Solid Waste Management in the Context of a Circular Economy in the MENA Region

Solid waste management in most MENA countries is characterized by lack of planning, improper disposal, inadequate collection services, inappropriate technologies that suit the local conditions and technical requirements, and insufficient funding. Therefore, waste management is mainly limited to collection, transportation, and disposal. As the circular economy has recently been given high priority on the MENA region’s political agenda, all MENA member states are seeking to move away from old-fashioned waste disposal, “waste management”, towards a more intelligent waste treatment, “resource efficiency”. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of national systems for municipal solid waste (MSW) management, and material and energy recovery as an important aspect thereof, in the context of the circular economy in selected countries in the MENA region. Since policy, regulation, and treatment technologies are traditionally connected to MSW management, the focus of this article is twofold. Firstly, it aims to identify the different practices of solid waste management employed in selected MENA region countries and their approaches to embracing the circular economy and, secondly, it examines the extent to which policies and technologies applied play any role in this context. The study revealed that most waste management issues in the countries analyzed appear to be due to political factors and the decentralized nature of waste management with multi-level management and responsibilities. In fact, material and energy recovery in the context of municipal solid waste management does not differ significantly in the countries in the MENA region considered. In most cases, “waste” is still seen as “trouble” rather than a resource. Therefore, a fresh vision on how the solid waste management system can be transformed into a circular economy is required; there is a need for paradigm shift from a linear economy model to a circular-economy model.

Universal Decision Support System for Selection of MSW Route Optimization Method

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) collection utilizes the highest percentage of the MSW management budget. Additionally, choosing a vehicle route optimization method is complex, difficult and does not always yield the most practical approach. There is limited published information about a decision support system (DSS) that assists in selecting the appropriate route optimization algorithm. This study aims to design and develop a universal DSS framework that suggests effective route optimization method(s). The system consists of 21 optimization data items and four criteria that assess the available constraints and recommends the most suitable optimization method(s). The DSS prototype was validated by testing it on the available literature and observing if the suggested method by the system complies with that utilized by the researchers. It was found that the system was able to predict the method which is used in 73% of studies. Moreover, the system suggested an enhanced version of the methods used in 18% of studies. It could be concluded that the proposed framework can help to select the best algorithms in almost all existing scenarios that have been used during development. Therefore, it is recommended to use the framework for selecting the appropriate route optimization algorithm for MSW collection.

The problem of solid waste: origins, composition, disposal, recycling, and reusing

Solid waste disposal is a major challenge in many industrialized and developing nations, both in metropolitan regions as well as rural ones. The collection and disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a serious issue facing metropolitan areas in many nations today. An effective MSW management strategy must satisfy all of these criteria: financial viability; technical feasibility; social and legal acceptability; and ecological friendliness. Small and large cities alike have a major difficulty in dealing with solid waste management. One of the current study topics is the valuation of food organic waste. Existing waste disposal methods include the typical landfill, incineration, composting, and other methods of handling solid waste. Composting and anaerobic digestion have traditionally been the most widely employed methods for the treatment and exploitation of the organic part of MSW (AD). The amount of organic solid waste (OSW) being generated globally is rising at an astronomical rate. Agricultural waste, domestic food waste, human and animal wastes, etc. comprise the majority of OSW. They're often used as animal feed, disposed of in landfills, or burnt. OAWs are made up of protein-, mineral-, and sugar-rich components that may be employed as substrates or raw materials in other processes.

From urban waste to urban farmers: Can we close the agriculture loop within the city bounds?

As urbanisation intensifies in Brazilian cities, life quality in urban centres becomes a challenge for policymakers, and transitioning urban systems to sustainability is required. Circular economy concepts may contribute to face them, especially those owing to municipal solid waste (MSW) management. Curitiba, a Brazilian municipality known for its innovative initiatives towards sustainability. Despite a long tradition in recycling inert waste, MSW system struggles to promote composting even considering a decade in force national law. Decentralised composting through the Urban Agriculture Program (UAP) is the city’s strategy to tackle this struggle. This strategy faces difficulties as, even if urban agriculture facilities seem to be a promising context, closing the agricultural loop within the city bounds was not possible in the 24 urban farmers communities trained in composting techniques. The literature has shown difficulties in government experiments to promote practices in the long run and several experiences in Brazil are already described. This study reveals cultural barriers that influence adoption of domestic composting, by following a secondary data review on past experiences with interviewing and observing participatively urban farms communities. From the fieldwork, cultural perspectives from four different relevant actor roles in the UAP were elaborated and conflicts between them revealed cultural barriers hindering composting practices adoption. Recommendations based on these barriers argue for bottom-up approaches for transition experiments and recognising the sense material and technical support makes to practitioners.

