Co-Benefits of Household Waste Recycling for Local Community’s Sustainable Waste Management in Thailand

Municipal solid waste management: Identification and analysis of technology selection criteria using Fuzzy Delphi and Fuzzy DEMATEL technique

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) poses a considerable challenge to developing countries like Bangladesh because of the rising waste generation rates and lack of effective management practices such as illegal open dumping and informal waste collection. One of the crucial factors in the successful management of MSW is to select the appropriate technology which is a complex multi-criteria and laborious process. Despite the global emphasis on the importance of MSWM in the literature, there is a lack of studies conducted in developing countries that effectively identify and analyze the critical performance criteria for appropriate technology selection. This research aims to address this shortcoming by identifying, and prioritizing the selection criteria and finally investigating the inter-relationship between them and the degree to which they affect or are affected by one another. First, a thorough literature review and expert consultation were employed to determine a set of 21 key criteria using the Fuzzy Delphi method (FDM). Later, taking into account the imprecise and subjective nature of the DEMATEL method on human judgements, the Fuzzy DEMATEL technique was employed to investigate the cause-effect relationships among the identified criteria. The findings of the study demonstrated that 14 criteria were categorized as causal elements that have the most significant influence on the MSWM technology selection process and 7 criteria were categorized as effect. The selection of MSWM technology demands greater consideration of the top three ranked criteria, namely T4- Access to Technology (AT), T8- Feasibility (F), and the Ec6-Infrastructure requirements (IR). By identifying the pertinent criteria, structures and interrelationships, the outcome of the study can facilitate a better understanding of causal relationships among the criteria that require specific consideration from the decision-makers and allow them to select appropriate MSW management technology.

Harnessing energy from the waste produced in Bangladesh: evaluating potential technologies

With the increasing trend of the urban population in Bangladesh, waste generation is also increasing. With 70% organic solid waste, the urban areas generate 23,688 tonnes of waste per day. This rapid enhancement in waste production has an adverse effect onlandfill resources and the day-to-day lifestyle. In this regard adopting waste to energy techniques can be considered good idea to overcome the current waste management problem. This WtE conversion technique solves the landfill resources problem and produces electricity and heat to be supplied. This study aims to investigate the current status of MSW management in Bangladesh and identify the major problems. Here, five fundamental methods such as pyrolysis, incineration, anaerobic digestion (AD), gasification, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) are reviewed critically and discussed the feasibilities in Bangladesh to generate power. The analysis is done considering different types of parameters like moisture content, calorific value, and residence time. These analyses pertaining to MSW management may be fruitful for encouraging researchers and authorities to improve further.

Antecedents of Thai student teacher sustainable consumption behavior

A new area of research and intervention has arisen, namely the psychology of sustainability. Therefore, this study investigates how an undergraduate student teacher's psychological traits, their psychological state, their situation, and environmental education affect their sustainable consumption behavior. Two sample groups were selected from ten Thai university education programs' science (n = 400) and social science (n = 400) colleges nationwide. The research instrument used randomized multistage questionnaires for each group, which used a five-level scale to evaluate each student teacher's item agreement. The analysis of the causal relationship models used LISREL 9.10 which determined that both models and their four causal variables positively affected a Thai student teacher's sustainable consumption behavior (SCB). For the science education student teachers, these were the situation (SIT = 0.87), environmental education (EDU = 0.34), their psychological state (STATE = 0.22), and their psychological traits (TRAITS = 0.22). For the social science education student teachers, these were SIT = 0.85, STATE = 0.25, EDU = 0.08, and TRAITS = 0.04. Combined, they can explain 92% (science program) and 82% (social science program) of variance in a student teacher's SCB. The study also determined that EDU's attitude and conservation factors were critical, which most probably increased in prominence due to media awareness efforts. There also appears to be greater individual responsibility in SCB as well as the perceived need to conserve resources. Finally, this study further confirmed numerous other studies in which humans have a strong desire to fit in and will conform to the behavior of those around them, with this study concluding that each student teacher's situation was determined to have a moderate to strong influence on either their psychological state or environmental education. This study contributed to the literature as it investigated 18 aspects related to four casual variables affecting a Thai student teacher's sustainable consumption behavior. The study was unique in that it classified and compared opinions from two diverse university teaching programs nationwide (Science and Social Science), whose results can help educational leaders identify and develop in-depth, SCB future programs.

The Effective Management of Organic Waste Policy in Albania

Following a recycling or continuous recycling process, there is always waste with no material or market value that can be converted into energy or other fossil fuel substitutes. The present study aimed to evaluate the management of organic waste policy and to predict the trend of organic waste generation in Albania. The research used an appropriate Box–Jenkins Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) to determine the quantification of organic waste to be generated. The main results obtained can support the decision-making process in the planning, change and short-term implementation of organic waste management, and the information provided is very useful in collecting, transporting, storing and managing waste in Albanian cities (Tirana, Durrës, Kukës, Berat, Shkodra, Dibër, Gjirokastër and Elbasan). Furthermore, the high percentage of the organic waste generation until 2025 constitutes good premises to raising public awareness related to their energy recovery.

