Waste Management Costs Research Articles

Athens-Biowaste Model: Cost and Carbon Footprint Calculation of the Collection at Source and Treatment of Biowaste

This paper gives a brief introduction of the so called “Athens Biowaste” model and demonstrates its outcomes through its application on three different case study areas. The model has been developed aiming to support municipalities in building a separate biowaste collection scheme, estimating the direct investment and operational costs and identifying the areas where substantial GHG savings in CO2 eq. could be achieved. The model has been applied in three different Municipalities, representing European urban, suburban and rural areas, varying in population and building characteristics. In all areas, two collection scheme types were examined, namely door-to-door and road containers schemes. All scenarios modelled showed that the investment cost for establishing a separate collection scheme was approximately 10€ per inhabitant using existing waste collection vehicles. Operational cost is directly linked to the type of the collection scheme applied, the participation rate and the collection frequency. The operational cost per tonne of biowaste was reduced approximately by 50 % when the participation rate increases from 25 to 64 %, while cost increased from 40 to 60 % in all examined cases when the collection frequency is doubled. GHG emissions are mostly dependent on waste treatment methods and to a lesser extent on the collection and transportation conditions. The Athens Biowaste model can assist Municipalities in evaluating different biowaste source separation schemes and estimating the level of influence on the total waste management cost and GHG emission savings.

Polyethylene recycling: Waste policy scenario analysis for the EU-27

This paper quantifies the main impacts that the adoption of the best recycling practices together with a reduction in the consumption of single-use plastic bags and the adoption of a kerbside collection system could have on the 27 Member States of the EU. The main consequences in terms of employment, waste management costs, emissions and energy use have been quantified for two scenarios of polyethylene (PE) waste production and recycling. That is to say, a “business as usual scenario”, where the 2012 performances of PE waste production and recycling are extrapolated to 2020, is compared to a “best practice scenario”, where the best available recycling practices are modelled together with the possible adoption of the amended Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive related to the consumption of single-use plastic bags and the implementation of a kerbside collection system. The main results show that socio-economic and environmental benefits can be generated across the EU by the implementation of the best practice scenario. In particular, estimations show a possible reduction of 4.4 million tonnes of non-recycled PE waste, together with a reduction of around €90 million in waste management costs in 2020 for the best practice scenario versus the business as usual scenario. An additional 35,622 jobs are also expected to be created. In environmental terms, the quantity of CO2 equivalent emissions could be reduced by around 1.46 million tonnes and the net energy requirements are expected to increase by 16.5 million GJ as a consequence of the reduction in the energy produced from waste. The main analysis provided in this paper, together with the data and the model presented, can be useful to identify the possible costs and benefits that the implementation of PE waste policies and Directives could generate for the EU.

A System Dynamics Model to Predict Municipal Waste Generation and Management Costs in Developing Areas

This paper utilized system dynamics modeling as a new analytical approach to predict both the municipal waste generated and the associated disposal costs in developing areas. This approach facilitates the decomposition of general waste into its main components to enable municipalities to manage recyclables and find out the feasibility of performing recycling better rather than disposal by performing comparative disposal cost analysis. This study is different from previous work as it only considers population as a factor to predict the total waste generated and recycled, together with the associated expenditure and disposal cost savings. The approach is verified by applying it to a case study in Nablus and demonstrates the evaluation of the quantity and composition of generated waste by considering population as the main influencing factor. The quantity and composition of municipal solid waste was evaluated to identify opportunities for waste recycling in the Nablus municipality. Municipal solid waste was collected and classified into eight main physical categories. The system dynamics model enable the quantity of each generated component such as plastic and metals to be anticipated together with the cost of recycling or disposal.

Eco-dialysis: the financial and ecological costs of dialysis waste products: is a 'cradle-to-cradle' model feasible for planet-friendly haemodialysis waste management?

