Solid Waste Management in Urban Areas

Lecture 12: Towards Smart and Sustainable Solid Waste Management Solutions for Cities

• Lecture delivered by Haniyum Maria Khan, Senior Lecturer, ESM, NSU
• Focuses on smart and sustainable solutions for solid waste management in urban areas.

Exhibit 5: Urban Population Growth

• Urban population growth rates by city size (2009-2025)
• Cities with <1.0 million: 4.19% growth
• Cities with 1.0-2.5 million: 1.98% growth
• Cities with 2.5-5.0 million: 1.56% growth
• Cities with 5.0-10.0 million: 1.37% growth
• Cities with >10.0 million: 1.16% growth

Exhibit 6: The Infrastructure Life Cycle of Cities

• Typical City Expenditures and Emissions Trajectory
• Initial City Growth (Formative Period) includes infrastructure build-out, low energy consumption intensity
• Increasing City Wealth: Incremental infrastructure to keep pace with growth, increasing energy consumption with rising wealth/population
• City Maturation: City saturation requires minimal new build, consumption high, but leveling off
• Types of Expenditures: Power grid, road infrastructure, mass transit system, buildings

The Challenge

• (Visual representation of environmental problems associated with non-sustainable development).
• Solid waste, water, and wastewater pollution, GHG emissions, poverty and slums, social unrest, and air pollution are interconnected problems.

Global Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)

• Global urbanization and increasing incomes lead to a significant rise in MSW
• Urban inhabitants' waste generation: .64 kg/person/day to 1.2kg/p/d currently, and 1.42kg/p/d expected by 2025
• In Latin America and Caribbean (LAC), the total waste generation is 160 million tonnes annually, with an average per capita value of 1.1 kg/capita/day; Caribbean Region highest levels.

Waste Generation Per Capita

• Waste Generation Per Capita (kg/capita/day) Averages for different regions (OECD, LAC, MENA, AFR, SAR, ECA, EAP) shown for 2009-2025
• Comparison of waste Generation per capita across regions.

LAC, Africa, and S. Asia – Solid Waste Management Overview

• Approximately 60% of waste in LAC is disposed in landfills; outside capital cities, most waste is in open dumps
• Waste incineration is limited in the region, primarily due to costs.
• Composting (centralized) has not been effective
• Recycling is also limited

LAC, Africa, and S. Asia – Solid Waste Management Opportunities

• Municipal solid waste management in one of the most crucial services supplied by local governments.
• Implications on the city budget (e.g., GHGS, energy, employment, health, environmental protection, and resource utilization), and also in political image
• High organic content waste in these regions generates methane gas quickly.
• Methane capture can be utilized for energy.

Solid Waste Management Principles for Sustainable Cities

• Equity: Access to waste management for public health
• Effectiveness: Safe removal of waste
• Efficiency: Maximize benefits, minimize costs, and optimize resource use
• Sustainability: A technical, environmental, social, cultural, economic, financial, institutional, and political perspective.

Waste Pyramid

• Visual representation of waste management hierarchy (from top to bottom): Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Dispose

Waste – Energy Models/Practices

• Waste Reduction: prevention, minimization, and reuse of products.
• Recycling & Material Recovery (3Rs): Generating income and employment (e.g., by recycling construction waste).
• Composting and Biogas Production: composting of organic matter with oxygen (aerobic) for agricultural fertilizers or fuel; anaerobic digestion – methane collected for energy.
• Landfill/Methane Capture: Landfill gas (LFG) from decomposition is recovered & burned with or without energy recovery to reduce GHG emissions.
• Incineration/Gasification: Burning of waste to reduce volume, but without recovery, it leads to air and health problems.

Landfill Regulations

• Because of pollution, older landfills require regulations to minimize pollution (leachate and methane).
• Location Restriction: Landfills cannot be placed in floodplains, wetlands, fault zones, high-risk earthquake areas, unstable areas or near airports.
• Design: Modern landfills must incorporate liner systems, runoff collection systems, methane collection systems, groundwater monitoring systems, and post-closure caps.
• Operating: Compact and cover waste daily. Maintain methane and water collection systems. Control hazardous waste disposal within area.
• Groundwater Monitoring: Continual monitoring of groundwater for contamination.
• Closure/Post-Closure Monitoring and Corrective Action: Responsibility for post-closure pollution exists amongst owners and operators.
• Financing: Demonstration of financial capacity for maintaining a landfill.
• Landfill Construction: Engineered liners help stop water and pollutants from seeping into soil. Landfill construction often involves multiple layers of materials.

Waste to Energy Model – Gasification

• Benefits: Feedstock flexibility, product flexibility, near-zero emissions, high efficiency, energy security
• Challenges: High capital costs, institutionalized waste management system, economies of scale
• Comprehensive estimate for separated dried household waste: 1 ton input = 1.3-1.7 MW electric net output (~700 homes)

10-Year Framework of Programme (10 YFP) on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP)

• SCP is about promoting resource efficiency and sustainable infrastructure, creating new markets, and generating decent jobs.
• Helps developing nations leapfrog to more efficient and environmentally sound methods.
• Sustainable cities must consider compact land use, minimizing automobile use, efficient resource use, waste management, access, restoration of natural systems, and community participation

Durban Adaptation Charter

• Global agreement to improve urban data and plans.
• Adaptation and mitigation strategies need alignment. Promotion of the needs of vulnerable communities, ensuring sustainable local development.
• Prioritizing ecosystems and creating innovative funding mechanisms.

USAID CityLinks Program Supports Durban Adaptation Charter

• Peer-to-peer exchanges between Ft. Lauderdale/Broward County and City of Durban, South Africa.
• City of Durban learns from Broward's regional adaptation. Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact (regional model of adaptation development).
• Florida counties demonstrate sub-national engagement and cooperation to global adaptation.

Home Work

• Potential actions to manage garbage (e.g., incineration, sanitary landfills, composting, open dumps).
• Factors potentially resulting in landfill liner leakage.