Determinants of Municipal Solid Waste in Urban Zone of Baglung Municipality, Nepal

The studies on the solid waste generation and characterization with their relationships with different determinants are limited in Nepal which helps in the implementation of the solid waste management approach. This study is focused on the quantification of the municipal solid waste (MSW) generation rate and its characterization in the Baglung Municipality, Nepal. Factors affecting MSW generation with perceptions towards the MSW management were also evaluated through household survey. The study was carried out in the month of January 2021 in four wards of urban zone in the municipality. The average waste generation rate in 188 households (HHs), 20 institutions, and 20 commercial sites were 0.43 kg/c/d, 0.83 kg/institute/day and 2.75 kg/commercial site/day, respectively. The largest component, which accounted for about 74% household waste, 75% institutional waste and 52% commercial waste composed of organic waste. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicates a significant variation in between MSW generation rate with respect to household size and type of days. Regarding affordability of MSW management, most of the households can be able to afford service fee ranged from US$ 0.5 to 1.0 (55.38%). Most of the households dispose of solid waste in the municipal vehicle. From this study, the residents of the municipality are suggested to prepare compost manure at the source for the minimization of waste volume to be transported and disposed of. Higher production of recyclable MSW depicts there is a possibility of revenue generation and importance of MSW management in community mobilization in the municipality.

Extended Theory of Planned Behavior for Predicting the Willingness to Pay for Municipal Solid Waste Management in Beijing

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management has become a problem in China, mainly since there is no uniform standard for MSW management charges, causing conflict between local residents and the government. An intelligent garbage sorting system (IGSS) is an effective sorting approach for MSW management. To explore the predictors of local residents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for the IGSS, this study applied an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model by adding an antecedent environmental concern (EC) prior to the main predictors of the TPB model (attitudes, subject norms, perceived behavioral control). The WTP of Beijing residents for MSW management and the determinants of WTP were analyzed. The specific amount of WTP was predicted by a contingent valuation method (CVM) in an online questionnaire, and the mean WTP was estimated to be USD 49.93 per household per year. The results showed a positive connection between EC and residents’ WTP, and most of the participants were willing to pay for the IGSS for MSW management.

Estimating economic value of household municipal solid waste reduction program: A willingness-to-accept (WTA) approach

This study is aimed at estimating economic value of municipal solid waste (MSW) reduction program in the Mekong Delta by employing the willingness-to-accept (WTA) approach. This research will address two important issues in current growing literature about MSW management. First, this is the first research to evaluate economic value of the MSW reduction program in Mekong Delta. The second major contribution is the approach employed - supply curve through the WTA. This program requires community participation and provision incentives to them, therefore the requirement of public acceptance through WTA is estimated. Findings reveal that people are willing to accept an average of 30,000 VND/month for the MSW reduction program. Assume that household's MSW management fee subsidy policy is canceled, and the household is facing a full fee for the MSW collection (about 150,000 VND/month), they are willing to classify MSW at source to get a reduction of 30,000 VND or they are willing to accept a fee of 120,000 VND/month. In addition, it is interesting that more than 70 percent of people are willing to participate in this program. The determinants of WTA identified include the type of MSW at the source, education level, type of urban areas. This research then proposes that MSW management implementation policy should be focused on motivating households and improving people's perception of MSW. In case of government budget deficit, community participation would be more appropriate to manage MSW.

A spatial decision support system for municipal solid waste landfill sites (case study: The Mazandaran Province, Iran)

Landfilling is an inevitable step for the municipal solid waste (MSW) management system in developing countries. This article presents a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) that was developed for the monitoring of municipal landfills and siting the new places for waste disposal at Mazandaran province, south of Caspian Sea, Iran. The effective criteria and evaluation constraints were chosen according to the Iran waste management law. The ArcGIS 10.4.1 software was used for creating a geospatial database and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used for ranking the criteria. By integrating the criteria, a suitability map was generated into four categories: high suitability, moderate suitability, low suitability and illegal areas. Using ArcGIS online, the maps were shared on a website that was specifically designed for this purpose. The decision-makers can check online the laws, the effective criteria and the results of spatial analysis for optimal siting. Also, the results of environmental evaluations for active landfills have been provided. Given the characteristics of active landfills and the optimal sites for the possible development, the SDSS can provide a mutually beneficial relationship between the experts, decision-makers and stakeholders to decide about the priority of actions required for the relocation of landfills, site closure or emergency care.

A System for the Inclusion of the Informal Recycling Sector (IRS) in Mexico City’s Solid Waste Management

With 19 million inhabitants, Mexico City is the most populated agglomeration in Latin America, concentrating 30% of the national population. More than 61% of municipal solid waste (MSW) is sent to landfills, and 13% of MSW is recovered by Informal Sector Recyclers (ISRs) for recycling, which is the most crucial treatment option in the city. This article adopts a systemic approach to addressing the problem of the operationalization of relationships between ISRs and public services in Mexico City to design a recursive organizational structure with the identification of the critical roles and functions of management and governance in multi-level and multi-stakeholder relationships to integrate ISRs into MSW management. Using the Viable System Model (VSM) recursive structure to propose functional organizational structures in Mexico City is a new route for the study and application of systemic thinking in ISR integration. The VSM of the recycling system in Mexico City considers the recycling activities and characteristics of the territory at each recursion level. The authorities of the corresponding hierarchical level, who have sufficient knowledge of the physical and socioeconomic characteristics of the territory, are responsible for the design and operations.