Abstract
The Chinese green Belt and Road initiative is promoted. This study takes Chengdu as a key hub under the Belt and Road initiative. The municipal solid waste disposal is the point to control pollution and move toward sustainability. Hence, sustainable municipal solid waste disposal needs to be studied. The prior studies are absent in the planning scenarios analysis. This study proposes a case study to propose three planning scenarios for waste disposal to enhance its sustainability. Scenario 1 represents the current waste disposal mode in Chengdu; Scenario 2 considers all the wastes being incinerated; and Scenario 3 focuses on the incorporation of three disposal methods, i.e., anaerobic digestion, incineration, and landfilling. These three scenarios are assessed based on their greenhouse gas emissions, costs, and public acceptance, to determine the optimality for future managerial practice. Results indicated that Scenario 3 has the highest overall efficiency, yet is challenging in terms of economic feasibility. The limitations of the study are also discussed.
Highlights
The Belt and Road Initiative is a proposition of China for strengthening partnerships among countries along the land-based “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the oceangoing “Maritime Silk Road”, through which 65 countries with about 16.0% of the world’s GDP, as well as a population of 4.4 billion are bound together [1,2]
This is possibly due to the limited capacity of the incineration plant in Scenario 1, the newly-generated municipal solid waste (MSW) may only be treated via direct landfilling, which leads to the excessively rapid increase in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)
This postulation is supported in a study by Rajaeifar et al [65], who utilized life cycle assessment (LCA) in the analysis of the MSW disposal system in Iran and discovered that the introduction of anaerobic digestion (AD) treatment could effectively reduce GHGs
Summary
The Belt and Road Initiative is a proposition of China for strengthening partnerships among countries along the land-based “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the oceangoing “Maritime Silk Road”, through which 65 countries with about 16.0% of the world’s GDP, as well as a population of 4.4 billion are bound together [1,2]. The greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) generated from municipal waste disposal accounts for 3% of worldwide emissions [5]. While striving for economic development and urbanization, countries face the urgent issues of designing proper municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal plans and uncovering potential ways to reduce emissions [6]. Landfilling, incineration, and biological treatment (anaerobic digestion) are currently the most common ways of MSW disposal [7,8,9]. The investment and operational costs of incineration and anaerobic digestion are generally higher than that of landfilling, but the latter contributes abundant landfill gases (LFGs) and leachate, which makes it difficult with respect to the reduction of GHGs and may even cause secondary environmental pollutions [11,12,13]. It is essential to preferentially consider coordination among the economy, environment, and society when formulating an MSW disposal plan to increase its sustainability
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