Material flow analysis and life cycle assessment of solid waste management in urban green areas, Thailand
- PDF / 2,486,280 Bytes
- 17 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 58 Downloads / 267 Views
Sustainable Environment Research
(2020) 30:21
RESEARCH
Open Access
Material flow analysis and life cycle assessment of solid waste management in urban green areas, Thailand Indika Thushari1, Juckrit Vicheanteab1 and Dao Janjaroen1,2*
Abstract This study presents solid waste management planning in an urban green area, Bangkok, Thailand based on the material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA). Global warming potential (GWP) of four scenarios for handling solid waste generated in Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park, 2018 was assessed concerning the different ratios of waste recycling, composting, incineration, and landfilling. The results show that alternative systems proposed will result in lower GWP than the existing waste management strategy. The MFA results reveal that the final weights of solid waste ending up in a landfill are 98.8, 101.9, 68.2, and 44.8 t yr− 1 for scenarios 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Increased rates of landfill diversion by increased recycling, composting, and incineration decreased the quantity of solid waste disposed to the landfill and improved the environmental profile of the park waste management system. The LCA results found landfilling to be the dominant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) burdens, while waste recycling was found to result in the reduction of GHG. The results highlight that the use of MFA and LCA as a combined tool to evaluate the environmental performance of solid waste management systems provides valuable information for policy and decision-makers. Keywords: Solid waste management, Global warming potential, Urban green areas, Material flow analysis, Life cycle assessment
Introduction Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is a critical issue in Thailand. In 2015, Thailand generated 26.9 Mt of MSW national wide, 16% of which was generated alone in the country’s capital, Bangkok. Even though the composition varies due to urbanization, population density, and income in different areas, the MSW in Thailand typically consists of about 51% of green/organic waste, 22% of plastic, 13% of paper, and 3% of glass. Pollution Control Department (PCD) has stated that 54% of collected waste in Thailand is properly disposed of, while the rest is incorrectly disposed of as open burning or illegal burning. The absence of an effective * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand 2 Research Unit Control of Emerging Micropollutants in Environment, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
integrated waste management system in the country creates many environmental, economic, and social problems [1, 2]. Figure S1 in Supplemental Material depicts the current waste management practices in Thailand. The waste management sector in any country is under increasing pressure to improve its environmental performance [3]. Solid waste management (SWM) is often a local responsibility in most countries. Limited resources and the capacity in local authorities as w
Data Loading...
