Development of performance indicators for municipal solid waste management (PIMS): A review

A system dynamics model and analytical hierarchy process: an integrated approach for achieving sustainable solid waste management system

Waste management in low-income countries faces challenges with an average cost of $35/ton approximately 51% collection efficiency. Despite investments in treatment, processing, and recycling, the system remains unsustainable owing to poor planning and policies. The current analysis of Lahore's solid waste management (SWM) system, selected as a major city of a low-income country as a case study, focuses on collection efficiency and waste generation. However, it neglects the complex and dynamic nature of SWM systems. To capture the complexities and dynamic nature of the SWM system, system dynamic (SD) modeling is proposed for its effectiveness in modeling complex and dynamic systems. Unlike previous attempts at SD modeling that mostly consider only some components of the SWM system with varying success, this study attempts to use a holistic approach by considering all aspects of an integrated SWM system. In addition, this study explores different financial and management policies, highlighting the weaknesses of the system through a quantitative comparison of three scenarios: (1) business-as-usual (BAU) which considers the current trends in waste generation and practices of collection and disposal to landfill, (2) waste treatment system (WTS) in which various waste treatment systems are included to reduce burden on landfill, and (3) introduction of user fee with awareness campaigns (UFAC) which encourages community participation towards reduction in waste generation and financially supports the SWM. All three scenarios use four indices: waste generation, waste ending up in landfill, uncollected waste, and annual budget deficit as performance indices. These scenarios were simulated over a 25-year period using an SD model, covering all six components of the SWM system. The BAU scenario shows a 16% increase in waste generation, a 173% increase in landfill waste, an 11% reduction in uncollected waste, and a 64% increase in the budget deficit over the simulation period, indicating an unsustainable SWM system. The WTS scenario exhibits a 16% increase in waste generation, a 155% increase in landfill waste, an 11% reduction in uncollected waste, and a 61% increase in the budget deficit, showing a significant reduction in landfill waste and a slight reduction in deficit but it remains unsustainable. The UFAC scenario, however, results in a 40% reduction in waste generation, a 67% decrease in uncollected waste, an 8% decrease in landfill waste, and a 59% decrease in the budget deficit. These results demonstrate that instituting user fees for SWM services and incentivizing community participation towards waste reduction and segregation can make the SWM system of Lahore sustainable. This SD model provides insights for policymakers, aiding what-if analyses and long/short-term waste management plans for metropolitan cities in low-income countries. To validate the sustainability judgments based on performance indices, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) tool commonly used for ranking policy decisions based on competing criteria, was employed. It considered the same four criteria as in the SD model. The results of the AHP analysis aligned with those of the SD model, ranking the UFAC scenario as the most sustainable option.

Quantifying odour impacts from aged organic waste to be considered as a priority constraint in route optimization for waste collection trucks

Route optimization has been used for years to plan the routes for municipal solid waste (MSW) collection trucks to achieve cost reductions. Historically, optimized routes had overlooked a number of aspects and parameters in their design. This study aims to consider MSW odour detection as a performance indicator and a priority constraint in the optimization process by quantifying the impact of objectionable odours from uncollected aged MSW that contains a high percentage of food waste (typically called wet garbage). Odours from 48 aged food waste samples were rated on a scale from 0 to 3 to mark the beginning of the critical time of objectionable odour detection. The critical time was found to take place approximately at the hour 13.6, which was then used, along with the estimated food waste weight in the bin, to define the beginning of a time window that puts the bin on a high priority status for collection over the other, less odoriferous bins. Three optimization scenarios for collection of 100 MSW bins in the city of Madaba, Jordan, were conducted under different constraints: least travelled distance, maximum collected volume and least odour impact. Without the application of the odour consideration, a total travelled distance of 143 km was the shortest travelled distance achieved, with 53 bins emitting odours and leaving 81 m³ of uncollected waste. However, when odour impact was the main routing constraint, a total travelled distance of 161 km was needed and 13 m³ of waste was left uncollected.

