Analysis of cost–benefit in life-cycle of plastic solid waste: combining waste flow analysis and life cycle cost as a decision support tool to the selection of optimum scenario

Javad Torkashvand, Mohammad Mahdi Emamjomeh, Mitra Gholami and Mahdi Farzadkia ()
Additional contact information
Javad Torkashvand: Iran University of Medical Sciences
Mohammad Mahdi Emamjomeh: Qazvin University of Medical Sciences
Mitra Gholami: Iran University of Medical Sciences
Mahdi Farzadkia: Iran University of Medical Sciences

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2021, vol. 23, issue 9, No 26, 13242-13260

Abstract: Abstract Millions of tons of plastic are consumed annually in the world due to its significant characteristics such as durability, flexibility, and low weight. High consumption has made plastic one of the most important municipal solid waste compounds, the quantity of which has increased in recent decades. Plastic solid wastes are known as a threat to the environment, and its efficient management in various aspects such as cost–benefit requires decision-making tools. This study was assessing the cost–benefit of plastic solid waste management by development of an economic model, and definition of different scenarios to change plastic solid waste management status. The results showed that 8971 tons of plastic solid waste were generated annually in the studied city. The plastic solid wastes were finally transferred to either recycling or landfilling site through 5 identified routes. 83 percent of the total recycled plastic solid waste was due to post-separation routes, and only 7.7 percent of the total plastic solid waste was recycled from the source separation route. The economic comparison of scenarios showed that with the aggregation of post-separation routes, the net revenue of plastic solid waste management increases by 334,000 euro per year while increasing the public participation and the ratio of source separation route raises net revenue by 875,000 euro per year, which was the best economic condition among the scenarios. Using life cycle cost method and it’s respected developed economic model truly satisfied the conditions of both, the current plastic solid waste management and the alternative scenarios, and hence can be adopted as a tool for decision-making.

Keywords: Cost analysis; Life cycle cost; Plastic solid waste; Recycle; Waste management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-020-01208-9 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:endesu:v:23:y:2021:i:9:d:10.1007_s10668-020-01208-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10668

DOI: 10.1007/s10668-020-01208-9

Access Statistics for this article

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development is currently edited by Luc Hens

More articles in Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().