Approximately 2 million chronic haemodialysis patients produce over 2,000,000 tons of waste per year that includes about 600,000 tons of potentially hazardous waste. The aim of the present study was to analyse the characteristics of the waste that is produced through chronic haemodialysis in an effort to identify strategies to reduce its environmental and financial impact. The study included three dialysis machines and disposables for bicarbonate dialysis, haemodiafiltration (HFR) and lactate dialysis. Hazardous waste is defined as waste that comes into contact with bodily fluids. The weight and cost of waste management was evaluated by various policies of differentiation, ranging from a careful-optimal differentiation to a careless one. The amount of time needed for optimal management was recorded in 30 dialysis sessions. Non-hazardous materials were assessed for potential recycling. The amount of plastic waste that is produced per dialysis session ranges from 1.5 to 8 kg (from 1.1 to 8 kg of potentially hazardous waste), depending upon the type of dialysis machine and supplies, differentiation and emptying policies. The financial cost of waste disposal is high, and is mainly related to hazardous waste disposal, with costs ranging from 2.2 to 16 Euro per session (2.7-21 USD) depending on the waste management policy. The average amount of time needed for careful, optimal differentiation disposal is approximately 1 minute for a haemodialysis session and 2 minutes for HFR. The ecological cost is likewise high: less than one-third of non-hazardous waste (23-28%) is potentially recyclable, while the use of different types of plastic, glues, inks and labels prevents the remaining materials from being recycled. Acknowledging the problem of waste management in dialysis could lead to savings of hundreds of millions of Dollars and to the reuse and recycling of hundreds of tons of plastic waste per year on a world-wide scale with considerable financial and ecological savings.

An innovative national health care waste management system in Kyrgyzstan.

A novel low-cost health care waste management system was implemented in all rural hospitals in Kyrgyzstan. The components of the Kyrgyz model include mechanical needle removers, segregation using autoclavable containers, safe transport and storage, autoclave treatment, documentation, recycling of sterilized plastic and metal parts, cement pits for anatomical waste, composting of garden wastes, training, equipment maintenance, and management by safety and quality committees. The gravity-displacement autoclaves were fitted with filters to remove pathogens from the air exhaust. Operating parameters for the autoclaves were determined by thermal and biological tests. A hospital survey showed an average 33% annual cost savings compared to previous costs for waste management. All general hospitals with >25 beds except in the capital Bishkek use the new system, corresponding to 67.3% of all hospital beds. The investment amounted to US$0.61 per capita covered. Acceptance of the new system by the staff, cost savings, revenues from recycled materials, documented improvements in occupational safety, capacity building, and institutionalization enhance the sustainability of the Kyrgyz health care waste management system.

Zasada rozszerzonej odpowiedzialności producenta w prawie gospodarki odpadami

A principle of extended producer’s responsibility in the law of waste management pursues the following aims of the waste management: 1) the maximum decrease in the amount of waste in any type of business and human existence, 2) the immediate reuse of production waste in a manufacturing process, 3) recovery of raw materials from collected waste, 4) application of processes to dispose of waste, 5) orderly waste storage ensuring the least damage to the environment. The overriding objective of this principle is application of legal instruments encouraging producers to undertake activities which will: prevent production of waste, decrease the level of using materials and energy at every stage of a product life cycle and encourage to introduce changes in the phase of a product design and during its manufacture. Broadly speaking, a principle of extended producer’s responsibility is connected with a producer’s financial liability for a product. In a legal structure of the extended producer’s responsibility we deal with preventive liability. This principle completes a principle of incurring costs of waste management.

Waste Management Services Utilization among Households in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Solid waste production from excessive consumption remains one of the most pressing global environmental challenges currently. Particularly for burgeoning cities of developing countries, rapid population growth tend to exacerbate the problem, with profound public health and environmental consequences. In Ghana, over 4.5 million tons of municipal solid waste is produced annually. Public waste management services are barely able to keep pace with the rate of solid waste production. Recently, private waste-management services have emerged as one possible solution, therefore opening a set of research questions among which being what factors influence households to utilize such services. Through a multi-stage random sample of 660 households, we explored household utilization of private solid-waste management services, specifically focusing on what socio-behavioural factors may help explain levels utilization. Descriptive statistics show that 68% of the respondents did not utilize private waste management services. Logistic regression analyses revealed gender (OR = 0.116, p = 0.003), perception of waste as a problem (OR= 0.234, p = 0.027), awareness of existing waste management options (OR = 5.561, p = 0.008), knowledge about waste management service providers (OR = 0.013, p = 0.001) and cost of waste management services (OR = 0.839, p < 0.001) as significant predictors of household waste management services utilization. We conclude with a discussion of the broader policy implications of our results in the context of addressing the growing menace of excessive solid waste production in the global south.

Estudo da relação entre a geração de resíduos sólidos domiciliares e o consumo de água e energia elétrica: alternativas de tarifação da coleta de resíduos sólidos

The municipality of Florianopolis, as well as many municipalities, is facing difficulties related to financing the costs of waste management, since the collection by the garbage collection fee, charged by the property tax, is insufficient to fund all expenses system. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between water and energy consumption with the production of municipal waste towards a new basis of calculation for determining the value of solid waste fee for the city of Florianopolis. The methodology consisted of daily weighing of RSW, reading of water consumption and electricity in two multifamily residential buildings, in addition to obtaining monthly data of MSW generation and consumption of water and electricity in two regions of the municipality. Data were statistically worked through regression analysis. The results indicate a rate of RSW per capita generation of 0.9 kg / capita / day for the regions studied and 0.6 kg / capita / day for multifamily condominiums. The results also showed a strong relationship between water consumption and electricity consumption with the generation of waste, when data were pooled treated for consumption ranges, showing it is possible to estimate the amount of RSD generated by a building from their water or electricity.

