The Energy and Carbon Footprint of an Urban Waste Collection Fleet: A Case Study in Central Italy

Abstract

Municipal solid waste collection and transport are functional activities in waste management, with a significant energy and carbon footprint and a significant effect on the urban environment. An issue related to municipal solid waste collection and transport is their regional and municipal implementation, affected by sorting and recycling strategies at local level. An efficient collection is necessary to optimize the whole recycling process. The present paper shows the results of an energy, environmental, and economic evaluation of a case study, analyzing the fleet used for municipal solid waste collection and transport in 10 municipalities in Central Italy. The current scenario was compared with alternative scenarios on the basis of some parameters for performance evaluation: vehicles’ energy consumption, carbon footprint, routes, and costs. Results show that for passenger cars, the alternative scenario based on an entire fleet of dual compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles led to a reduction of the CO2 emissions (−2675 kgCO2eq) in the analyzed period (January–August 2019) and a reduction of the energy consumption (−1.96 MJ km−1). An entire fleet of CNG vehicles led to an increase of CO2 emissions: +0.02 kgCO2eqkgwaste−1 (+110%) for compactors (35–75 q) and +0.09 kgCO2eqkgwaste−1 (+377%) for compactors (80–180 q). Moreover, both categories report a higher fuel consumption and specific energy consumption. For waste transport high-capacity vehicles, we propose the installation of a Stop-Start System, which leads to environmental and energy benefits (a saving of 38,332 kgCO2eq and 8.8 × 10−7 MJ km−1kgwaste−1). On three-wheeler vehicles, the installation of the Stop-Start System is completely disadvantageous.

Impact of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Fuel Systems in Small Engine Wood Chippers on Exhaust Emissions and Fuel Consumption

“…Among the available test results one can observe the reduction of some chemical compounds and the growth of others. A common effect of the change of fuel from gasoline to CNG, coinciding with the results of the authors' research, is the reduction of CO 2 [5][6][7]72], CO [7,73] and HC [7,[72][73][74][75]. CNG is composed of lighter hydrocarbons, and the ratio of hydrogen to carbon in CNG is much higher than in gasoline.…”

“…On the other hand, they are characterized by higher emissions of CO by 45% and total hydrocarbon (THC) by 156% [5]. The research on the fleet of vehicles adapted to waste collection in urban areas has shown that vehicles fuelled with CNG have reduced CO 2 emission and energy consumption [6] in comparison to traditional fuels (gasoline, diesel oil). Comparative research of the SI engine fuelled with gasoline and CNG showed that the application of CNG reduced the driving power by about 12-30% [7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

Review of the Policy, Social, Operational, and Technological Factors Affecting Cigarette Butt Recycling Potential in Extended Producer Responsibility Programs

“…The methodology was successfully validated by in-field measures and observations. Studies using the LCA approach could also be added to determine the sustainability and effectiveness of the chosen collection and recycling scheme, also taking into account issues related to the small CB waste fluxes and the size of the recycling plant [71].…”

Modelling CO2 Emissions from Vehicles Fuelled with CNG Based on On-Road and Chassis Dynamometer Tests

“…2 fuels. European countries such as Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden are leaders in the adoption and promotion of CNG-powered vehicles [22][23][24]. In Poland, there is also a noticeable increase in interest in this type of fuel, especially in the public transportation sector and commercial vehicle fleets [25][26][27].…”