The role of management instruments in the diversion of organic municipal solid waste and phosphorus recycling

Abstract

Organic waste, which contains essential plant nutrients such as phosphorus, constitutes 30%–50% of municipal solid waste in developed countries. Unfortunately, much of this resource is buried in landfills or incinerated. Many jurisdictions have, therefore, adopted the diversion of organic waste and the recycling of nutrients as policy goals. We used data sets from Europe and Ontario, Canada, to explore the impact of socio-economic and management factors on the rates of organic waste diversion and examined the effect of this diversion on phosphorus recycling. Organic diversion rates were highly correlated with income in Europe and with infrastructure, such as source-separated organic waste collection, in Ontario. Significant correlations were also observed between diversion rates and the use of policy instruments such as economic incentives, legislative organic waste bans, and curbside bag limits. We estimated that 39%–63% of the phosphorus in diverted organics is returned to arable land. Ultimately, we found that although socio-economic factors influence the success of organic waste diversion, policies, accessible infrastructure, economic incentives, and legislative requirements can be leveraged to improve the recycling rate of organic waste and the nutrients they contain.

Análisis y mejora del sistema integral de gestión de resíduos sólidos urbanos en la ciudad de Castellón de la Plana respondiendo a demandas de sostenibilidad y circularidad

“…Respecto a la generación de biorresiduos en la ciudad, la cantidad bruta total recogida selectivamente desde diciembre de 2020 hasta noviembre de 2021 fue de 2.813.510 kg, lo que supone una media mensual de 234.456 kg. Este dato representa aproximadamente un 4% del total de los residuos generados en Castelló de la Plana mensualmente, lejos de las previsiones iniciales y de la composición globalmente aceptada de que los residuos mezclados contienen un 40%-50% de biorresiduos (Treadwell et al, 2018). Todo ello lleva a pensar que no se está llevando a cabo una porcentaje máximo de impropios permitido es del 20% desde 2022 y del 15% desde 2027.…”