Alternative strategies towards a sustainable municipal solid waste management system: A case study in Cairo.

Towards integrated, and sustainable municipal solid waste management system in Shashemane city administration, Ethiopia

A strategic review on Municipal Solid Waste (living solid waste) management system focusing on policies, selection criteria and techniques for waste-to-value

Designing a framework for municipal solid waste management towards sustainability in emerging economy countries - An application to a case study in Belo Horizonte (Brazil)

Social-economic assessment of integrated waste pickers in municipal solid waste management system: A case of Tianjin in China

Evaluation of the municipal solid waste (MSW) management system seems necessary to promote urban services. The present study is aimed to identify and prioritize the problems and deficiencies of MSW management in Iran. This study has used a mixed-methods (Scoping review and Delphi technique) approach to achieve its goals. The results obtained by the scoping review showed that the average rate of Iran’s MSW generation in the last decade (2009–2019) was 0.745 kg/capita/day. The average of MSW composition was estimated to include: organic material (68.42%), paper and cardboard (7.31%), plastic (9.80%), pet (0.99%), metal (1.59%), rubber (1.09%), textile (3.02%), glass (2.33%), wood (0.97%), and others (4.48%). Also a scoping review of the current status of Iran’s MSW management showed that at present, Iran’s MSW management has both some strengths (such as collecting more than 90% of the total generated MSW) and lot of weaknesses such as lack of a systematic program for MSW reduction, weakness in source separation, low processing and recycling, unsanitary disposal of MSW, etc. According to the results of the Delphi technique, Iran’s main MSW management problems are: disregarding the investment for culturalization in the field of SWM and low effectiveness of the existing educational methods, disregarding the principles of integrated solid waste management hierarchy, imbalance in cost-efficiency in MSW systems, the existence of major deficits and weaknesses in recruitment and selection of staffs and the existence of additional non-expert human resources, lack of incongruity between the non-standard solid waste disposal crimes and their penalties, lack of executive guarantees for the proper implementation of the existing regulations, poor performance of the responsible organizations in the field of public education, as well as lack of effective cooperation among the responsible bodies in this field. Overall, consideration and elimination of priority problems and reinforcement the strengths of Iran’s MSW management system can be effective in improving the performance of this system.

Using applied operations research and geographical information systems to evaluate effective factors in storage service of municipal solid waste management systems

PurposeSmart cities in India are going to be a reality very soon by turning challenges into opportunities for the society. However, due to rapid increase in population burden, fast urbanization and growing demand of advanced services in the smart cities, the quantity of per capita municipal solid waste (MSW) has escalated. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has further challenged the municipal solid waste management (MSWM) system with the increasing amount of infectious wastes coming from households (HHs), quarantine centers, healthcare facilities, vaccination centers, etc. Therefore, the present study attempts to explore and analyze the various dimensions of sustainable MSWM system in the smart cities.Design/methodology/approachThe study identifies 13 factors of sustainable MSWM system from the literature, field surveys and stakeholders' opinions. Thereafter, stakeholders' opinions are collected and analyzed using total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) approach to explore the interrelationships among the factors of sustainable MSWM system. These relationships are further validated through the empirical investigation of the real-life case study of Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC), Odisha, India.FindingsThe TISM approach places all 13 factors into six levels in the hierarchical digraph depending upon the inputs received from the various stakeholders on their interrelationships. Study also validates the proposed TISM model by collecting the data of RMC, Odisha, on the development of MSWM system over the period of 2015–2021.Practical implicationsThe study also highlights various implications for the other developing cities and stakeholders to set up the roadmap for developing the sustainable MSWM system. Study defines “IT platform” and “awareness among citizens” as the base of the sustainable MSWM system in any smart city.Originality/valueThe present study is the first of its kind to explore the interrelationships among the factors of sustainable MSWM system by using TISM approach. Moreover, the proposed TISM framework is further validated through the empirical journey of one of the smart cities in India.

In this study, the life cycle assessment (LCA) method has been used to evaluate the environmental impacts of various municipal solid waste (MSW) management system scenarios in Banepa municipality, Nepal, in terms of global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), human toxicity potential (HTP), abiotic depletion potential (ADP), and photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP). There are at least six possible scenarios of MSW management in Banepa: the current or baseline scenario (Scenario 1); composting with landfilling (Scenario 2); material recovery facility (MRF) recycling, composting, and landfilling (Scenario 3); MRF and anaerobic digestion (AD); composting, and landfilling (Scenario 4); MRF, composting, AD, and landfilling (Scenario 5); and, finally, incineration with landfilling (Scenario 6). Using both information from Ecoinvent 3.6 (2019) and published research articles, a spreadsheet tool based on the LCA approach was created. The impact of the recycling rate on each of the six abovementioned scenarios was evaluated using sensitivity analysis, which showed that the recycling rate can considerably decrease the life-cycle emissions from the MSW management system. Scenario 3 was found to have the least overall environmental impact with a GWP of 974.82 kg CO2 eq. per metric ton (t), EP of 0.04 kg PO4 eq./t, AP of 0.15 kg SO2 eq./t, HTP of 4.55 kg 1,4 DB eq./t, ADP of −0.03 kg Sb eq./t, and POCP of 0.06 kg C2H4 eq./t. By adoption of MRF and biological treatments such as composting and AD, environmental impact categories such as AP, EP, HTP, ADP, POCP, and GWP can be significantly reduced. The findings of this study can potentially serve as a reference for cities in the developing world in order to aid in both the planning and the operation of environmentally friendly MSW management systems.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management represents a major expenditure for third world countries, and could be very challenging as it results in environmental impacts including pollution of water resources. The major expenditure of the municipal solid waste management is attributed to overlooking revenues generated from waste. Due to the uncertainties of data, the value of the recyclables is overlooked. Therefore, a key in the development of an effective and sustainable waste management system is having reliable information and a clear characterisation of the municipal waste generated from the community being studied. Hence, this paper presents a waste audit to characterise household waste and more importantly estimate revenues generated from recyclables. The focus was on household waste generated from high income districts. The study found that there was a surplus resulting from the difference between the revenue of recyclables and the cost of its management. This surplus could be used to fund the deficit in waste management system in other lower income districts.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management represents a major expenditure for third world countries, and could be very challenging as it results in environmental impacts including pollution of water resources. The major expenditure of the municipal solid waste management is attributed to overlooking revenues generated from waste. Due to the uncertainties of data, the value of the recyclables is overlooked. Therefore, a key in the development of an effective and sustainable waste management system is having reliable information and a clear characterisation of the municipal waste generated from the community being studied. Hence, this paper presents a waste audit to characterise household waste and more importantly estimate revenues generated from recyclables. The focus was on household waste generated from high income districts. The study found that there was a surplus resulting from the difference between the revenue of recyclables and the cost of its management. This surplus could be used to fund the deficit in waste management system in other lower income districts.