Municipal Solid Waste Management using Geographical Information System aided methods: a mini review.

Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) is one of the major environmental challenges in developing countries. Many efforts to reduce and recover the wastes have been made, but still land disposal of solid wastes is the most popular one. Finding an environmentally sound landfill site is a challenging task. This paper addresses a mini review on various aspects of MSWM (suitable landfill site selection, route optimization and public acceptance) using the Geographical Information System (GIS) coupled with other tools. The salient features of each of the integrated tools with GIS are discussed in this paper. It is also addressed how GIS can help in optimizing routes for collection of solid wastes from transfer stations to disposal sites to reduce the overall cost of solid waste management. A detailed approach on performing a public acceptance study of a proposed landfill site is presented in this study. The study will help municipal authorities to identify the most effective method of MSWM.

An assessment of the current municipal solid waste management system in Lahore, Pakistan.

The current status of solid waste management in Lahore, a metropolitan city of Pakistan, is reviewed in this article using an existing approach, the UN-Habitat city profile. This involves a systematic quantitative and qualitative assessment of physical components and governance features of the current waste management system. A material flow diagram (MFD) is developed, which allows visualisation of the current waste management system with all related inputs and outputs. This study shows that in the current system, waste collection and transportation is the main focus, however the collection coverage is only about 68%. There is no controlled or even semi-controlled waste disposal facility in Lahore. There is no official recycling system in the city. It is estimated that currently ~27% of waste by weight is being recycled through the informal sector. Making use of the organic content of the waste, a composting facility is operative in the city, producing 47,230 tonnes year(-1) of organic compost. Lahore does not perform very well in governance features. Inclusivity of users and providers of the waste management system is low in the city, as not all stakeholders are consulted in the decision making processes. Waste management costs US$20 per tonne of waste, where the main focus is only on waste collection, and the current user fees are much lower than the actual costs. This study recommends that recycling should be promoted by increasing public awareness and integrating the informal sector to make the current system sustainable and financially viable.

The Economics of Waste Management: Evidence from the Czech Republic and Slovakia

This article investigates conditions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to answer the following questions: Is there any evidence of an optimum mode of waste management provision? Do economies of scale exist in waste management in the Czech Republic? Data from the Czech Republic and Slovakia did not confirm internal or external provision of waste management services as better. The analysis of waste management costs in the Czech Republic did not confirm the existence of economies of scale; however, in municipalities with fewer than 4000 inhabitants, the cost curve is U shaped with an optimum somewhere at the level of 2000 inhabitants.

The socially optimal recycling rate: Evidence from Japan

This paper estimates the average social cost of municipal waste management as a function of the recycling rate. Social costs include all municipal costs and revenues, costs to recycling households to prepare materials estimated with an original method, external disposal costs, and external recycling benefits. Results suggest average social costs are minimized with recycling rates well below observed and mandated levels in Japan. Cost-minimizing municipalities are estimated to recycle less than the optimal rate. These results are robust to changes in the components of social costs, indicating that Japan and perhaps other developed countries may be setting inefficiently high recycling goals.

국내 사이클로트론 해체 사례 분석을 통한 해체 계획 비용 산정 방법 연구

의료용 사이클로트론 해체시 많은 양의 저준위 방사성 폐기물을 발생시키며 이에 따른 큰 해체 비용을 야기한다. 이에 국외에서는 동위원소 생산시설 도입시 해체 자금에 관한 계획을 제출할 것을 권고하고 있다. 해체 자금 계획 수립을 위해서는 해체 비용을 해체 활동과 시설의 구성 요소에 맞게 합리적으로 계산되어야 한다. 본 연구에서는 2012년 12월 수행된 국내 서울대학교병원 사이클로트론(TR-13) 해체 사례를 통하여 폐기 시나리오일 때의 방사성 폐기물 처리 비용을 분석하고 해체 비용 산정시 필요한 고려사항에 대해 살펴보고 향후 해체 자금 계획 수립에 필요한 사항을 도출하고자 하였다. Decommission of medical cyclotron give rise to a lot of low-level radioactive waste and costs. Decommissioning cost should be reasonably calculated according to the decommissioning activities and installed components of facilities. In this paper, we investigated the experience on the cyclotron relocation from SNUH(Seoul National University Hospital) to SKKU(Sungkyunkwan University) and analyzed radioactive waste management costs by applying the disposal scenarios. Also considerations for decommissioning cost estimation are reviewed. The results could be utilized as a basic data for establishment on the methodology of decommissioning cost estimation and evaluation.

