Advances in sustainable integrated solid waste management systems: lessons learned over the decade 2007–2018

Abstract

This paper undertakes a critical review of the solution approaches, methods and techniques applied to model municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems over the last decade (2007-2018). Sustainability and integration concepts are explored to evaluate the effectiveness of advanced models in achieving sustainable MSW management practices. Papers published are categorized into three main classes with respect to the methods applied to evaluate the operational efficiency and performance of IMSW systems. These include System Assessment (SA), Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and Operation Research (OR) techniques. Each class is then analyzed by reviewing the key studies as the representatives of the class and potential improvements are suggested to achieve a sustainable Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) system.

Keywords:

• municipal solid waste
• integrated solid waste management
• system engineering
• system assessment
• multi-criteria decision making
• operation researches

Notes

1 Emergy (spelled with “m”) is defined “as the equivalent solar energy directly or indirectly to generate a product or service” (Almeida et al. 2012, 5).

2 “The Transformity is defined as the Emergy per energy unit flow or unit product is used to convert all of the flows involved in the process into this common basis.” (Almeida et al. 2012, 5).