IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i13p9954-d1176869.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Development of a Municipal Solid Waste Management Life Cycle Assessment Tool for Banepa Municipality, Nepal

Author

Listed:
  • Prasesh Pote Shrestha

    (Resource Recovery Research Group (Re3G), Department of Environment Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel 45200, Nepal)

  • Anish Ghimire

    (Resource Recovery Research Group (Re3G), Department of Environment Science and Engineering, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel 45200, Nepal)

  • Mohan B. Dangi

    (Department of Geography and City & Regional Planning, California State University, Fresno, CA 93740, USA)

  • Michael A. Urynowicz

    (Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA)

Abstract

In this study, the life cycle assessment (LCA) method has been used to evaluate the environmental impacts of various municipal solid waste (MSW) management system scenarios in Banepa municipality, Nepal, in terms of global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), eutrophication potential (EP), human toxicity potential (HTP), abiotic depletion potential (ADP), and photochemical ozone creation potential (POCP). There are at least six possible scenarios of MSW management in Banepa: the current or baseline scenario (Scenario 1); composting with landfilling (Scenario 2); material recovery facility (MRF) recycling, composting, and landfilling (Scenario 3); MRF and anaerobic digestion (AD); composting, and landfilling (Scenario 4); MRF, composting, AD, and landfilling (Scenario 5); and, finally, incineration with landfilling (Scenario 6). Using both information from Ecoinvent 3.6 (2019) and published research articles, a spreadsheet tool based on the LCA approach was created. The impact of the recycling rate on each of the six abovementioned scenarios was evaluated using sensitivity analysis, which showed that the recycling rate can considerably decrease the life-cycle emissions from the MSW management system. Scenario 3 was found to have the least overall environmental impact with a GWP of 974.82 kg CO 2 eq. per metric ton (t), EP of 0.04 kg PO 4 eq./t, AP of 0.15 kg SO 2 eq./t, HTP of 4.55 kg 1,4 DB eq./t, ADP of −0.03 kg Sb eq./t, and POCP of 0.06 kg C 2 H 4 eq./t. By adoption of MRF and biological treatments such as composting and AD, environmental impact categories such as AP, EP, HTP, ADP, POCP, and GWP can be significantly reduced. The findings of this study can potentially serve as a reference for cities in the developing world in order to aid in both the planning and the operation of environmentally friendly MSW management systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Prasesh Pote Shrestha & Anish Ghimire & Mohan B. Dangi & Michael A. Urynowicz, 2023. "Development of a Municipal Solid Waste Management Life Cycle Assessment Tool for Banepa Municipality, Nepal," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-15, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:9954-:d:1176869
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/9954/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/9954/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eldbjørg Blikra Vea & Veronica Martinez-Sanchez & Marianne Thomsen, 2018. "A Review of Waste Management Decision Support Tools and Their Ability to Assess Circular Biowaste Management Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-27, October.
    2. Kumar, Atul & Samadder, S.R., 2020. "Performance evaluation of anaerobic digestion technology for energy recovery from organic fraction of municipal solid waste: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    3. Aisha Al-Rumaihi & Gordon McKay & Hamish R. Mackey & Tareq Al-Ansari, 2020. "Environmental Impact Assessment of Food Waste Management Using Two Composting Techniques," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-23, February.
    4. Judit Lovasné Avató & Viktoria Mannheim, 2022. "Life Cycle Assessment Model of a Catering Product: Comparing Environmental Impacts for Different End-of-Life Scenarios," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-20, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Amanzhan Nurzhan & Xuewei Ruan & Dingjiang Chen, 2025. "A Review of Life Cycle Assessment Application in Municipal Waste Management: Recent Advances, Limitations, and Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-18, January.
    2. Eloy Mondragón-Zarza & Isis Neftaly Martínez-Morales & María del Consuelo Hernández-Berriel & Elena Regla Rosa Domínguez & Samantha Eugenia Cruz-Sotelo & Sara Ojeda-Benítez, 2025. "Environmental Impact of Uncontrolled Sites in the Central Region of Mexico: A Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-32, October.
    3. Kailin Ren & Lide Su & Yong Zhang & Xiang He & Xuyang Cai, 2023. "Optimization and Experiment of Livestock and Poultry Manure Composting Equipment with Vented Heating," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-22, July.
    4. Jian Wang & Kailin Ren & Longfei Zhang, 2024. "Design and Testing of a Small-Scale Composting Facility for Sheep Manure Utilizing Aeration and Thermal Treatment," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-28, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Obianuju Patience Ilo & Mulala Danny Simatele & S’phumelele Lucky Nkomo & Ntandoyenkosi Malusi Mkhize & Nagendra Gopinath Prabhu, 2021. "Methodological Approaches to Optimising Anaerobic Digestion of Water Hyacinth for Energy Efficiency in South Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, June.
