Environmental Impact Assessment of Solid Waste Disposal Options in Touristic Islands

Abstract

Kish Island is a popular tourist destination in Iran, and tourism plays an important role in its economy. The volume of waste produced in the island has increased given the construction of numerous industrial projects over the past decade, as well as an increase in the tourist population. This expansion signals a need to create new methods of waste disposal. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process that can be used to evaluate the impact of waste disposal options on Kish Island. Rapid impact assessment matrix (RIAM) is a powerful tool to carry out the environmental impact assessment. The RIAM conducted in this research incorporated the mathematical sustainability model to evaluate the impacts of four municipal solid waste disposal options on the environment on Kish Island. The options included: (Option 1) Continuing the current disposal activities in Kish Island, i.e., 50% waste recycling and 50% waste landfilling; (Option 2) 30% composting, 50% waste recycling, and 20% waste landfilling; (Option 3) 30% composting, 50% waste recycling, and 20% waste incineration; and (Option 4) 50% waste recycling and 50% waste incineration. Among these options, option 4 was the priority for the establishment of final waste disposal with the highest score (0.043) in terms of sustainability, as well as having fewer adverse environmental impacts. However, the current environmental status of the Kish Island disposal site (Option 1) had the lowest score (-0.263) in terms of sustainability and was found to be the last priority with the most destructive environmental effects.