The impact of circular economy strategies on municipal waste management: A system dynamics approach

Abstract

The low levels of reuse and recycling of solid waste in cities in developing countries can be attributed to decision-making processes with sub investment that do not consider waste streams, recovery capacities, and potential for recycling. This is due to a lack of understanding of the systemic structure of urban waste management.This article presents the development of a model of an urban waste management system that integrates decisions based on strategies that close cycles, belonging to the concept of a circular economy. These strategies aim to increase the potential use of organic waste, plastics, and glass.The model was built using the Systems Dynamics methodology, which allows obtaining mathematical models for the study and observation of trends and future scenarios of complex systems. The model is made up of three modules: health, financial, and circular economy. The strategies evaluated and compared in the simulation environment were: Economic incentives at the price of the material used; Increase in waste sorting capacity; Increase in the capacity to use waste.Methodologically, novel mathematical representations were achieved for the estimation of the useful life of sanitary landfills. Likewise, a mathematical formulation was found for the automatic evaluation of the efficiency in the capacity to use different wastes, which allows to know the need for investment or increase of capacity to use the type of waste evaluated.Using novel mathematical representations, this study achieved a methodological breakthrough in estimating the useful life of sanitary landfills and waste transformation efficiency. These representations also enable the automatic evaluation of how effectively different types of waste can be utilized. This information can then be used to determine the need for investment in, or expansion of, the capacity to handle specific waste types or to increase the overall waste collection capacity of the city.