    2. Giovanni Biancini & Barbara Marchetti & Luca Cioccolanti & Matteo Moglie, 2022. "Comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment Analysis of an Italian Composting Facility concerning Environmental Footprint Minimization and Renewable Energy Integration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-21, November.
    3. Tonanzi, B. & Gallipoli, A. & Gianico, A. & Montecchio, D. & Pagliaccia, P. & Rossetti, S. & Braguglia, C.M., 2021. "Elucidating the key factors in semicontinuous anaerobic digestion of urban biowaste: The crucial role of sludge addition in process stability, microbial community enrichment and methane production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 272-284.
    4. Tian, Hailin & Wang, Xiaonan & Lim, Ee Yang & Lee, Jonathan T.E. & Ee, Alvin W.L. & Zhang, Jingxin & Tong, Yen Wah, 2021. "Life cycle assessment of food waste to energy and resources: Centralized and decentralized anaerobic digestion with different downstream biogas utilization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    5. Giuliana Vinci & Roberto Ruggieri & Andrea Billi & Carmine Pagnozzi & Maria Vittoria Di Loreto & Marco Ruggeri, 2021. "Sustainable Management of Organic Waste and Recycling for Bioplastics: A LCA Approach for the Italian Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, June.
    6. Piotr Sołowiej & Patrycja Pochwatka & Agnieszka Wawrzyniak & Krzysztof Łapiński & Andrzej Lewicki & Jacek Dach, 2021. "The Effect of Heat Removal during Thermophilic Phase on Energetic Aspects of Biowaste Composting Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-14, February.
    7. Hasanpour Seyedlar, Niloufar & Zamir, Seyed Morteza & Nosrati, Mohsen & Rene, Eldon R., 2024. "H2S mitigation for biogas upgrading in a full-scale anaerobic digestion process by using artificial neural network modeling," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    8. Baena-Moreno, Francisco M. & Gonzalez-Castaño, Miriam & Arellano-García, Harvey & Reina, T.R., 2021. "Exploring profitability of bioeconomy paths: Dimethyl ether from biogas as case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    9. Adamu, Haruna & Bello, Usman & Yuguda, Abubakar Umar & Tafida, Usman Ibrahim & Jalam, Abdullahi Mohammad & Sabo, Ahmed & Qamar, Mohammad, 2023. "Production processes, techno-economic and policy challenges of bioenergy production from fruit and vegetable wastes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    10. Dan Cudjoe, 2023. "Energy-economics and environmental prospects of integrated waste-to-energy projects in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(11), pages 12597-12628, November.
    11. Hai Wang, 2023. "Comparative Study of a Fixed-Focus Fresnel Lens Solar Concentrator/Conical Cavity Receiver System with and without Glass Cover Installed in a Solar Cooker," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    12. Zamri, M.F.M.A. & Hasmady, Saiful & Akhiar, Afifi & Ideris, Fazril & Shamsuddin, A.H. & Mofijur, M. & Fattah, I. M. Rizwanul & Mahlia, T.M.I., 2021. "A comprehensive review on anaerobic digestion of organic fraction of municipal solid waste," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    13. Zhang, Yi & Hao, Yanji & Fu, Yu & Feng, Yijing & Li, Yeqing & Wang, Xiaonan & Pan, Junting & Han, Yongming & Xu, Chunming, 2025. "GAN-MAML strategy for biomass energy production: Overcoming small dataset limitations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 387(C).
    14. Cecilia Bruni & Çağrı Akyol & Giulia Cipolletta & Anna Laura Eusebi & Donatella Caniani & Salvatore Masi & Joan Colón & Francesco Fatone, 2020. "Decentralized Community Composting: Past, Present and Future Aspects of Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-20, April.
    15. Viktoria Mannheim & Ulvi Moor & Liina Laumets & Klára Tóthné Szita, 2025. "Evaluating the Energy Resources and Environmental Impacts for Blueberry Packaging Materials with a Focus on End-of-Life Scenarios," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-25, June.
    16. Vishal Ram & Surender Reddy Salkuti, 2023. "An Overview of Major Synthetic Fuels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-35, March.
    17. Prakash Kumar Sarangi & Rajesh Kumar Srivastava & Akhilesh Kumar Singh & Uttam Kumar Sahoo & Piotr Prus & Roman Sass, 2023. "Municipal-Based Biowaste Conversion for Developing and Promoting Renewable Energy in Smart Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-28, August.
    18. Zhao, Changxun & Mo, Jiefei & Qin, Yong & Gong, Yabin & Zhan, Ouru & Song, Bo & Wu, Weixiang, 2025. "Semi-thermophilic anaerobic digestion (41–49°C): A review of its potential for enhanced methane production and system stability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    19. Oumoul-Kairou Karidio Daouda Idrissa & David Tsuanyo & Rodrigue Adjoumani Kouakou & Yacouba Konaté & Boukary Sawadogo & Kouassi Benjamin Yao, 2024. "Analysis of the criteria for improving biogas production: focus on anaerobic digestion," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 27083-27110, November.
    20. Chen, Xinqiang & Mao, Huipeng & Cui, Yunwei & Deng, Hongyu & Zhao, Tianche & Liu, Jiantao & Huang, Luodong & Shen, Peihong, 2024. "An algal regulation-based molasses vinasse anaerobic digestion strategy for enhancing organic matter removal and methane production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:9954-:d:1176869. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.