Life Cycle Assessment of Municipal Solid Waste Management Methods: Haifa Case Study

Eight solid waste management system scenarios were developed and compared for the Municipal Solid Waste Management System of the city of Haifa, Israel, by using the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The solid waste management methods considered in the scenarios were the household participation of waste separation, the mixed and separate collection of dry recyclable waste and wet biowaste, recycling by material banks (MB) and material recovery facility (MRF), composting, biogasification, incineration, refuse derived fuel (RDF) production, and Landfilling. The goal of the study was to determine the most sustainable 'option of municipal solid waste management system for Haifa. The waste management scenarios were compared using the LCA computer model known as "Integrated Waste Management - IWM-2". The inputs and outputs of each management stage were defined and the inventory analyses calculated by the model were presented as waste flows, quantities of solid waste landfilled, the key emissions to air and water, main contributions to climate change, fuel consumption and recovery, and economic cost. The impacts were then quantified with valuation method to evaluate and compare their importance. Sensitivity analysis has beenused to test household source separation rate used in the initia1life cycle model. The results showed that household participation of keeping the dry recyclable waste clean is more effective than keeping the wet biowaste clean; aod introduction of the combination of MRF recycling and biogasification is the most environmentally and economically feasible option for Haifa