Analyzing policy impact potential for municipal solid waste management decision-making: A case study of Taiwan

Decisions related to waste management were affected to contain the advance of the new coronavirus pandemic. Different measures have been adopted between countries around the world. This study aims to assess changes in decision-making on solid waste management in Brazil and Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic, considering the socioeconomic differences and the context of waste management in each country before the health crisis. A literature review was carried out on scientific bases, PubMed, Google Scholar and Web of Science. Differences were noted in decisions and guidelines for good practices in waste management, with measures being observed in a decentralized manner in Brazil, differently from what was observed in Portugal. In this way, the understanding of urban waste management during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil becomes complex, in addition to the territorial extension and the diverse social composition, due to the decentralization of decision-making, while Portugal centralizes decisions related to waste management and has a smaller population and territorial extension.

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Sustainable municipal solid waste management decision making

Management of Environmental Quality An International Journal ◽

10.1108/meq-03-2015-0028 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 26 (6) ◽

pp. 909-928 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Hacer Ak ◽

Washington Braida

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Waste Management ◽

Municipal Solid Waste ◽

Solid Waste ◽

Solid Waste Management ◽

Municipal Solid Waste Management ◽

Content Type ◽

Sustainability Index

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess a comprehensive model that computes a single score in order to evaluate the sustainability of the municipal solid waste management (MSWM) system of a given city. The model was applied to calculate the sustainability index for the MSWM of Istanbul, Turkey as a case study. Design/methodology/approach – Different sustainability indicators (including environmental, economical, and social parameters) along with exergy analysis were integrated to utilize an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) under a life cycle perspective. Findings – The Istanbul case study helped to verify that AHP is an effective and efficient decision-making tool. According to the analysis, the current MSWM system of Istanbul is sustainable, and the sustainability can be improved only by changing the amounts to be treated by the current system without any new technological investments. Research limitations/implications – The Municipal Solid Waste Management Sustainability Index (MSWMSI) in this study allowed to integrate large amount of information on interrelated parameters and the sustainability indicators in the whole life cycle into one value that is useful for a general or a comparative judgment and helpful in MSWM decision making. Originality/value – The fact that the weighting assigned to each component in the model is dependent on the decision makers’ evaluations enables the model to be tailored to any city of concern. The model allows the user to readily determine the relative contribution of each criterion or sub-criterion to the final MSWM selection. It is convenient to use and the computations can be run utilizing available specialized software as well as computing by hand.

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