Economic analyses of solid waste management to improve recycling and minimize landfills

In many countries, the concern with municipal solid waste (MSW) has been growing for the past few decades because of changes in lifestyle as well as constraints in waste disposal site. A remarkable increase in the amount of MSW has generated serious environmental impacts caused by pollutions such as fly ash, sludge, and dioxin etc. Waste management policies should be revised and updated in keeping with progresses in environmentally sound technologies. The purpose of the study is to design the optimum MSW management system in Japan. We have derived an optimal system configuration among the various alternative and conventional disposal facilities for waste management by applying a MSW system model, which can consider both the mass flow of the wastes and economic aspects of system operation. The advanced MSW management system which has been proposed can reduce the amount of landfill in FY2010 by approximately 40% in comparison with the data in FY 2000. The system increases the recycling rate in FY2010 by 10% compared to FY2000, and meet the budget allocation for MSW management. In conclusion, the installation of alternative facilities in optimal system configuration has a potential for not only the reduction in the cost of landfill but also the improvement of recycling ate.