Centrais de triagem de resíduos (CTR): uma solução para o gerenciamento em municípios de pequeno porte

No Brasil, os resíduos sólidos urbanos (RSU) ainda são depositados em locais irregulares. Algumas estratégias de gerenciamento podem mudar este cenário, como a redução da geração e a reciclagem de materiais, com a consequente disposição em aterro apenas do rejeito. A construção e o gerenciamento de aterros por municípios de pequeno porte é sempre difícil por apresentarem limitações financeiras e técnicas. As Centrais de Triagem de Resíduos (CTR) se constituem em uma solução viável considerando a possibilidade de melhorar a segregação e valorização dos materiais. O material triado é encaminhado à reciclagem ou à disposição em aterro. Esta solução pode ser consorciada, possibilidade regulamentada na Política Nacional dos Resíduos Sólidos, Lei 12.305 (BRASIL, 2010). O contexto apresentado motivou o presente trabalho que foi realizado em parceria, UFSM e FEPAM Regional Santa Maria/GERSEN. O objetivo traçado foi desenvolver um estudo para viabilizar a implantação de CTR em municípios de pequeno porte. Para conhecermos o perfil de geração dos pequenos municípios foram analisadas duas regiões localizadas no centro do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Cada uma dessas regiões foi composta por seis municípios. Os resultados demonstraram que o resíduo oriundo das áreas rurais é essencialmente reciclável, pois a fração orgânica que é separada na origem é reaproveitada e utilizada para produção de adubo ou é misturada à alimentação de animais. Assim, a parcela coletada e encaminhada à central de triagem apresenta alto aproveitamento, considerando posterior envio às empresas de reciclagem. Por outro lado, o resíduo gerado pela população urbana carece de uma melhor separação, a fim de reduzir o desperdício de materiais enviados para aterro. Este estudo permite afirmar que a implantação de CTR reduz os custos de gerenciamento de resíduos para os municípios, especialmente os de pequeno porte, pois é uma oportunidade de agregar valor à fração coletada e reduzir o volume a ser encaminhado ao aterro. A organização do setor a partir das Centrais, possibilita a implantação de programas de coleta seletiva e de educação ambiental, além do atendimento da Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos.

Grease waste and sewage sludge co-digestion enhancement by thermal hydrolysis: batch and fed-batch assays.

Grease waste (GW) is an adequate substrate for sewage sludge co-digestion since, coming from a waste water treatment plant, it has a high methane potential (489 NmLCH(4)/gVSin); however, no synergistic effect takes place when co-digesting with 52%VS grease. Conversely, thermal hydrolysis (TH) improves the anaerobic digestion of GW (43% higher kinetics) and biological sludge (29% more methane potential). Therefore, the application of TH to a co-digestion process was further studied. First, biochemical methane potential tests showed that the best configuration to implement the TH to the co-digestion process is pretreating the biological sludge alone, providing a 7.5% higher methane production (398 NmLCH(4)/gVSin), 20% faster kinetics and no lag-phase. Its implementation in a fed-batch operation resulted in considerable methane production (363 NmLCH(4)/gVSin) and TH improved the rheology and dewaterability properties of the digestate. This leads to important economical savings when combined with co-digestion, reducing final waste management costs and showing interesting potential for full-scale application.

