A New Approach for Solid Waste Handling in Mosul City, Comparison Study with the Existing System

Abstract

Municipal Solid waste management constitutes a serious problem in many developing countries. Cities spend increasing resources to improve their Municipal solid waste management. Based on the concept that solid waste is a resource containing significant amounts of valuable materials, new approaches of solid waste management are adopted. The present work proposes a policy framework for improving a low-cost waste management system in Mosul city. The new approach induces additional services to the existing solid waste system to reduce the unit cost per ton of solid waste generated. The proposed system includes sorting, recycling and composting units. This paper presents an application of a new computerized decision package for an integrated solid waste management within Mosul city. New software called "COSEPRE" is used to analyze the service cost for both existing and proposed solid waste management system. The input data is collected from different related directorates in Mosul city. Data that are difficult to be obtained are prepared by laboratory analysis or field investigations. The results revealed a 58% reduction in unit cost by employing the new system of solid waste management.