Challenges of plastic waste generation and management in sub-Saharan Africa: A review

Recently, the issues of land-based plastics and their associated challenges in the marine world have been widely publicised in the media and scientific literature. Thus far, despite these communications, there have been few reports that have focused on the issues that acute plastic waste generation and its poor management pose to human health and the global environment. Also, articles on ways to mitigate these issues particularly in sub-Saharan Africa have not been documented. Indeed, there is significant scope for improvements in plastic waste management in developing countries, which offer a wide range of economic and environmental benefits. Plastic waste generation in sub-Saharan Africa is dependent on many factors like urbanization, etc. Currently, the population of sub-Saharan Africa is around 1 billion as of the year 2019, the amount of generated waste is 180 million tonnes at the rate of 0.5% per capita per day, the amount that is openly dumped is 70% and the plastic waste generated annually is 17 million tonnes. Therefore, this study aims to provide an overview of the plastic lifecycle and problems associated with plastic waste management in sub-Saharan Africa, including current practices, public participation and opinion, and government regulations. In addition, this highlight aims to outline the impact of plastic waste proliferation on man and the environment; and the economic and environmental benefits of proper plastic waste management. Critical discussion of current processes and the suitability of potential solutions provide the basis for proposition on mitigation measures to avert the negative impact of plastic waste.

Analysis of Socioeconomic and Behavioral Factors Influencing Participation in Community-Based Recycling Program: A Case of Peri-Urban Town in Thailand

This study analyzed the factors influencing a community-based waste recycling program to achieve a recycling rate 5–11 times/members higher than average community-based recycling programs in Thailand. This study identified key factors and insights from waste bank members to provide recommendations for improving the performance of other community-based programs. A face-to-face survey was conducted in Phang Khon Municipality (PKM), Thailand, where the waste bank is situated. A total of 386 questionnaires were analyzed by descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression analysis. The investigation tested how selected variables, such as socioeconomic factors, attitude toward sound waste management practices, types of waste separation, and additional willingness to pay for improving the waste management system, have an influence on different groups of recyclers and impact recycling performance. The findings revealed that members of the waste bank have different socioeconomic and pro-recycling characteristics, i.e., attitude toward proper waste management practices, recycling practice, and additional willingness to pay for improving the waste management system, compared to respondents who recycle through direct waste selling, and who do not recycle. Based on key factor findings in this study, policy recommendation for waste management entities are provided.

Barriers to Effective Municipal Solid Waste Management in a Rapidly Urbanizing Area in Thailand

This study focused on determining the barriers to effective municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in a rapidly urbanizing area in Thailand. The Tha Khon Yang Subdistrict Municipality is a representative example of many local governments in Thailand that have been facing MSWM issues. In-depth interviews with individuals and focus groups were conducted with key informants including the municipality staff, residents, and external organizations. The major influences affecting waste management were categorized into six areas: social-cultural, technical, financial, organizational, and legal-political barriers and population growth. SWOT analysis shows both internal and external factors are playing a role in MSWM: There is good policy and a reasonably sufficient budget. However, there is insufficient infrastructure, weak strategic planning, registration, staff capacity, information systems, engagement with programs; and unorganized waste management and fee collection systems. The location of flood prone areas has impacted on location and operation of landfill sites. There is also poor communication between the municipality and residents and a lack of participation in waste separation programs. However, external support from government and the nearby university could provide opportunities to improve the situation. These findings will help inform municipal decision makers, leading to better municipal solid waste management in newly urbanized areas.

Application of material flow analysis to municipal solid waste in Maputo City, Mozambique

Understanding waste flows within an urban area is important for identifying the main problems and improvement opportunities for efficient waste management. Assessment tools such as material flow analysis (MFA), an extensively applied method in waste management studies, provide a structured and objective evaluating process to characterize the waste management system best, to identify its shortcomings and to propose suitable strategies. This paper presents the application of MFA to municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in Maputo City, the capital of Mozambique. The results included the identification and quantification of the main input and output flows of the MSWM system in 2007 and 2014, from the generation, material recovery and collection, to final disposal and the unaccounted flow of municipal solid waste (MSW). We estimated that the waste generation increased from 397×10³ tonnes in 2007 to 437×10³ tonnes in 2014, whereas the total material recovery was insignificant in both years - 3×10³ and 7×10³ tonnes, respectively. As for collection and final disposal, the official collection of waste to the local dumpsite in the inner city increased about threefold, from 76×10³ to 253×10⁶ tonnes. For waste unaccounted for, the estimates indicated a reduction during the study period from 300×10³ to 158×10³ tonnes, due to the increase of collection services. The emphasized aspects include the need for practical waste reduction strategies, the opportunity to explore the potential for material recovery, careful consideration regarding the growing trend of illegal dumping and the urgency in phasing-out from the harmful practice of open dumping.