Assessment of potential environmental impacts and sustainable management of municipal solid waste using the DPSIRO framework: a case study of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

The generation of municipal solid waste is increasing globally and poses a negative impact on society, the economy, and the environment. Applying an integrated system for managing MSW and recovering the material for the production of new products can reduce the negative impacts on the environment. The aim of this paper is to apply the DPSIRO framework to develop a system that reduces the negative impacts of MSW in Bahir Dar city in a sustainable way. The study started by identifying the main driving forces that led to the generation of MSW. Then, pressures and states of the environment resulting from driving forces were investigated. Next, the consequent impacts through driving forces, pressure, and state are identified. Finally, the appropriate responses and outcomes obtained from the responses were studied. Numerical models were used to quantify GHG emissions, leachate, and eutrophication potential. According to the findings, the waste disposal site emits about 46 Gg of greenhouse gases per year in 2020. The eutrophication capacity of organic waste generated in the city was 0.0594 kg N-equivalent or 59.4 g N-equivalent. The waste also contains an average of 1112 mm of leachate per day on an annual basis. The state of the environment has an impact on human health and the ecosystem. Implementing a circular economic system, knowledge transfer, and waste management fees are the main responses suggested to decision and policymakers. The outcomes were quantified in terms of organic fertilizer, income, and renewable energy (briquette) when the actions were taken.

Assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of packaging waste EPR schemes in Europe

This paper provides an analysis of the performance of European packaging waste systems, focusing on Extended Producer Responsibility schemes and Producer Responsibility Organizations. We adopt two separate but complementary empirical analysis: i) an indicator-based assessment of the cost-efficiency and recycling effectiveness of PROs; ii) a regression analysis of the determinants of recycling rates at the national level. The analysis spans over 25 national schemes and 21 Producer Responsibility Organizations. Our findings show that systems that have higher recycling rates do not entail necessarily higher costs. Non-competitive systems are more successful in increasing recycling rates no matter the cost; moreover, they are better able to use funds collected from EPR fees charged to producers, delivering improved cost-efficiency. Furthermore, higher recycling rates are associated with systems in which local authorities retain the operational responsibility of collection. Systems that do not involve local authorities always underperform. The policy implications are clear: local authorities should have some responsibility for collecting and sorting packaging waste and competitive systems should not be looked at as a first choice when designing a national recycling strategy. A mix of policy schemes, including non-profit EPR, door-to-door collection and Deposit-Refund-Schemes can be effective strategies for increasing the recycling rates of the waste streams that need more intervention, most notably plastic packaging.

Nonlinear impact of municipal solid waste recycling and energy efficiency on environmental performance and economic growth: evidence from non-parametric causality-in-quantiles

Waste recycling significantly contributes to reducing carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases, leading to enhanced environmental performance and safeguards natural resources. Therefore, this study examines municipal solid waste recycling and energy efficiency's impact on the environmental performance and economic well-being of the USA. Some studies have emphasized the usefulness of MSW and its indicators, but most of them are survey-based and illustrate the scientific process of disposing of waste. Hence, the study intends to analyze the connection among considered variables using the recently developed and advanced estimation procedure of nonparametric causality in quantile approach by analyzing the quarterly dataset for 1990(Q1) till 2018(Q4). Through this technique, we have examined the causal relationships in different quantiles. The causality-in-quantile outcome indicates the acceptance of the null hypothesis in different quantiles, especially at low and high tail quantiles, while at some quantiles, the null hypothesis rejection is highlighted. This study suggests valuable implications for future studies, government, environmentalists, and policymakers.