Life cycle assessment of the existing and proposed municipal solid waste management system in Moscow, Russia

A multi-objective location-allocation optimization for sustainable management of municipal solid waste

Many cities in the Global South have experienced rapid urbanisation during the past decades that has added further pressure to their (often) rudimentary Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) systems. This has reduced the ability of many local governments and other related actors to cope with these changes, further catalysing negative social, environmental, and economic impacts from such underperforming infrastructure systems. By focusing on Bolivian cities, this study identifies the most relevant challenges, opportunities, and responses related to the sustainability of MSWM systems in urban settings of the Global South. To achieve this, we populate the different dimensions and sub-dimensions of the Integrated and Sustainable Solid Waste Management Framework (ISWM) with qualitative information elicited from semi-structured interviews with the main stakeholders involved in MSWM systems in the largest Bolivian cities. The results suggest that despite the different perceptions and interests of the interviewed stakeholders, some commonalities exist, particularly in their shared (a) concern over the potential health and environmental impacts of the current MSWM systems and (b) sense of urgency for a paradigm change, particularly towards more inclusive and holistic/integrated approaches for MSWM systems. We discuss how these aspects might intersect with future transition pathways and their ramifications for different stakeholder groups.KeywordsIntegrated solid waste managementCircular economyInclusivitySustainability transitionsInformal sectorLatin AmericaWaste recyclingWaste disposalMaterial recoveryPublic healthLivelihoodsEnvironment

Purpose This study aims to explore how digital platforms (DPs) contribute to value co-creation in municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems. Design/methodology/approach The present paper conducts an explorative analysis using single case study methodology. The case in question involves a DPs operating in Italy. Findings Empirical analysis shows that DPs help engage citizens in MSW and reduce the fragmentation in waste management systems by fulfilling a brokerage role that connects citizens, municipalities and waste management companies. The development of bidirectional knowledge and resource flow among actors contributes to better waste recycling processes, as well as fosters economic, environmental and social value co-creation in a complex public service. Research limitations/implications This research is limited to a single case study within the Italian context, which may influence the generalizability of the findings. Future research could expand the scope to include multiple case studies across different geographical regions. Practical implications For practitioners and policymakers, this paper underscores the strategic benefits of adopting DPs in MSW management systems and thereby improving public service delivery. Social implications The case analysis highlights that DPs can assist public actors in achieving numerous sustainable development goals by enhancing recycling rates and activating learning mechanisms among citizens. Originality/value This study contributes to literature by connecting different fields of research (i.e. waste management and public management) and using network theory to show how DPs can contribute to the economic, environmental and social sustainability of MSW while generating relevant benefits for the actors involved.

Optimum municipal solid waste (MSW) management system is an essential aspect to be considered. Optimal MSW management system could incur high cost of investment related to its construction, operation, and maintenance. The optimal configurations of the technologies within the system are of high importance, especially in developing countries due to the limitation on financial support. There are still limited studies on the integration of the possible configurations of the selected MSW management, which are centralized, clustered, and decentralized, in addition to location planning. A cost optimization model with the consideration of location planning is developed to identify the optimal configuration of the MSW management system with technologies considered such as landfilling, composting, refuse derived fuel, and reuse and recycling. The configuration considered in the study includes a centralized system, where all waste is gathered in a specific location and treated. The second configuration is the clustered system, where zones are identified, and waste treatment center is built in each zone. Finally, the decentralized, where smaller treatment centers are built at each village. The case study took place at the Desoq District, Kafr El Sheikh, Egypt. It is inhabited with a population of about 0.5 M capita. Fifteen scenarios are generated to account for the different combination of system configurations and the type of waste treatment and disposal unit. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is developed to perform the optimization. The results showed that increasing in the type and degree of treatment increases the net profit. This means that the incorporation of sorting, recycling, composting and RDF production leads to higher profit compared to landfilling only. The centralized systems turned out to attain more net profit than decentralized and clustered systems. The optimum scenario with maximum net profit value was the centralized system with sorting, composting, waste to energy facilities, and one landfill with a net profit of 3.864 USD/t/d. The optimal location for such centralized system is identified to be located beside Desoq wastewater treatment plant and between Desoq and Sanhour cities. The same model can be applied to other rural areas in developing countries.