High-Performance Water-Based Drilling Fluids Offshore Cameroon

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 163502, ’High-Performance Water-Based Drilling Fluids: An Environmentally Friendly Fluid System Achieving Superior Shale Stabilization While Meeting Discharge Requirement Offshore Cameroon,’ by Anuradee Witthayapanyanon, SPE, Baker Hughes; Jerome Leleux, SPE, Julien Vuillemet, Ronan Morvan, and Andre Pomian, Perenco; and Alain Denax and Ronald Bland, SPE, Baker Hughes, prepared for the 2013 SPE/IADC Drilling Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, 5-7 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Historically, invert-emulsion drilling fluids are the preferred system for drilling offshore Cameroon. However, with a regulatory environment moving toward zero discharge, associated costs are rising. Therefore, an operator planning to drill in this environment investigated high-performance water-based-mud (HPWBM) -system alternatives. HPWBM systems offer the potential advantage of offshore discharge of drilled cuttings and effluents (owing to the absence of oil contamination) and lowered waste-management costs. Experience in the field demonstrated that the selected drilling fluid met expectations by achieving the required drilling performance and high shale stabilization with zero environmental impact. Introduction Drilling with an overbalanced pressure is a common operational technique used to prevent formation fluids or gas from entering the wellbore, thereby minimizing the risk of well kick and blowout. However, overbalanced drilling can cause drilling fluid to invade the formation, resulting in formation damage, differential sticking, and sloughing if the formation consists of highly reactive clay and shale. To avoid these consequences, invert-emulsion drilling fluids have always been preferable for drilling highly reactive clays and shale formations. The HPWBM system is formulated with a concept of total inhibition. Unlike a conventional water-based-mud system, designed chemical additives are used explicitly in the formulation to achieve desired drilling characteristics that are similar to those of invert-emulsion mud. The key features of HPWBM systems include high shale stability, clay and cuttings inhibition, rate-of-penetration (ROP) enhancement, minimized bit balling and accretion, torque and drag reduction, and environmental compliance. A complementary benefit of its aqueous base is that HPWBM captures the growing need for more-environmentally- friendly drilling fluids. During the past 10 years, more-stringent regulations on drilling-waste disposal have been implemented worldwide. The industry anticipates that the zero discharge of oil-contaminated drilling wastes will soon be the global standard. By switching from invert-emulsion drilling fluids (oil-/synthetic- based mud) to an HPWBM system, operators can achieve substantial cost savings on waste management and logistics. These savings result from the use of on-site, offshore discharge allowed by an absence of oil contamination.

Model of cost and price relationships for municipal waste management of the Czech Republic

Presented paper Model of cost and price relationships for municipal waste management of the Czech Republic introduces an integrated waste management model of the Czech Republic which was developed as a balanced network model for a set of sources (mostly municipalities) of municipal solid waste (MSW) connected with a set of chosen waste treatment facilities processing their waste. Model is implemented as a combination of four models including environmental and economic point of view. It enables to formulate the optimisation problem in a concise way and the resulting model is easily scalable. It can be used for waste management planning as a decision support tool. In this case, aggregated emissions of greenhouse gases expressed as CO2 equivalent have been minimised. Model involves composting energy utilization, material recycling, and landfilling. Its size (number of sources and facilities) depends only upon available data. Its application was used as a decision support tool in the case study of optimizing the planning allocation of potential facilities of waste management of the Czech Republic.

Accurate technetium-99 determination using the combination of TEVA resin pretreatment and ICP-MS measurement and its influence on the Tc-99/Cs-137 scaling factor calculation

Accurate determination of technetium-99 (Tc-99) is very important because any overestimation will cause the examined radioactive wastes to be categorized into super C class, which dramatically increases the cost of waste management. Herein, we demonstrated that by adopting the analytical method comprising TEVA resin pretreatment and ICP-MS measurement, the determined Tc-99 concentrations in representative waste stream samples from the Lan-Yu low-level radioactive waste temporary storage site in Taiwan were approximately two orders of magnitude lower than those determined from the beta radiation measurement using a low background liquid scintillation counter. Two important concerns emerged from our results. First, severe interferences from other nuclides residing in the matrix considerably affect the determination of Tc-99, even when a low background liquid scintillation counter was used. Second, the currently used Tc-99/Cs-137 scaling factor should be carefully revised, or it might lead to a considerable overestimation of the Tc-99 concentration.

Wine: looking ahead

Not available.

Benefits and costs of alternative healthcare waste management: an example of the largest hospital of Nepal.

Management of health-care waste is an essential task, which has important consequences for public health and the well-being of society. Economic evaluation is important for strategic planning and investment programming for health-care waste management (HWM). A cost-benefit analysis of an alternative method of HWM in Bir hospital, Nepal was carried out using data recently collected from primary sources. Data were collected using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods. Costs and benefits were measured in Nepalese rupees. The values of all inputs were costs associated with the alternative HWM. Benefits were defined as the reduction in cost of transportation; money obtained from selling of recycled waste; and risk reduction, among others. Break-even analysis and calculations of benefit-cost ratio were used to assess the alternative HWM. The alternative HWM reduces the cost of waste disposal by almost 33% per month, owing to reduction in the amount of waste for disposal. The hospital earns 3 Nepalese rupees per bed per day. The results suggest that a break-even point for costs and benefits occurs when 40% of the total beds of the hospital are covered by the alternative HWM, if the bed occupancy rate is at least 68%. If the alternative HWM is introduced in the hospital system, hospitals can reach the break-even point at 40 to 152 beds, depending on their performance in HWM. The results show the economic feasibility and financial sustainability of the alternative HWM. This alternative method of HWM is a successful candidate for replication in all public and private hospitals in Nepal.