in location and clean-up policies for transfer stations as well as in potential compensation policies.     

Effectiveness of gutter brushes in removing street sweeping waste

Litter on roadways has to be removed for hygiene and to reduce pollution, amongst other reasons. Therefore, the effective operation of street sweepers is important in the collection of solid waste. In this article, the effectiveness of gutter brushes of street sweepers in removing different debris types, namely medium-size gravel, small and fine particles, and wet thin debris is studied by means of sweeping tests using a brushing test rig. Two types of gutter brushes, cutting and F128, are tested under a variety of operating conditions. The experimental tests provide a means of identifying suitable ranges of brush penetration for the different debris types under defined operating parameters such as brush angle of attack, brush rotational speed, and sweeper velocity. These ranges may provide sufficiently high removal forces and avoid the occurrence of sweeping problems such as backward sweeping and inappropriate bristle–surface contact. Optimum operating parameters for the three debris types studied, as well as a mixture of all of them, are determined. Lastly, the results indicate that, as far as the sweeping effectiveness is concerned, the F128 brush is the preferred one for the cases studied.     

A model for quantifying construction waste in projects according to the European waste list

The new EU challenge is to recover 70% by weight of C&D waste in 2020. Literature reveals that one major barrier is the lack of data. Therefore, this paper presents a model which allows technicians to estimate C&D waste during the design stage in order to promote prevention and recovery. The types and quantities of CW are estimated and managed according to EU guidelines, by building elements and specifically for each project. The model would allow detection of the source of the waste and to adopt other alternative procedures which delete hazardous waste and reduce CW. Likewise, it develops a systematic structure of the construction process, a waste classification system and some analytical expressions which are based on factors. These factors depend on technology and represent a standard on site. It would allow to develop a database of waste anywhere. A Spanish case study is covered. Factors were obtained by studying over 20 dwellings. The source and types of packaging waste, remains, soil and hazardous waste were estimated in detail and were compared with other studies. Results reveal that the model can be implemented in projects and the chances of reducing and recovery C&D waste could be increased, well above the EU challenge.     

A charge model for household waste management services: a case study of Tehran municipality

In practice, it is difficult to implement Pay-As-You-Throw charge systems based on accurate estimates of waste generation. In many cities, this is made impossible, due to lack of technical and administrative infrastructure and cultural considerations, especially in developing countries. This paper presents an alternative two-component charge model that is the combination of cost-accounting technique of Waste Management Services (WMSs) and econometric functions of waste generation. Practical and computation steps considered by the model are presented as a proposal to reform the current system of waste charge in Tehran municipality. The presented model is simple to implement and resolves some of the disadvantages of the traditional methods of waste charge systems, including insufficient revenue to cover the cost of waste management and unfairness related to social inequality.     

Compartment model of aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation in a municipal solid waste landfill

The mathematical formulations in a one-dimensional compartment model of the biodegradation of organic landfill components are described. The model is designed to switch between anaerobic and aerobic conditions, depending on the local oxygen concentration. The model also includes the effect of environmental factors, such as moisture content, pH, and temperature, on reaction rates. The model includes not only biodegradation processes for carbon compounds (acetate, CO2, CH4), but also for nitrogen compounds involved in nitrification and denitrification due to their significance in landfills. Two example runs to simulate anaerobic and aerobic waste were conducted for a single landfill unit cell by changing the organic content and diffusion coefficient.     

Solid waste management by application of the WAMED model

This article aims to develop a general model for the evaluation of ecological-economic efficiency that will serve as an information support tool for decision making at the corporate, municipal, and regional levels. It encompasses cost-benefit analysis in solid waste management by applying a sustainability promoting approach that is explicitly related to monetary measures. A waste managements’ efficient decision (WAMED) model based on cost-benefit analysis is proposed and developed to evaluate the ecological-economic efficiency of solid waste management schemes. The employment of common business administration methodology tools is featured. A classification of competing waste management models is introduced to facilitate evaluation of the relevance of the previously introduced WAMED model. Suggestions are made for how to combine the previously introduced EUROPE model, based on the equality principle, with the WAMED model to create economic incentives to reduce solid waste management-related emissions. A fictive case study presents the practical application of the proposed cost-benefit analysis-based theory to the landfilling concept. It is concluded that the presented methodology reflects an integrated approach to decreasing negative impacts on the environment and on the health of the population, while increasing economic benefits through the implementation of solid waste management projects.     

Assessment of performance of solid waste management contractors: a simple techno-social model and its application

Despite being in operation for more than 7 years now, privatised solid waste management (SWM) service in Tanzania has not been formally assessed. This is the premise for the techno-social performance assessment model for SWM contractors, which is presented in this paper. This paper outlines the background of SWM privatisation in Dar es Salaam City in addition to describing and demonstrating the application of the assessment model. The model has three components: service beneficiaries' assessment sub-model, service area technical assessment sub-model, and contractors' attributes sub-model. The model can be used to assess the performance of SWM contractors and in so doing provide data for assessing SWM privatisation as a whole. In the application of the model presented in this paper scores for 5 assessed contractors are in the range 24-65%. The contractor who scored highest is also the most experienced and also the best equipped. Nevertheless, all contractors scored poorly with the respect to their ability and attributes in SWM mainly because most of them are new to the solid waste management field.     

