IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i20p9111-d1503168.html

An Environmental Assessment of Municipal Solid Waste Management Strategies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A Comparative Life Cycle Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammed Almansour

    (Department of Engineering, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK)

  • Mohammad Akrami

    (Department of Engineering, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK)

Abstract

The environmental implications of various municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, were analysed considering the Riyadh Green Initiative through a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This study evaluates five distinct scenarios: unsanitary landfilling (Sc0), incineration (Sc1), and a combination of technologies such as anaerobic digestion (AD) and a material recovery facility (MRF) in scenarios Sc2–Sc4. These scenarios were assessed using GaBi 9.2.1 software, employing the impact methodology outlined by CML (2001) to evaluate eight impact categories, including Global Warming and Acidification Potentials, among others. The findings indicate that scenarios incorporating the treatment of 100% of recyclable and organic waste through AD exhibited substantial environmental benefits. Additionally, Sc2 demonstrated the lowest environmental burdens across all impact categories. In contrast, Sc0 ranked the worst in all categories due to the absence of gas and leachate treatment. The results were shown to be reliable when compared qualitatively to previous studies. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess this study’s system boundaries and the impact of the MRF rate. Overall, this research provides valuable insights for optimising MSW management practices in Riyadh, aiming to reduce their environmental impacts and align with the goals of the Riyadh Green Initiative.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammed Almansour & Mohammad Akrami, 2024. "An Environmental Assessment of Municipal Solid Waste Management Strategies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A Comparative Life Cycle Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-17, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:20:p:9111-:d:1503168
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/20/9111/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/20/9111/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gunamantha, Made & Sarto,, 2012. "Life cycle assessment of municipal solid waste treatment to energy options: Case study of KARTAMANTUL region, Yogyakarta," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 277-284.
    2. Esfilar, Reza & Bagheri, Mehdi & Golestani, Behrooz, 2021. "Technoeconomic feasibility review of hybrid waste to energy system in the campus: A case study for the University of Victoria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    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. Kais Ben-Ahmed & Sahar J. Melebary & Turki K. Bawazir, 2025. "Environmental Degradation, Renewable Energy, and Non-Renewable Energy Consumption in Saudi Arabia: An ARDL Bound Testing Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-17, May.
    2. Abdullah Alghafis & Haneen Bawayan & Sultan Alghamdi & Mohamed Nejlaoui & Abdullah Alrashidi, 2025. "Harnessing Renewable Waste as a Pathway and Opportunities Toward Sustainability in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-30, October.

