Life cycle assessment of integrated municipal solid waste management systems, taking account of climate change and landfill shortage trade-off problems

Abstract

Steps taken to counter the climate change problem have a significant impact on the municipal solid waste management (MSW) sector, which must tackle regional environmental problems such as the shortage of sanitary landfills, especially in Japan. Moreover, greenhouse gas emissions and final disposal have a trade-off relationship. Therefore, alleviation of both these environmental problems is difficult, and Japanese local municipalities are anxious for action to solve these problems and reduce treatment costs. Although ambitious waste management measures have been enacted in many countries, they appear to lack a holistic view and do not adopt a life cycle approach. Therefore, it is important to reconstruct the MSW management system, taking into account environmental and economic aspects. In the present study, life cycle assessment and mathematical modelling were used to seek ways of redesigning the MSW management system in order to minimize environmental impacts and/or reduce treatment costs. One economic block was selected as the study area (Iwate Prefecture in Japan). The life cycle inventory and costs data for every MSW transportation and treatment process in this region were collected and processed. Then, taking account of geographic information, an optimal solution for the minimization of environmental impact or treatment costs was derived. To solve the trade-off problem, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to find optimal reduction targets for climate change and final disposal.

Integrated Solid Waste Management: an approach for enhancing climate co-benefits through resource recovery

“…Therefore the combining of appropriate treatment methods such as recycling, anaerobic digestion, incineration, landfilling, etc. are required for proper, balanced MSW management (Tabata et al, 2011;Bahor et al, 2009;Hoornweg and BhadaTata, 2012). This approach is known as integrated solid waste management (ISWM) which includes the recovery of useful materials and energy from waste (Kathiravale and Yunus, 2008;Menikpura et al, 2012a).…”

“…CO 2 , N 2 O) from waste handling, transportation and operation of machinery are also significant especially due to the utilisation of fossil-based energy. However, indirect GHG savings potential via materials and energy recovery from waste management must be acknowledged (Tabata et al, 2011;Gentil et al, 2009). In the absence of adequate policy actions on appropriate waste handling and treatment, these emissions are expected to increase due to the growing waste generation rate.…”

Co-Benefits of Household Waste Recycling for Local Community’s Sustainable Waste Management in Thailand

“…[19]. GHG emissions also come from fossil fuel combustion in the MSW collection and treatment processes [20,21]. Different methods of burying MSW can yield different levels of GHG emissions.…”

Assessment of Organic Waste Management Methods Through Energy Balance

“…recycling and AD, is required for a sustainable MSW management (Liamsanguan and Gheewala, 2008;Bahor et al, 2009;Tabata et al, 2011;Hoornweg and Bhada-Tata, 2012). This approach, known as Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM), includes the source-separation of waste made by residents, an efficient collection and transportation network (similar to the rational network of towns used in this survey), the recovery of useful materials and energy, as well as the disposal of residual waste (Kathiravale and Yunus, 2008;Menikpura et al, 2012).…”