Development and calibration of a model for biohydrogen production from organic waste

Existing models for H₂ production are capable of predicting digester failure caused by a specific disturbance. However, they are based on studies using simple sugars, while it is known that H₂ production and fermentation kinetics vary with the composition and characteristics of the substrate used. Because the behaviour of biological processes may differ significantly when the digesting material is a complex matrix, such as organic waste, the aim of this study was to develop and calibrate a mathematical model for the prediction of hydrogen production on the basis of the results obtained from a laboratory scale experimental study using source-selected organic waste. The calibration was carried out for the most important kinetic parameters in mesophilic anaerobic digestion processes and also served as a sensitivity analysis for the influence of both the specific growth rate (μ_max and the half velocity constant (k_s), both of which are strongly dependant on the substrate used. High values of μ_max led to a shorter lag-time and to an overestimate of the cumulative final H₂ production relative to the experimentally measured production. Additionally, high values of k_s associated with amino acid and sugar fermentation corresponded to a lower rate of substrate consumption and to a greater lag-time for growth of hydrogen-producing microorganisms. In this case, a lower final H₂ production was predicted than that which was experimentally observed. Because the model development and calibration provided useful information concerning the role of the kinetic constants in the analysis of a fermentative H₂ production process from organic wastes, they may also represent a good foundation for the analysis of fermentative H₂ production from organic waste for pilot and full-scale applications.     

Neighbourhood-based waste management: a solution for solid waste problems in Jakarta, Indonesia

Municipal solid waste management in the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta, is examined from a point of view of researchers and waste management practitioners. Major impediments to waste management in Jakarta include non-involvement of stakeholders in planning and decision-making, unskilled staff undertaking the duty, the absence of long-term waste management strategies, and weak coordination between authorities and neighbourhood association workers who undertake primary collection. It was revealed that lack of resources is seen as the least important of all impediments. The success of managing solid waste in Jakarta cannot be separated from the presence and the role of a neighbourhood association, which performs waste collection on a daily basis as well as keeping their respective areas clean by employing their own waste service workers. A neighbourhood-based waste management strategy is a promising solution for Jakarta, because it is more applicable and suitable for Jakarta's context compared to community-based waste management. The performance of this approach is examined and the improvement for wider adoption is discussed for a long-term solution.     

National and subnational outcomes of waste management policies for 1718 municipalities in Japan: development of a bottom-up waste flow model and its application to a declining population through 2030

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - Japan has been promoting 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle) policies for several decades, but the recycling rate of the whole country has leveled off,...     

A model for evaluating the social performance of construction waste management

It has been determined by existing literature that a lot of research efforts have been made to the economic performance of construction waste management (CWM), but less attention is paid to investigation of the social performance of CWM. This study therefore attempts to develop a model for quantitatively evaluating the social performance of CWM by using a system dynamics (SD) approach. Firstly, major variables affecting the social performance of CWM are identified and a holistic system for assessing the social performance of CWM is formulated in line with feedback relationships underlying these variables. The developed system is then converted into a SD model through the software iThink. An empirical case study is finally conducted to demonstrate application of the model. Results of model validation indicate that the model is robust and reasonable to reflect the situation of the real system under study. Findings of the case study offer helpful insights into effectively promoting the social performance of CWM of the project investigated. Furthermore, the model exhibits great potential to function as an experimental platform for dynamically evaluating effects of management measures on improving the social performance of CWM of construction projects.     

A novel model of organic waste composting in Taiwan military community

The relatively large quantities of waste generated daily in military barracks pose a significant impact on environments in this small island of Taiwan due to limited land and crowded populations. In order to find a suitable handling method to the barracks' characteristics in Taiwan, a comprehensive selection model for various barracks carrying out waste composting was established through personal interviews and questionnaire data analyses on the military barracks. From this, the basic data for this research was also built, to evaluate the experiences and management practices in these facilities. This study found that environmental responsibility and expertise are the primary concerns and considerations among all of the military units when doing waste composting. Support of the commander, organizational image and human resource/facilities are also concerns. To offer the military barracks a selection model and policy guidelines for the waste composting treatment, an itemized score evaluation standard and a selecting chart of composting recycling methods were designed by combining the practical experimental results with economic considerations, waste classification, and Delphi expert technique.     

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.     

Improving the solid waste management in Phnom Penh city: a strategic approach

Though the solid waste management (SWM) system in Phnom Penh city in general has been upgraded since the waste collection service was franchised out to the private sector, the performance of the existing SWM system is still low. Unreliable and irregular collection service still exists. This means that there are shortcomings in the existing SWM system that need correction. This paper is an attempt to identify those shortcomings in order to find ways to improve the existing system. First, the present SWM system is reviewed. Then the system is evaluated to find constraints and shortfalls and finally some appropriate strategies are proposed that may help make SWM in the city more effective and efficient to meet environmentally sound objectives.     

Health-care waste management in Lao PDR: a case study.

