Approaches And Policies For Sustainable MSW Management System Optimization

The current municipal solid waste(MSW)management system is an important challenge for the sustainable development of the city.Optimizing the system's method and the formulation of policies and measures is the key to change the trend of continuous economic losses and failure system habits of the MSW management in Lebanon.Lebanon,having an area of 10,452 square kilometers inhabited with 5.851 million people,generating a total of 2.65 million tons of MSW per year with a 1.65% yearly growth,the solid waste management department is ranked first in the Lebanese government expenditure.In this paper,the Lebanese case survey,analysis and evaluation system,focuses on the improvement methods and suggestions to optimize the target of obtaining a sustainable management of municipal solid waste.In this paper,through literature review and interview assessment of the Lebanese government,municipal solid waste management policy and legislation,with 2 material recovery companies,47 recycling companies,7 composting companies and 4 landfills(operational and non-operational ones),combined with some statistical data,a material flow analysis model of the integrated solid waste management system of Lebanon was constructed.A comparative analysis of the developed countries and the relevant Chinese municipal solid waste management policy,along with scenario analysis method were applied to evaluate the effect of the different methods on the sustainability of Lebanon's municipal solid waste management system,with the purpose of improving the current solid waste management situation by suggesting new policy recommendations.Assessment results show that the major waste composition is organic(53%)followed by recyclables(36%)and others(11%).The generated waste is mostly landfilled(77%),while only 14.87% is composted and 8.13% is recycled.The diagram was then divided into different chains:(1)separation and collection,(2)recycling,(3)biological treatment,(4)disposal,and(5)thermo-chemical chain.The results prove that the technological configuration in the waste management system affects the recycling rate by increasing it and the diversion from landfill by decreasing it.Moreover,it is necessary to separate the organic waste from the residual waste.However,after achieving a separate delivery rate(SDR)of 60%,the results are quite similar(Recycled – collected ratio(RCR)at an SDR of 46% is 8% vs.the RCR at an SDR of 60% is 10%,and similarly 14% vs.16%).Therefore,with a moderate waste separation and an efficient waste treatment system,the recycling(RCR)and recovering(RECR)rates are increased(16% vs.8%,and 37% vs.10%,respectively)and the diversion from landfilling(DCR)is also maximized(disposal rate decreased from 72% to 43%).In order to promote the improvement of Lebanon's sustainable solid waste management system,the policy suggestion system was divided into three main criteria:(1)stakeholders involvement and participation,(2)efficient MSW's achievements,and(3)MSW's strength in terms of institutional,environmental,and socio-economical.It mainly encompassed promoting decentralization,enforcing waste management standards,and implementing legislative and legal security by forcing price guarantees and providing governmental support.