Indicators and ICTs application for municipal waste management

The worldwide populace is rising steadily. Urbanization is likewise expanding quickly with the rising populace. Fast urbanization has considerably increased the generation of municipal solid waste (MSW). The MSW management issues have recently been analyzed through various assessment indicators and information and communication technologies (ICTs). This article provides an overview of applications of assessment indicators and ICTs for addressing the environmental issues of waste disposal and management in municipalities. The selection of indicators mainly depends on the stakeholders' specific requirements, such as waste management strategies, urban planning and development, human health, and energy generation. The literature analysis revealed that collection, sorting, recycling, cost efficiency, and environmental aspect were the leading indicators used in waste management studies. And these indicators reduce the complexity of systems and formulate evaluations easier for the decision-maker. Moreover, these are also helpful in assessing the improvement and reporting the waste condition to the expert. These analysis further revealed that information and communication technology is a requirement in the planning and managing of current solid waste disposal problems. The use of ICTs in waste management systems mitigates possible constraints regarding spot selection, inept waste disposal, waste collection monitoring, and proper recycling.

Developing an effectiveness index for biomedical waste management in Indian states using a composite indicators approach

The waste from healthcare facilities (HCFs) is most devastating as they induce health hazards and pollute the environment. The effective management of biomedical waste is an essential function of the state governments, depending on state policies and facilities in HCFs. The performance assessment at the state level provides explanatory information for the decision-makers to dispose of biomedical waste. Therefore, this paper aims to establish an effectiveness index for assessing the performance of biomedical waste management for the Indian states. The designed conceptual framework, which acts as the building block for the index, interlinks the technical, managerial, and sustainability dimensions. To assess the existing waste management practices, significant sub-indicators are analyzed for India's northern and southern states. The indicators are transformed into comparable units using the proportionate normalization technique. The weight to the respective indicators follows the entropy method and additive aggregation to form the indices for various states. The developed index allows comparing management practices among the states and highlights the alarming situation. Based on the magnitude of indices values, states are categorized as red, yellow, and green zones. The robustness of the model is validated by performing sensitivity analysis and the cluster analysis tests the reliability of indicators and categorization of states with the existing methodology. The analysis will be useful to the decision-makers of state pollution boards by providing special attention to capacity building and waste prevention technologies.

Effects of improved information and volunteer support on segregation of solid waste at the household level in urban settings in Madhya Pradesh, India (I-MISS): protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Segregation of household waste at the source is an effective and sustainable strategy for management of municipal waste. However, household segregation levels remain insufficient as waste management approaches are mostly top down and lack local support. The realisation and recognition of effective, improved and adequate waste management may be one of the vital drivers for attaining environmental protection and improved health and well-being. The presence of a local level motivator may promote household waste segregation and ultimately pro-environmental behaviour. The present cluster randomized control trial aims to understand if volunteer based information on waste segregation (I-MISS) can effectively promote increased waste segregation practices at the household level when compared with existing routine waste segregation information in an urban Indian setting.

METHODS

This paper describes the protocol of an 18 month two-group parallel,cluster randomised controlled trialin the urban setting of Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India. Randomization will be conducted at ward level, which is the last administrative unit of the municipality. The study will recruit 425 households in intervention and control groups. Assessments will be performed at baseline (0 months), midline (6 months), end line (12 months) and post intervention (18 months). The primary outcome will be the comparison of change in proportion of households practicing waste segregation and change in proportion of mis-sorted waste across the study period between the intervention and control groups as assessed by pick analysis. Intention to treat analysis will be conducted. Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants.

DISCUSSION

The present study is designed to study whether an external motivator, a volunteer selected from the participating community and empowered with adequate training, could disseminate waste segregation information to their community, thus promoting household waste segregation and ultimately pro-environmental behaviour. The study envisages that the volunteers could link waste management service providers and the community, give a local perspective to waste management, and help to change community habits through information, constant communication and feedback.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study is registered prospectively with Indian Council of Medical Research- Clinical Trial Registry of India ( CTRI/2020/03/024278 ).