    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. Antoine Beylot & Antoine Hochar & Pascale Michel & Marie Descat & Yannick Ménard & Jacques Villeneuve, 2018. "Municipal Solid Waste Incineration in France: An Overview of Air Pollution Control Techniques, Emissions, and Energy Efficiency," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(5), pages 1016-1026, October.
    2. Dejkam, Rahil & Madlener, Reinhard, 2025. "Green mobility infrastructure: A techno-economic analysis of hybrid wind–solar PV charging stations for electric vehicles in Germany," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    3. Milutinović, Biljana & Stefanović, Gordana & Đekić, Petar S. & Mijailović, Ivan & Tomić, Mladen, 2017. "Environmental assessment of waste management scenarios with energy recovery using life cycle assessment and multi-criteria analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 917-926.
    4. Cremiato, Raffaele & Mastellone, Maria Laura & Tagliaferri, Carla & Zaccariello, Lucio & Lettieri, Paola, 2018. "Environmental impact of municipal solid waste management using Life Cycle Assessment: The effect of anaerobic digestion, materials recovery and secondary fuels production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 180-188.
    5. Roman, Jacek & Klojzy-Karczmarczyk, Beata & Wróblewski, Robert & Ceran, Bartosz, 2025. "Analysis of the use of waste gasification in a hybrid generation system to supply an industrial demand and power grid through cable pooling," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    6. Kristin Faye Olalo & Jun Nakatani & Tsuyoshi Fujita, 2022. "Optimal Process Network for Integrated Solid Waste Management in Davao City, Philippines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, February.
    7. James E. McDevitt & Elisabeth R. Langer & Alan C. Leckie, 2013. "Community Engagement and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Kaikōura’s Biosolid Reuse Options," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-14, January.
    8. Ismaila Rimi Abubakar & Khandoker M. Maniruzzaman & Umar Lawal Dano & Faez S. AlShihri & Maher S. AlShammari & Sayed Mohammed S. Ahmed & Wadee Ahmed Ghanem Al-Gehlani & Tareq I. Alrawaf, 2022. "Environmental Sustainability Impacts of Solid Waste Management Practices in the Global South," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-26, October.
    9. Lazaroiu, Alexandra Catalina & Panait, Cornel & Serițan, George & Popescu, Claudia Laurenta & Roscia, Mariacristina, 2024. "Maximizing renewable energy and storage integration in university campuses," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    10. Ismail, Tamer M. & Ramos, Ana & Monteiro, Eliseu & El-Salam, M. Abd & Rouboa, Abel, 2020. "Parametric studies in the gasification agent and fluidization velocity during oxygen-enriched gasification of biomass in a pilot-scale fluidized bed: Experimental and numerical assessment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 2429-2439.
    11. Tan, Kai Qi & Ahmad, Mohd Azmier & Oh, Wen Da & Low, Siew Chun, 2023. "Valorization of hazardous plastic wastes into value-added resources by catalytic pyrolysis-gasification: A review of techno-economic analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    12. Rajaeifar, Mohammad Ali & Tabatabaei, Meisam & Ghanavati, Hossein & Khoshnevisan, Benyamin & Rafiee, Shahin, 2015. "Comparative life cycle assessment of different municipal solid waste management scenarios in Iran," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 886-898.
    13. Emanuele Guerrazzi & Dimitri Thomopulos & Davide Fioriti & Ivan Mariuzzo & Eva Schito & Davide Poli & Marco Raugi, 2023. "Design of Energy Communities and Data-Sharing: Format and Open Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-26, August.
    14. Reinalda Blanco Pereira & Rodrigo Salvador & Gabriel Fernandes Sales & Jonatas Santana Obal & Cassiano Moro Piekarski & Antonio Carlos de Francisco, 2023. "Energy from livestock waste: Using circular economy and territorial intelligence to build sustainable businesses," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(6), pages 2072-2092, September.
    15. Ana Ramos & Carlos Afonso Teixeira & Abel Rouboa, 2018. "Environmental Analysis of Waste-to-Energy—A Portuguese Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-26, March.
    16. Oluwaseun Nubi & Stephen Morse & Richard J. Murphy, 2021. "A Prospective Social Life Cycle Assessment (sLCA) of Electricity Generation from Municipal Solid Waste in Nigeria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-24, September.
    17. Zhang, Ruiyu & Li, Zheng & Liu, Pei, 2025. "Modeling and optimization of a heating and cooling combined seasonal thermal energy storage system towards a carbon-neutral community: A university campus case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    18. Yılmaz, Hasan & Çanakcı, Murad & Topakcı, Mehmet & Karayel, Davut & Yiğit, Mete & Ortaçeşme, Derya, 2023. "In-situ pelletization of campus biomass residues: Case study for Akdeniz University," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 972-983.
    19. Ekua Afrakoma Armoo & Mutala Mohammed & Satyanarayana Narra & Essossinam Beguedou & Francis Boateng Agyenim & Francis Kemausuor, 2024. "Achieving Techno-Economic Feasibility for Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems through the Production of Energy and Alternative Fuels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-21, February.
    20. Dmitry Porshnov, 2022. "Evolution of pyrolysis and gasification as waste to energy tools for low carbon economy," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), January.

    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:16:y:2024:i:20:p:9111-:d:1503168. 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.