New waste prognostic and waste management system assessment tools: examples of implementation for municipalities in the countries with rapid growing economies

Abstract

This paper compiles results of the research project 'The Use of Life Cycle Assessment Tools for the Development of Integrated Waste Management Strategies for Cities and Regions with Rapid Growing Economies', in short: LCA-IWM (for more: www.lca-iwm,net), The project, which runs from September 2002 until August 2005, is financially supported by the European Commission, It is part of the Fifth Framework Programme.Some municipal waste management scenarios for Kaunas (Lithuania), Wroclaw (Poland), Xanthi (Greece), Nitra (Slovakia) and Reus (Spain) was created and assessed to compare impact on environmental, economical and social sustainability, The chosen waste management scenarios can be understood like stepped evolution of waste management system, i.e, the next scenarios is an extension of previous scenario, The first scenarios for every city correspond to the situation in the current waste management systems, the next scenarios include not only landfilling, but also increased rates of separate collection, mechanical-biological pre-treatment and incineration.
 At the Conclusion the best Scenarios regarding environmental and economical sustainability is pointed.