Sustainability indicators for municipal solid waste management: A case study of the Recife Metropolitan Region, Brazil

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Brazil faces major challenges in order to meet the requirements proposed by the National Solid Waste Policy, which has been in force since 2010 and complicates decision-making, especially in small municipalities. In this context, sustainability indicators are important support tools that help in setting out performance actions for municipal sustainable development. The main objective of this article is to evaluate the four sustainability dimensions (social, environmental, economic, and legal/institutional) using sustainability indicators for MSW management in the Recife Metropolitan Region (RMR) in Northeast Brazil. To do this, the progress of the region was evaluated against the principal goals and guidelines proposed by solid waste plans and by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It was found that some progress has been achieved in recent years, such as the closure of dumps, a reduction of the per capita MSW mass collected, and an increase in the coverage rate for solid household waste collection. However, selective collection and financial autonomy still fall well short of the region's goals. According to the results of this study, municipalities in the RMR require more environmental education and joint actions involving government, the private sector, and the general population.

Economic Inefficiency Levels of Urban Solid Waste Management Services in Portugal

Key performance indicators (KPI) are widely used tools to evaluate the economic (in)efficiency of services, including the ones devoted to urban solid waste management. Regulatory exercises are, then, mostly based on the outputs from KPIs, raising some questions about their validity. In theory, other more appropriate tools could be used to estimate those efficiency levels. This study evaluates the economic inefficiency level of urban solid waste management services in Portugal (2010–2017) through the adoption of partial frontier benchmarking models (order-m) coupled with weight restrictions. That way, the constructed model can evaluate the performance of those services under some regulatory and sustainability requirements. Then, estimated efficiency levels and some common KPIs are compared in order to understand if the latter are sufficient to explain the economic efficiency. The novelty of this research lies in two main aspects: (a) the utilization of a robust order-α model coupled with weight restrictions linked to regulatory and sustainability impositions to estimate efficiency, and (b) the comparison of economic efficiency and some commonly used KPIs, including waste fractions and recycling rate. Results point towards efficiency distributions that follow Weibull functions, with the average close to 50%; thus, nearly half of the resources have been well spent in municipal solid waste management services since 2010 onwards. Nonetheless, in an efficient system, that average would be close to 100%. Additionally, the considered management related KPIs do not exhibit any relationship with economic efficiency, which means that their interpretation and usefulness for regulatory issues are both limited and should be used carefully. In other words, those KPIs are not good performance drivers and carry no capacity to explain economic (in)efficiency in urban solid waste management services.

Technical indicators to improve municipal solid waste management in developing countries: A case in Mexico

Nowadays, increasingly complex sets of indicators are used to compare and diagnose municipal solid waste management (MSWM). These sets incorporate new priorities regarding sustainability and focus on measuring the progress to zero waste. Nevertheless, in developing countries, where MSWM is still striving to protect health from the potential impacts of waste, the MSWM information available is scarce and of low quality. This work proposes a basic set of indicators for analyzing technical aspects of street cleaning, waste collection and disposal in such contexts. Based on the assessment of 66 Mexican municipalities, ten indicators were identified that can be calculated with the information available. For each indicator, reference values were established, and their performance was evaluated by means of a traffic light system. In addition, a method that allows the quality of the information to be classified into four levels according to the data source, its uncertainty, the temporal coverage, and its spatial coverage was applied. The results obtained revealed an incipient implementation of MSWM and highlighted the need to increase the coverage of the collection services and to improve the conditions of the disposal sites in most of the municipalities that were studied. The proposed set of indicators can be used as a starting point to systematize the monitoring and detection of areas of improvement in the MSWM of the municipalities studied, as well as in other systems in similar contexts.

