Sustainable solid waste management in rural areas: A case study of Fayoum governorate, Egypt

Abstract

Municipal solid waste generation and disposal are significant environmental problems in both urban and rural communities due to the increasing population, especially in developing countries, and the lack or absence of a proper waste management service. The present work aims to study the waste management system in rural areas to select an appropriate treatment facility to improve the waste management system. Hence, three villages (Qalamshah, Monshat Ramzy, and Abou Defeya) in Markaz Etsa in Fayoum Governorate were selected as study areas due to the waste management system weakness. In this respect, characterization study in these three villages where MSW management services are either non-existent or insufficient: thus, making them a high priority and an effective advancement step towards achieving the bigger goal of sustainable municipal solid waste management. The results showed that the percentage of organic in these three villages is 76%, 67%, and 80% without diapers percentage which represents 9.3%, 14.3%, and 5.8% respectively. Three life cycle assessment scenarios (landfill scenario, anaerobic digestion, and Composting Scenario) were carried out and simulated using WRATE software. The composting and anaerobic scenarios have comparable and similar values in the following categories: global warming potential, acid rain, eutrophication potential, and resource depletion. In the category of acidification, the composting and anaerobic categories produce higher values than the landfill scenario. Finally, the feasibility study proves that the compost treatment plant is the best solution for the current situation of municipal solid waste for the annual savings by an amount of EGP 1,365,043 over the project period. Also, the compost solution is beneficial due to the availability of areas in Fayoum governorate and will be used for land reclamations as the Egyptian government started to reclaim a huge desert area near these villages.