This study investigated the health-care waste (HCW) management at each health-care facility level at two selected sites in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR): Vientiane Municipality; and Bolikhamxay province. It focused on the amount of HCW, its segregation and the factors influencing HCW management, particularly segregation procedures. A high proportion of incorrectly segregated medical waste was found at each level of health-care facility. Re-segregation revealed 39, 62, 57 and 37% at national hospital, provincial hospital, district hospital and health centre level, respectively, was poorly segregated. The mean of generated HCW was 0.62 kg/bed per day (Vientiane Municipality) and 0.38 kg/bed per day (Bolikhamxay) at two study sites. A higher proportion of medical waste (MW) from the inpatient department at the primary health-care level was found. Thus, HCW management at primary health-care facilities needs more attention and should be better understood.     

Regional medical waste management in China: a case study of Shenyang

Medical waste management is of great importance due to its potential environmental and public health risks, especially in developing countries where both financial and technological resources on medical waste management are still lacking. Although many studies have focused on country-scaled medical waste management, few have paid close attention to regional (city-scale) management, particularly in China. This paper fills such a gap by employing a case study approach. Due to its representative nature, Shenyang was selected as the case study. After a review of China’s medical waste management, an empirical study in Shenyang was conducted in order to analyze the current state as well as identify key challenges on regional medical waste management. Based upon the local realities and aiming to better manage medical wastes, an integrated medical waste management framework is developed. Such a platform encourages the establishment of a specific medical waste management authority, a city scaled capacity building program on improving the general public’s awareness, an information platform, application of state-of-the-art technologies, as well as creation of an effective financial system. The combination of such initiatives can significantly improve the overall eco-efficiency of medical waste management at the regional level and should be promoted to other developing cities.     

Report: The assessment of hospital waste management:a case study in Tehran

Hospital waste management is an important process that must be dealt with diligently. The management of hazardous waste material requires specific knowledge and regulations and it must be carried out by specialists in the field. In this cross-sectional study, we assessed the main stages of hospital waste management including separation, containment, removal and disposal of waste materials in public hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). We selected 108 units of six hospitals (three general hospitals and three subspecialty hospitals) from those hospitals supervised by TUMS using the cluster sampling method. The measurement was conducted through a questionnaire and direct observation by researchers. Association analysis was done by statistical tests; Fisher exact test and chi-squared using SPSS software. According to the results obtained by the questionnaire, most of the studied wards scored moderately in terms of quality of their performance in all stages of waste management. About one-fifth of the wards were suffering from poor management of their medical waste and only a minority of wards obtained good scores for managing their waste materials. The findings also revealed significant associations between temporary waste storage and collection and the level of education of the managers (P = 0.040, P = 0.050, respectively). In summary, the study indicated a moderate management in all processes of separation, collection, containment, removal and disposal of waste materials in hospitals with several observed problems in the process.     

Towards zero industrial waste: Utilisation of brick dust waste in sustainable construction

Laboratory investigations were carried out to establish the potential utilisation of brick dust (BD) in construction. The dust is a waste material from the cutting of fired clay bricks. Currently, the disposal of the dust is a problem to the brick fabrication company, and hence an environmental pollution concern. The dust was stabilised either used on its own or in combination with Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA), a by-product material from coal combustion. The traditional stabilisers of lime and/or Portland Cement (PC) were used as controls. The main aim was to use a sustainable stabiliser material, where these stabilisers were partially replaced with Ground Granulated Blastfurnace Slag (GGBS), a by-product material from steel manufacture. Compacted cylinder test specimens were made at typical stabiliser contents and moist cured for up to 56 days prior to testing for compressive and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) strength tests, and to linear expansion during moist curing and subsequent soaking in water. The results obtained showed that partial substitution of the dust with PFA resulted in stronger material compared to using it on its own. The blended stabilisers achieved better performance. These results suggest technological, economic as well as environmental advantages of using the brick dust and similar industrial by-products to achieve sustainable infrastructure development with near zero industrial waste.     

Medical waste management in Jordan: a study at the King Hussein Medical Center

As in many other developing countries, the generation of regulated medical waste (RMW) in Jordan has increased significantly over the last few decades. Despite the serious impacts of RMW on humans and the environment, only minor attention has been directed to its proper handling and disposal. This study was conducted in the form of a case study at one of Jordan's leading medical centers, namely, the King Hussein Medical Center (KHMC). Its purpose was to report on the current status of medical waste management at KHMC and propose possible measures to improve it. In general, it was found that the center's administration was reasonably aware of the importance of medical waste management and practiced some of the measures to adequately handle waste generated at the center. However, it was also found that significant voids were present that need to be addressed in the future including efficient segregation, the use of coded and colored bags, better handling and transfer means, and better monitoring and tracking techniques, as well as the need for training and awareness programs for the personnel.     

上海市生活垃圾处置计划量指标测算模型初探

对生活垃圾处置计划管理政策的意义、生活垃圾处置计划指标测算模型建立的意义和作用进行分析,对建立模型的因素、计算公式、计算流程等进行详细说明,并对3个典型区县的实际情况进行了计算和分析,总结了模型存在的问题和完善方向。