Life cycle assessment of four municipal solid waste management scenarios in China

Journal Article · Mon Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Waste Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2010.03.038· OSTI ID:21418132

Xiangzhi, Li ^[1]; Cui, Zhaojie ^[2]

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1. Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, 1301 Catherine, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)
2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China)

A life cycle assessment was carried out to estimate the environmental impact of municipal solid waste. Four scenarios mostly used in China were compared to assess the influence of various technologies on environment: (1) landfill, (2) incineration, (3) composting plus landfill, and (4) composting plus incineration. In all scenarios, the technologies significantly contribute to global warming and increase the adverse impact of non-carcinogens on the environment. The technologies played only a small role in the impact of carcinogens, respiratory inorganics, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and non-renewable energy. Similarly, the influence of the technologies on the way other elements affect the environment was ignorable. Specifically, the direct emissions from the operation processes involved played an important role in most scenarios except for incineration, while potential impact generated from transport, infrastructure and energy consumption were quite small. In addition, in the global warming category, highest potential impact was observed in landfill because of the direct methane gas emissions. Electricity recovery from methane gas was the key factor for reducing the potential impact of global warming. Therefore, increasing the use of methane gas to recover electricity is highly recommended to reduce the adverse impact of landfills on the environment.

• OSTI ID: 21418132
• Journal Information: Waste Management, Vol. 30, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2010.03.038; PII: S0956-053X(10)00215-1; Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; ISSN 0956-053X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CARCINOGENS
CHINA
COMBUSTION
COMPOSTING
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
GREENHOUSE EFFECT
LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT
METHANE
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SANITARY LANDFILLS
SOLID WASTES
ALKANES
ASIA
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CLIMATIC CHANGE
ENERGY SOURCES
HYDROCARBONS
MANAGEMENT
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
PROCESSING
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES