Did we choose the best one? A new site selection approach based on exposure and uptake potential for waste incineration

A mixed integer linear programming model for long-term planning of municipal solid waste management systems: Against restricted mass balances

Long-term planning of municipal solid waste management systems is a complex decision making problem which includes a large number of decision layers. Since all different waste treatment and disposal processes will show different responses to each municipal solid waste component, it is necessary to separately evaluate all waste components for all processes. This obligation creates an obstacle in the programming of mass balances for long-term planning of municipal solid waste management systems. The development of an ideal mixed integer linear programming model that can simultaneously respond to all essential decision layers including waste collection, process selection, waste allocation, transportation, location selection, and capacity assessment has not been made possible yet due to this important modeling obstacle. According to the current knowledge of the literature, all mixed integer linear programming studies aiming to address this obstacle so far have had to restrict many different possibilities in their mass balances. In this study, a novel mixed integer linear programming model was formulated. ALOMWASTE, the new model structure developed in this study, was built to take into consideration different process, capacity, and location possibilities that may occur in complex waste management processes at the same time. The results obtained from a case study showed the feasibility of new mixed integer linear programming model obtained in this study for the simultaneous solution of all essential decision layers in an unrestricted mass balance. The model is also able to provide significant convenience for the multi-objective optimization of financial-environmental-social costs and the solution of some uncertainty problems of decision-making tools such as life cycle assessment.

Landfill site selection in Makkah using geographic information system and analytical hierarchy process

Municipal solid waste is a problem to developed and developing cities in the world. If municipal solid waste is not managed well, it can be a source of numerous contaminants to water, air, and soil. Although landfill is at the bottom in terms of priorities of municipal solid waste management techniques, its applicability cannot be neglected in developing economies. Landfill site selection is a hard puzzle comprised of political, social, economic, and environmental factors. Makkah, Saudi Arabia, is targeting 30 million pilgrims by 2030, putting the city in a difficult circumstance: More pilgrims, more municipal solid waste. The current dump site, Kakia, is expected to be full by 2020; thus, there is a need to locate a new landfill site. In 20 years, Makkah is expected to produce 44 million tonnes of municipal solid waste, which requires approximately a 7.5 m × 5,874,000 square meter landfill capacity. In this study, a geographic information system, analytical hierarchy process, vertical electrical sounding, and ground-penetrating radar are applied to select the best new landfill site for Makkah. By combining these techniques, there are three suitable site locations: (39°36 ́38.45 ́ ́E: 21°18 ́26.46 ́ ́N), (39°37 ́54.07 ́ ́E: 21°19 ́35.25 ́ ́N), and (39°44 ́04.45 ́ ́E: 21°13 ́08.93 ́ ́N). These sites have a considerable depth to water table of 12 m. Therefore, the city of Makkah should use these findings to establish a sanitary landfill.

From NIMBY to BIMBY: An evaluation of aesthetic appearance and social sustainability of MSW incineration plants in China

The Not-In-My-BackYard (NIMBY) claims caused by the rapid expansion of waste incineration in China make stakeholders pay more attention to the environmental and social impact. Nowadays, the environmental impact is under control of the whole society while the social sustainability is often neglected. As the social sustainability is vital to the public acceptance and conducive to convert NIMBY claims to Beauty-In-My-BackYard (BIMBY) synergy, all stakeholders desire to know the gap but lack evaluation method. This paper proposes a quantitative evaluation system for the aesthetic appearance of MSW incineration plants for the first time. It uses aesthetic appearance to measure the social sustainability of MSW incineration plants. Real-world photos of 177 incineration plants in China were collected to support the evaluation using weighted sum method. The weights of factors contributing to the aesthetic appearance were obtained by AHP. The process of pairwise comparison in AHP was conducted by an online questionnaire survey involving more than 100 interviewees in various professions. It is evaluated that the aesthetic appearance is not correlated with the pollution control ability. The spatial distribution of different levels of aesthetic appearance shows that eastern provinces should pay more attention to the improvement of old incineration plants. As case studies, the designs of four typical plants are analyzed. The analysis results reveal the gap between NIMBY plants and BIBMY plants. More importantly, they can contribute to push forward the improvements of aesthetic appearance, social sustainability, and public acceptance for MSW incineration plants in China.

Exposure assessment of PCDD/Fs for the population living in the vicinity of municipal waste incinerator: Additional exposure via local vegetable consumption

While the exposure assessment of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDD/Fs) for people living in the vicinity of municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWI) has been investigated, indirect exposure to MSWI-emitted PCDD/Fs via consumption of local foods has not been well assessed. In this study, the PCDD/F concentration in the local vegetables grown near a MSWI located in Shenzhen, South China, was determined to be 0.92 ± 0.59 pg/g wet weight (ww), significantly higher than that (0.25 ± 0.35 pg/g ww) in commercial vegetables (p < 0.05). The PCDD/F concentrations in Banyan leaf (Ficus microcarpa) samples collected from 5 sampling sites at 1 km intervals from the MSWI were found to be significantly decreased with increasing distance, suggesting that the local plants would be impacted by emissions from the MSWI. The exposure assessment of PCDD/Fs for the population living in the vicinity of MSWI was carried out by simultaneously analyzing PCDD/Fs in other food groups that were commonly consumed by the residents. If only the local vegetables were consumed and other foods were acquired commercially, the total dietary intake for a general adult was 0.94 ± 0.41 pg TEQ/kg bw/day, of which consumption of local vegetables accounted for 52.3%. If all foods consumed including vegetables were from a commercial source, the total dietary intake was 0.56 ± 0.30 pg TEQ/kg bw/day, of which consumption of commercial vegetables accounted for 20.1%. The present study for the first time reported the additional human exposure to PCDD/Fs via consumption of local vegetables impacted by emissions from MSWI.