Drivers in current and future municipal solid waste management systems: cases in Yokohama and Boston

Abstract

Despite some progress, municipal solid waste (MSW) still poses pressure on cities and remains one of the major challenges in environmental management. There is no single solution to the problem since the drivers behind MSW systems may vary significantly from city to city. In this context, the development of a common strategy to attain a sustainable management has been increasingly difficult. This paper presents an issue-driven analytical framework to evaluate the past, present and future MSW management strategy for the cities of Yokohama and Boston considering four driver categories while evaluating if the relevance of these drivers has changed over time. These categories represent: (i) legal drivers (e.g. laws and regulations); (ii) technology development and institutional drivers (e.g. available technologies); (iii) regional and international drivers (e.g. solid waste flow as recyclable resources); and (iv) socio-economic drivers (e.g. population trends and public awareness). The analysis indicated that solid waste management capacity for both cases was under stress due to different reasons. In the case of Boston, the moratorium for disposal facilities played an important role while increasing population was a key driver for the city of Yokohama. The future management scenario suggests that various waste-to-energy alternatives and strong solid waste reduction policies will play a key role for Boston. In Yokohama, a shift on waste composition and generation triggered by a demographic change may open the path for new technologies while also considering the international demand of solid waste as a recyclable resource.

Current status of waste management in Botswana: A mini-review

“…Moreover, the amount of MSW that has to be treated may become much larger and thereby proportionally increasing the associated costs. Similar observations on municipal waste management have been made in several transition and developing cities and urbanizing regions in Africa (Dladla et al, 2016), South America (Alfaia et al, 2017) and Asia (Agamathu et al, 2009; Contreras et al, 2010). Over and above this, there is a lack of, or inadequate training for operatives handling waste in the towns, cities and villages in Botswana, leading to insufficient application of appropriate waste management procedures.…”

“…For instance, it is reported that MSW generation is not simply a product of society; it is related to the level of development and rates of social and economic change within that society, and the form of life adopted by it in order to achieve modernity (Alfaia et al, 2017). Previous research has reported that the composition of waste is determined by various aspects, such as geographic region, population size, social conditions and people's eating habits (Alfaia et al, 2017;Campuzano and González-Martínez, 2016), as well as the predominant economic activities (Bernache-Perez et al, 2001;Gu et al, 2017), and even the season of the year (Alfaia et al, 2017;Contreras et al, 2010). In addition, solid waste generation is related to regional culture, since the concepts of waste, cleaning practices and dirtiness differ and are directly related to regional customs and habits (Gallardo et al, 2018;Wilson et al, 2012).…”

Life cycle assessment of pyrolysis–gasification as an emerging municipal solid waste treatment technology

“…A number of studies (Contreras et al 2006;El-Haggar 2007;Agamuthu et al 2009;UN-HABITAT 2010) are analyzed to understand different development drivers in the WMS and such drivers are as gross domestic product (GDP), volume of waste, waste regulations, and increasing awareness on the global climate change.…”

Intraurban Analysis of Domestic Solid Waste Disposal Methods in a Sub-Sahara African City

“…Of pertinent attention is the problem associated with waste management that is taking unprecedented complex dimension in the cities of developing nations. From engineering to behavioral science, how waste can be properly managed has become a germane issue via several studies [1][2][3][4].…”

“…Events of the late 20th and early 21st centuries indicate that waste, in whatever form or classification: solid, liquid, or toxic, has become a major consequence of modernization and economic development [7]. Notably, the solid form of waste is fast becoming a menace in both developed and developing nations [8,9].…”