Development of an Ex-Ante Sustainability Assessment Methodology for Municipal Solid Waste Management Innovations

Jing Wang, Stephanie D. Maier, Rafael Horn, Robert Holländer and Ralf Aschemann
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Jing Wang: Institute of Infrastructure and Resource Management, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
Stephanie D. Maier: Department of Life Cycle Engineering, University of Stuttgart, 70563 Stuttgart, Germany
Rafael Horn: Department of Life Cycle Engineering, University of Stuttgart, 70563 Stuttgart, Germany
Robert Holländer: Institute of Infrastructure and Resource Management, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
Ralf Aschemann: Institute of Systems Sciences, Innovation and Sustainability Research, University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-29

Abstract: Various municipal solid waste management (MSWM) innovations have emerged in developing countries in face of the challenges posed by increasing waste generation and poor MSWM practice. We present a methodology to assess the potential sustainability impact of MSWM innovations in a holistic manner. The Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis (LCSA) framework and the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) facilitated the methodology development. The result of applying the methodology to the case of waste bank (WB) in Bandung City shows that WB potentially generates the greatest sustainability impact in the resource recovery phase and the smallest impact in the collection and final disposal phase. All negative impacts could arise in the economic dimension. Surprisingly, WB as a national strategy to achieve 3Rs would not effectively solve Bandung City’s landfill problem. Almost all SDGs would benefit from the WB program under the assumed conditions. This methodology will facilitate the decision-making in MSWM by (1) comparing available innovations to find the optimal solution, (2) identifying the hot spots and taking measures to combat the negative impacts, (3) providing the basis for monitoring the implementation process and the ex-post performance assessment.

Keywords: Life Cycle Sustainable Analysis; sustainability assessment; SDGs; ex-ante; waste management; municipal solid waste management; waste bank; Indonesia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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