ASSESSING THE FEASIBILITY OF A SOLID WASTE TREATMENT – DISPOSAL SCENARIO IN THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Last ten years are characterized by the rapid expansion of the available solid waste (SW) treatment and disposal technologies. Gasification, thermolysis, anaerobic digestion and a lot of other proven (and sometimes not proven) technologies are now available for the SW treatment or/and disposal. At the same time the traditional technologies (landfill, incineration and composting) are getting much more complicated and environmentally sound. The aim of this paper is to outline a generalized methodology that can help the decision-makers in developing countries to answer the following question: How to select the appropriate technology for the SW treatment and disposal? The main idea is to use profiles and screening techniques for the reduction of the alternatives and to set some well-defined criteria in order to assess the feasibility of each technology (or of each combination of technologies). This methodology can provide a basis for the necessary strategic approach of SW treatment and disposal planning. The utilization of this methodology can help developing countries to save money and decision-makers to save time. 1. BACKGROUND In most of the developing countries and their metropolitan areas SW is at bes