Life cycle assessment of urban waste management in Rasht, Iran

Abstract

Population growth and industrial development have led to an increase in urban solid waste globally. Collection and disposal of urban waste remain the biggest challenges that countries face at the moment. Proper management in various stages of production, storage, transportation, and disposal of waste can ensure minimal impact to human and environmental health. There are several tools for evaluating a waste management system; among these, life cycle assessment (LCA) is an important one. This article aims to evaluate the life cycle of waste management in the city of Rasht and prioritize decisions to develop its waste management system. To achieve this purpose, four waste management scenarios were designed. In addition, the life cycle cataloging of the scenarios was done using the IWM‐1 model in order to calculate the consumption of energy and also obtain the number of pollutant emission sources in each scenario. In the next step, the LCA of the scenarios was performed using the Eco‐Indicator 99 index. The results of the study showed that scenario 4 had the most positive effects on the environment, with 40% compost, 25% recycling, 20% sanitary landfill, and 15% waste incineration, based on the index. Therefore, it was chosen as the best option for waste management in the city of Rasht. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;00:1–9. © 2023 SETAC

Ecological city concept: Challenge and future research agenda in urban ecology perspective

“…Wang et al, 2022;Liu et al, 2023;Cai et al, 2021;F. Wang et al, 2022;Xiao and Xiao, 2018;Dee et al, 2017;Yan et al, 2023;Li and Zhou, 2015;Ma et al, 2022;Pan et al, 2022;Singhal et al, 2017;Rosini and Revelli, 2020;Du et al, 2023) dan 17 life cycle assessment (Zarea et al, 2019;Ng et al, 2014;Jirapornvaree et al, 2021;Tang et al, 2023;Ding et al, 2019;Rostami et al, 2019;Adeleke et al, 2021;Avarand et al, 2023;Ibá ñez-Foré s et al, 2021;Yadav and Samadder, 2017;de Sampaio Lopes et al, 2020;Y. Wang et al, 2016;Marzban et al, 2020;Bicer et al, 2017;Liu et al, 2021;Pokhrel et al, 2020;Gheibi et al, 2018).…”

“…The ecology of cities as a whole, including examining the dynamics of energy, water, materials, and information entering and exiting urban areas and their corresponding impacts on internal and external environments (Aryal et al, 2023;Gültekin, 2022;Zarea et al, 2019;Ng et al, 2014;Jirapornvaree et al, 2021). All life cycle assessment keywords are dominated by discussions regarding the optimization of ecosystem services in ecology for cities, municipal solid waste management (Zarea et al, 2019;Adeleke et al, 2021;Avarand et al, 2023;Yadav and Samadder, 2017;Liu et al, 2021;Pokhrel et al, 2020), wastewater and storm water (Ng et al, 2014;Tang et al, 2023;Rostami et al, 2019;Avarand et al, 2023;de Sampaio Lopes et al, 2020).…”