Life Cycle Assessment of Resource-Oriented Sanitation Based on Vacuum Toilet and Vacuum Kitchen Waste Shredder: A Case Study in Rural Southeastern China

Yu Zhang, Yunpeng Shi, Shangyi Shu, Shikun Zhu and Bin Fan ()
Additional contact information
Yu Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Yunpeng Shi: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Shangyi Shu: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Shikun Zhu: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
Bin Fan: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-14

Abstract: The resource value of feces and kitchen waste has not been fully emphasized and utilized in rural sanitation management in China. In this paper, we propose a new ecological sanitation model with the core technology of “vacuum toilet and vacuum kitchen waste shredder—vacuum collection—resource treatment”, i.e., the modern home–farm cycle sanitation (MHFCS) system. We compared the environmental performance of the MHFCS system with that of a typical end-pipe treatment sanitation (EPTS) system (Johkasou—small onsite wastewater treatment system) in rural China using a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The results showed that the main source of environmental impacts of the MHFCS system was the collection and treatment process of domestic organic liquid wastes; the greenhouse gas emissions were 64.543 kg CO 2 eq·PE −1 ·year −1 , and the MHFCS system indirectly gained a fertilizer substitution benefit of 65.960 kg CO 2 eq·PE −1 ·year −1 through nutrient element recycling. The MHFCS system has significant advantages in terms of net GHG emissions. Sensitivity analyses showed that resource consumption of vacuum facilities was a key factor for the MHFCS system. This system offers the potential to break down the barriers of the EPTS system in order to meet environmental sustainability and market demands for systemic diversity.

Keywords: resource-oriented sanitation; vacuum toilet; life cycle assessment (LCA); carbon emissions; wastewater management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/20/8836/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/20/8836/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:20:p:8836-:d:1497186

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().