Technological challenges for effective development towards sustainable waste management in developing countries: Case study of Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

One of the consequences of rapid urbanization and a growing population is an increasing amount of municipal solid waste. Cities around the world have been facing the same global waste management dilemma. The increasing amount of waste has created the needs for an effective management system that provides reliable service, as the current systems in place are failing to respond to the demand. From the service perspective, waste management is an environmental public service. Applying appropriate technology is considered a potential solution to increase waste management performance. Therefore, in this paper, technological challenges are studied as a potential way to alleviate the impacts of ineffective waste management services. The success factors to overcome technological gaps which can be occurred along management chain are identified on the basis of service concept. Bangkok is selected as an urban city in a developing country that is experiencing problems caused by ineffective waste management services. The research methods used for obtaining and analyzing data include questionnaire surveys, interviews, and literature reviews. In addition to problems with waste collection and waste transportation services, a key factor contributing to ineffective waste management is lack of participation from local residents. In this paper, ways of increasing the effectiveness of waste management services are proposed, success factors to overcome technological challenges are identified, and the implications of these challenges are discussed.