Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is becoming increasingly popular around the world as a means of accommodating the increasing amounts of waste that the growing global population generates. China currently produces more MSW than any other country. As such, this area of the world is facing challenges on an unprecedented scale. MSW management in China is highly dependent on landfilling, and the development of sanitary landfills is currently a top priority for the Chinese government. Hangzhou is one of the most developed cities in China. In fact, in 2013, the amount of incinerated MSW in Hangzhou represented 56% of total MSW. MSW incineration is primarily performed via a process of co-incineration with coal because MSW has a low heating value. This paper employs a environmental impact assessment by LCA program to determine whether refuse-derived fuel (RDF) production and incineration can have a more positive impact on the environment than the co-incineration of MSW with coal in Hangzhou, China. According to the results, RDF production and incineration could improve Hangzhou's MSW management global warming potential from -33% to 0%, the acidification potential from -90% to 34%, and the eutrophication potential from -1 200% to 350% in comparison to the co-incineration of MSW with coal. The treatment of organic reject material from RDF production has a significant effect on the results; as such, it should be utilized in energy production rather than landfilled.

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The European Commission's ambitious construction and demolition waste (CDW) material recovery target has placed pressure on Finland to increase its CDW material recovery rate. It has been identified that using CDW fractions, e.g. waste wood, plastic, mineral wool and plasterboard, as raw materials for wood polymer composites (WPCs) may help in reaching the CDW material recovery target. The objectives of this study were to assess the environmental impacts of WPC production using specific CDW fractions, namely wood, plastic, plasterboard and mineral wool, as raw materials, and to compare these impacts with the baseline situation where these CDW fractions are treated with conventional waste treatment methods such as landfilling and incineration. The study focused primarily on the depletion of fossil hydrocarbons and climate change. The results indicate that, when compared to the baseline situation, the environmental impacts of CDW management can be decreased when CDW fractions are used in WPC production. By substituting WPCs for plastic or aluminium, considerable environmental benefits can be achieved in terms of the aforementioned impact categories. Due to the differences in the physical and mechanical properties of WPCs compared to plastic and aluminium, WPCs cannot necessarily substitute them in a mass-based ratio of 1:1. This was acknowledged in the study by identifying minimum substitution rates for different materials. For instance, the produced WPCs should substitute at least 6% of plastic and 8% of aluminium in order to decrease the impact on climate change compared to the advanced waste management scenario. Therefore, in applications where WPCs can be used as a substitute for these materials, WPC product design and development should be prioritised.

Influence of different factors in the life cycle assessment of mixed municipal solid waste management systemsa comparison of case studies in Finland and China

More efficient recycling of municipal solid waste (MSW) is an essential precondition for turning Europe into a circular economy. Thus, the recycling of MSW must increase significantly in several member states, including Finland. This has increased the interest in the composition of mixed MSW. Due to increased information needs, a method for mixed MSW composition studies was introduced in Finland in order to improve the national comparability of composition study results. The aim of this study was to further develop the method so that it corresponds to the information needed about the composition of mixed MSW and still works in practice. A survey and two mixed MSW composition studies were carried out in the study. According to the responses of the survey, the intensification of recycling, the landfill ban on organic waste and the producer responsibility for packaging waste have particularly influenced the need for information about the composition of mixed MSW. The share of biowaste in mixed MSW interested the respondents most. Additionally, biowaste proved to be the largest waste fraction in mixed MSW in the composition studies. It constituted over 40% of mixed MSW in both composition studies. For these reasons, the classification system of the method was updated by further defining the classifications of biowaste. The classifications of paper as well as paperboard and cardboard were also updated. The updated classification system provides more information on the share of avoidable food waste and waste materials suitable for recycling in mixed MSW. The updated method and the information gained from the composition studies are important in ensuring that the method will be adopted by municipal waste management companies and thus used widely in Finland.