Life Cycle Assessment of Municipal Waste Management System (Case Study: Karaj, Iran)

Ss Naghibzadeh,S Mousavi,N Khorasani,J Yousefi,Z Badehian

doi:10.4314/jasem.v18i4.1

Abstract

LCA has been defined as a tool for evaluating the environmental burdens and potential impacts that can be applied to municipal solid waste management systems for determine the optimum municipal solid waste (MSW) management strategy.To investigate the Waste Management system strategyof Karaj City we used LCA method. Three scenarios were defined and compared based on environmental burden include water pollution, air pollution, consumed energy and waste residues.. For each of these scenarios, an ecological indicator was achieved from checklist values. From the environmental point of view, results show that recycling is one of the best alternatives for Waste Management. Furthermore, composting has an important role in alleviating the load of pollutants and energy usage in the Waste Management system. ©JASEM Keywords: Waste Management system, LCA, Karaj

Highlights

Waste Management is a basic need of any society
Regarding the rate of waste production and the composition of the waste, different alternatives might be used for Waste Management systems
The approach dominating this study is from cradle to tomb In this concept, different stages of (SETAC, 1998). conducting a process or services are studied In Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the waste, the point of .(Powell, 2000) birth, which is known as the cradle, is the door of the house and the burial is known as the tomb

Summary

Introduction

Waste Management is a basic need of any society. Regarding the rate of waste production and the composition of the waste, different alternatives might be used for Waste Management systems. Conducting a process or services are studied In LCA of the waste, the point of .(Powell, 2000) birth, which is known as the cradle, is the door of the house and the burial is known as the tomb. One of the applications of LCA is the comparison of the alternatives and scenarios of the Waste Management and the assessment of consequences of different settled structures in the process of Municipal solid Waste Management. Impact assessment of life cycled was not conducted and by comparison the results of the life cycle inventory, suitable alternatives were chosen and presented. Distance reduction from the source had the least environmental impact and was presented as the best method of solid Waste Management ( Ozeler et al, 2005). Compared with the different alternatives of Waste Management that was done on the basis of energy economizing and lesser environmental impacts in the City of Rome, it showed that recycling the energy by Waste Management could supply the 15% of required electrical energy for the City (Cherubini et al, 2007)

MATERIAL AND METHODS

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Conclusion