Are municipal waste utilities becoming sustainable? A framework to assess and communicate progress

A framework of indicators to assess the progress towards sustainability of municipal waste management utilities is developed. Its purpose is to fulfil the need for assessing the performance of municipal waste (MW) management in a simple but comprehensive way-unlike indicators based on individual aspects such as recycling-and including aspects not well considered before, such as waste prevention. The framework is composed of a set of six single indicators, concerning the three dimensions of sustainability: reduction of effectively landfilled MW and reduction of MW generation (environmental component), balance between expenses and revenues and reduction of costs (economic component), accessibility to separate collection and number of complaints (social component). Each indicator consists of an evaluation of the current status of the variable in contrast to a previous situation, with a positive value in case of improvement or negative in case of decline. Then, the values of the individual indicators are combined to obtain a global result. This approach focuses on dynamic progress towards sustainability, complementing the common static indicators. Contrarily to the existing performance indicator schemes, the proposed framework aims at measuring the progress and not the absolute or relative achievement of a waste management utility. The framework was tested on two Portuguese municipalities, proving to be a straightforward application and reliable in guiding stakeholders. Results for the case study showed good performance on economic sustainability, while environmental and social performance were lower due to a lack of strategies for waste prevention and low source separation, affected by poor accessibility to separate collection.

Performance in the treatment of municipal waste: Are European Union member states so different?

Efficient management and treatment of municipal waste is essential for achieving green growth. Recent studies have revealed convergence in European Union (EU) member states' performance in municipal waste treatment, particularly since the transposition of the 2008 European Waste Framework Directive into national laws. However, there are still notable differences between countries. In this paper, we calculate a composite indicator of performance in municipal waste treatment at the country-level. We also present an in-depth examination of differences in performance across EU member states. Our results show that the best performers-mainly high income Northern and Central European countries-treat larger quantities of waste per capita, mostly through recycling and composting and digestion. At the opposite end of the ranking, the worst performers-mostly poorer Eastern European countries-treat smaller amounts of waste per capita, largely through landfilling. Our main conclusion is that further policy measures aimed at reducing cross-country differences in waste treatment performance are needed in the EU.

Benchmarking operational efficiency in waste collection: Discussion of current approaches and possible alternatives

Efficiency assessment and benchmarking are crucial for managing any organization. However, especially from a regulatory perspective, such efficiency assessment and benchmarking must be unbiased from context-specific issues and should provide an absolute rating, rather than a relative one. The current work reviews the approaches used for performance assessment and benchmarking waste collection services, revealing that the majority are biased and are not absolute, and proposes two alternative context-unbiased and absolute performance indicators, the collection capacity use (CCU) and the segregated waste collection efficiency (SWE). The proposed indicators were calculated for 246 utilities operating in Portugal. The utilities were then ranked accordingly, and their position was compared with the position attained using the equivalent performance indicators in the system currently in use by the Portuguese service regulator. The results reveal ranking differences of over 50 positions and illustrate how misleading the results from context-biased and relative metrics can be.

Performance and convergence in municipal waste treatment in the European Union

This paper assesses performance and convergence in the treatment of municipal waste by the members of the European Union-27 (EU-27) during the period 1995-2016. First, a composite indicator of performance -including landfill, incineration, recycling, and composting and digestion as treatment operations- is computed with Data Envelopment Analysis and Multi-Criteria-Decision-Making techniques at country and year levels. Then, convergence is assessed using the techniques proposed by Phillips and Sul (2007, 2009) and, more recently, by Kong et al. (2017). The best performers are Central and Northern European countries such as Denmark, Austria and Germany, whereas the worst are some Eastern European countries that joined the European Union in the 2000s. Furthermore, performance has largely converged among EU-27 countries since the enactment of the current Waste Framework Directive in 2008.

