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Modeling the Impact of Fees and Circular Economy Options on the Financial Sustainability of the Solid Waste Management System in Jordan

Author

Listed:
  • Hani A. Abu-Qdais

    (Civil Engineering Department, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Jordan)

  • Nawras Shatnawi

    (Surveying and Geomatics Engineering Department, Al-Balqa Applied University, P.O. Box 19117, Al-Salt 19117, Jordan)

  • Rami Al-Shahrabi

    (Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, German Jordanian University, P.O. Box 35247, Amman 11180, Jordan)

Abstract

Municipal solid waste services in Jordan are being provided by municipalities, where 90% of the generated solid waste finds its way to the landfills and dump sites. All Jordanian municipalities are suffering from low cost recovery where it reaches 50% in its best case. Realizing these facts, recently, the Jordanian government has embarked on an ambitious package of regulations and policies to promote the adoption of circular economy options. The National Solid Waste Management Strategy (NSWMS) of Jordan has called for rationalization, gradual increase of the service fees and adoption of circular economy options through recycling and composting. To assess the impacts of the proposed policies by the NSWMS on the financial sustainability, a system dynamic modeling (SDM) was carried out for the two largest municipalities in the country, namely Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) and Greater Irbid Municipality (GIM). The share of solid waste management cost from the total municipal budget in GAM and GIM is 13.3% and 24%, respectively. On the other hand, the cost per ton of solid waste management in GAM is USD 85 and in GIM it is USD 50. Medium-term and long-term scenarios were considered in the SDM analysis. By considering the year 2016 as a baseline year, the simulation revealed that during the midterm period (2022–2026), the cost recovery will be increased from 54% to 82.5% in GAM, while in GIM it will be raised from 45% to 70%. Moreover, during the long-term period (2027–2034) as a result of adopting circular economy options by recycling and composting, both GAM and GIM will achieve full cost recovery of the solid waste services, in 2028 and 2029, respectively. Furthermore, diverting the solid waste from the landfill will lead to climate change mitigation, where about 652,275 tons of CO 2eq . and greenhouse gases will be avoided. It is recommended that municipalities in Jordan should consider a more efficient solid waste collection mechanism rather than through electricity bills. Further research is needed to assess the impact of other circular economy options such as waste to energy and extended producer responsibility (EPR).

Suggested Citation

  • Hani A. Abu-Qdais & Nawras Shatnawi & Rami Al-Shahrabi, 2023. "Modeling the Impact of Fees and Circular Economy Options on the Financial Sustainability of the Solid Waste Management System in Jordan," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:12:y:2023:i:3:p:32-:d:1076733
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Safwat Hemidat & Ouafa Achouri & Loubna El Fels & Sherien Elagroudy & Mohamed Hafidi & Benabbas Chaouki & Mostafa Ahmed & Isla Hodgkinson & Jinyang Guo, 2022. "Solid Waste Management in the Context of a Circular Economy in the MENA Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-24, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hani Abu-Qdais & Sarah Al-Omoush & Haniyeh Jalalipour & Abdallah Nassour, 2025. "Towards a Circular Economy in Jordan: Selecting Organic Waste Treatment Options Using a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-17, March.
    2. Roll, Michael & Abu Qdais, Hani Ahmad & Kornprobst, Tim Lukas & Abu Jabal, Hussein & Suleiman, Yaser, 2025. "From exclusion to integration: How informal workers can improve urban waste management," IDOS Policy Briefs 29/2025, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Bonn.

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