Life cycle cost analysis of municipal solid waste management scenarios for Mumbai, India

Abstract

This study quantifies and compares the cost of municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems under different scenarios using life cycle cost (LCC) analysis approach. LCC analysis was performed for six integrated MSW management scenarios for Mumbai city, India which generates over 9000 metric tonnes of MSW daily and disposes most of it in open dumps. The scenarios are the combinations of recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion, incineration with electricity generation, and landfill with biogas recovery. To perform LCC analysis of scenarios, present worth method was used. The present worth of operations and maintenance (O&M) cost and revenue generated was estimated using a discount rate of 11.25% for a 20-year life span. Results show that the incineration based scenario is the most cost-intensive option with a net LCC of US$38 per tonne of MSW due to the high capital cost involved in case of incineration. While the scenario with a combination of recycling and sanitary landfill was the most economically viable option with a net LCC of US$19 per tonne of MSW due to comparative lower operating cost. The sensitivity analysis shows that the O&M cost was the most sensitive parameter and a change of ±10% and ±20% in O&M cost, the net LCC of scenarios changes in the range of 14–33% and 29–65%, respectively. This study provides an economic comparison of MSW treatment scenarios from a life cycle perspective, which facilitates the decision-making process for improvement in cost estimation and planning of waste management strategies in India.