Municipal solid waste in Brazil: A review

The production of municipal solid waste (MSW) represents one of the greatest challenges currently faced by waste managers all around the world. In Brazil, the situation with regard to solid waste management is still deficient in many aspects. In 2015, only 58.7% of the MSW collected in Brazilian cities received appropriate final disposal. It was only as late as 2010 that Brazil established the National Policy on Solid Waste (NPSW) based on the legislation and programmes established in the 1970s in more developed countries. However, the situation with regard to MSW management has changed little since the implementation of the NPSW. Recent data show that, in Brazil, disposal in sanitary landfills is practically the only management approach to MSW. Contrary to expectations, despite the economic recession in 2015 the total annual amount of MSW generated nationwide increased by 1.7%, while in the same period the Brazilian population grew by 0.8% and economic activity decreased by 3.8%. The article describes the panorama with regard to MSW in Brazil from generation to final disposal and discusses the issues related to the delay in implementing the NPSW. The collection of recyclable material, the recycling process, the application of reverse logistics and the determination of the gravimetric composition of MSW in Brazil are also addressed in this article. Finally, a brief comparison is made between MSW management in Brazil and in other countries, the barriers to developing effective waste disposal systems are discussed and some recommendations for future MSW management development in Brazil are given.

Optimal control of greenhouse gas emissions and system cost for integrated municipal solid waste management with considering a hierarchical structure

This study presents a synergic optimization of control for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and system cost in integrated municipal solid waste (MSW) management on a basis of bi-level programming. The bi-level programming is formulated by integrating minimizations of GHG emissions at the leader level and system cost at the follower level into a general MSW framework. Different from traditional single- or multi-objective approaches, the proposed bi-level programming is capable of not only addressing the tradeoffs but also dealing with the leader-follower relationship between different decision makers, who have dissimilar perspectives interests. GHG emission control is placed at the leader level could emphasize the significant environmental concern in MSW management. A bi-level decision-making process based on satisfactory degree is then suitable for solving highly nonlinear problems with computationally effectiveness. The capabilities and effectiveness of the proposed bi-level programming are illustrated by an application of a MSW management problem in Canada. Results show that the obtained optimal management strategy can bring considerable revenues, approximately from 76 to 97 million dollars. Considering control of GHG emissions, it would give priority to the development of the recycling facility throughout the whole period, especially in latter periods. In terms of capacity, the existing landfill is enough in the future 30 years without development of new landfills, while expansion to the composting and recycling facilities should be paid more attention.

Global reverse supply chain design for solid waste recycling under uncertainties and carbon emission constraint

The emergence of concerns over environmental protection, resource conservation as well as the development of logistics operations and manufacturing technology has led several countries to implement formal collection and recycling systems of solid waste. Such recycling system has the benefits of reducing environmental pollution, boosting the economy by creating new jobs, and generating income from trading the recyclable materials. This leads to the formation of a global reverse supply chain (GRSC) of solid waste. In this paper, we investigate the design of such a GRSC with a special emphasis on three aspects; (1) uncertainty of waste collection levels, (2) associated carbon emissions, and (3) challenges posed by the supply chain's global aspect, particularly the maritime transportation costs and currency exchange rates. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to integrate the three above-mentioned important aspects in the design of a GRSC. We have used mixed integer-linear programming method along with robust optimization to develop the model which is validated using a sample case study of e-waste management. Our results show that using a robust model by taking the complex interactions characterizing global reverse supply chain networks into account, we can create a better GRSC. The effect of uncertainties and carbon constraints on decisions to reduce costs and emissions are also shown.

Assessment strategies for municipal selective waste collection schemes

An important strategy to promote a strong sustainable growth relies on an efficient municipal waste management, and phasing out waste landfilling through waste prevention and recycling emerges as a major target. For this purpose, effective collection schemes are required, in particular those regarding selective waste collection, pursuing a more efficient and high quality recycling of reusable materials. This paper addresses the assessment and benchmarking of selective collection schemes, relevant to guide future operational improvements. In particular, the assessment is based on the monitoring and statistical analysis of a core-set of performance indicators that highlights collection trends, complemented with a performance index that gathers a weighted linear combination of these indicators. This combined analysis underlines a potential tool to support decision makers involved in the process of selecting the collection scheme with best overall performance. The presented approach was applied to a case study conducted in Oporto Municipality, with data gathered from two distinct selective collection schemes.