Framework for life cycle sustainability assessment of municipal solid waste management systems with an application to a case study in Thailand

Abstract

At present, there are many environmental, economic and social problems associated with poor municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Thailand. The development of sustainable solid waste management systems is a crucial aspect and should be based on an integrated approach. Therefore, an integrated system was designed for Nonthaburi Municipality incorporating recycling, anaerobic digestion, incineration and landfill technologies. In order to assess sustainability, a clear methodology was developed via life cycle thinking and a set of endpoint composite indicators has been proposed considering the most critical ultimate damages/effects of MSW management on the environment, the economy and society. The results showed that the appropriate integration of technologies offers important prospects with regards to socio-economic and environmental aspects, contributing, therefore, to improved sustainability for the overall MSW management system. The methodology and the proposed indicators would be useful in strategic planning, including decision- and policy-making with respect to the development of appropriate sustainable MSW management systems.

Keywords

Municipal solid waste sustainability indicators integrated system LCA framework Thailand

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Brinck

Poulsen

Skov

(2011) Energy and greenhouse gas balances for a solid waste incineration plant: a case study. Waste Management & Research 29:13–19.

Dorini

Kapelan

Azapagic

(2011) Managing uncertainty in multiple-criteria decision making related to sustainability assessment. Clean Technologies & Environmental Policy 13: 133–139.

Finnveden

Hauschild

Ekvall

Guinée

Heijungs

Hellweg

. (2009) Recent developments in Life Cycle Assessment. Journal of Environmental Management 91: 1–21.

Fruergaard

Astrup

(2009) Energy use and recovery in waste management and implications for accounting of greenhouse gases and global warming contributions. Waste Management & Research 27: 724–737.

Giusti

(2009) A review of waste management practices and their impact on human health. Waste Management 29: 2227–2239.

Goedkoop

Heijungs

Huijbregts

De Schryver

Struijs

Van Zelm

(2009) ReCiPe model –2008 – A Life Cycle Impact Assessment Method which Comprises Harmonised Category Indicators at the Midpoint and the Endpoint Level. 1st edn. Report I: Characterization. Available at: http://www.lciarecipe.net (accessed 25 February 2010).

Guinée

Heijungs

Huppes

Zamagni

Masoni

Buonamici

. (2011) Life cycle assessment: Past, present, and future. Environmental Science & Technology 45: 90–96.

Hischier

St. Gallen

EMPA

(2007) Life cycle inventories of packaging and graphical papers. Eco-invent report no.11. Dübendorf: Swiss Centre for Life Cycle Inventories.

Huijbregts

MAJ

Hellweg

Frischknecht

Hungerbühler

Hendriks

(2008) Ecological footprint accounting in the life cycle assessment of products. Ecological Economics 64: 798–807.

10.

Hunkeler

(2006) Societal LCA methodology and case study. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 11(6): 371–382.

11.

Jeswani

Azapagic

Schepelmann

Ritthoff

(2010) Options for broadening and deepening the LCA approaches. Journal of Cleaner Production 18: 120–127.

12.

Kathiravale

Yunus

(2008) Waste to wealth. Asian Europe Journal 6: 359–371.

13.

Liamsanguan

Gheewala

(2008) LCA: A decision support tool for environmental assessment of MSW management systems. Journal of Environmental Management 87: 132–138.

14.

Lutz

Lekov

Chan

Whitehead

Meyers

McMahon

(2006) Life-cycle cost analysis of energy efficiency design options for residential furnaces and boilers. Energy 31: 311–329.

15.

Ngoc

Schnitzer

(2009) Sustainable solutions for solid waste management in Southeast Asian countries. Waste Management 29: 1982–1995.

16.

Nithikul

Karthikeyan

Visvanathan

(2010) Reject management from a Mechanical Biological Treatment plant in Bangkok, Thailand. Resources Conservation Recycling 55(4): 417–422.

17.

Ortiz

Castells

Sonnemann

(2009) Sustainability in the construction industry: A review of recent developments based on LCA. Construction and Building Materials 23: 28–39.

18.

PCD (2009) Vehicle Emission Data, Pollution Control Department, Thailand. Available at: http://infofile.pcd.go.th (accessed 10 December 2010)

19.

PRé Consultants (2001) The Eco-indicator 99 – a damage oriented method for life cycle assessment. Methodology report, the Netherlands. Available at: http://www.pre.nl/ (accessed 30 December 2008)

20.

PRé Consultants (2007) BUWAL 250, SimaPro 7.1 Manual. Amersfoort, the Netherlands.

21.

Reich

(2005) Economic assessment of municipal waste management systems-case studies using a combination of life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC). Journal of Cleaner Production 13: 253–263.

22.

Scotti

Bondavalli

Bodini

(2009) Ecological Footprint as a tool for local sustainability: The municipality of Piacenza (Italy) as a case study. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 29: 39–50.

23.

Steen

(2000) A systematic approach to environmental priority strategies in product development (EPS) Version 2000 – Models and data of the default method, CPM report 1999. Chalmers University of Technology, Environmental Systems Analysis.

24.

UNFCCC (2010) Biopower project at Charoensuk Starch Co. Ltd, Thailand. Project design document form (CDM_SSC_PDD) - version 03. Available at: http://cdm.unfccc.int (accessed 2 January 2011).

25.

Utne

(2009) Life cycle cost (LCC) as a tool for improving sustainability in the Norwegian fishing fleet. Journal of Cleaner Production 17: 335–344.

26.

Wackernagel

Monfreda

Moran

Wermer

Goldfinger

Deumling

Murray

(2005) National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts 2005: the Underlying Calculation Method. Oakland: Global Footprint Network.