A framework for sustainable and integrated municipal solid waste management: Barriers and critical factors to developing countries

Abstract

Developing countries adopt policies to reduce the negative impacts of large amount of waste generated by accelerated industrialization and rapid urbanization, but these actions are far from establishing procedures that meet society's needs, especially regarding the management of municipal solid waste (MSW), which requires the cooperation of numerous stakeholders, and a broad plan of action, in terms of sustainability cities' targets and policies. In this sense, sustainable and integrated solid waste management (S-ISWM) emerges as a solution to address the growing challenges of disposing of MSW in developing countries municipalities. However, to guide S-ISWM implementation there still a need of a framework with a multi-stakeholder and holistic perspective of the MSW management, considering the barriers and critical success factors (CSFs) to achieve it. To this end, a systematic literature review using the PRISMA diagram on the Scopus and Web of Science databases, and then, a content analysis of 75 articles, which met the eligibility criteria, were carried out. As a result, were identified eight barriers, 11 CSFs, which were grouped according to five pillars - public policies, disposal techniques, legal aspects, public-private partnership (PPP) and energy recovery – that affect the municipal S-ISWM and were pointed out ways of implementing these factors in practice. Finally, it was proposed a management artifact – a framework towards S-ISWM - based on state-of-the-art CSFs and barriers, mainly oriented to waste to energy, to the developing countries municipalities. This study offers theoretical, practical, and political implications, serving as a stimulus for the development of public policies with a multidisciplinary approach, providing environmental, economic, and societal contributions, and, thus, encouraging the achievement of the eleventh and the twelfth sustainable development goals.