Evaluation of the Effect of Recycling on Sustainability of Municipal Solid Waste Management in Thailand

Abstract

Landfilling and recycling, the predominant waste management methods in Thailand have been evaluated in a life cycle perspective using a case study in Nonthaburi municipality. The major focus was to identify the effects of the recycling activities on the sustainability of the existing waste management. A set of relevant indicators has been used to evaluate the ultimate damages/effects related to environmental, economic and social aspects of waste management methods, including valorisation. “Damage to ecosystems” and “damage to abiotic resources” were considered as the most relevant indicators to assess environmental sustainability. “Life cycle cost” was used as the economic indicator. “Damage to human health” and “income based community well-being” were considered as the most relevant indicators for social sustainability assessment. The results obtained showed that recycling contributes substantially to improving overall social, economic and environmental sustainability of the waste management system. In fact, the recycling of 24 % of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) was found to compensate the negative environmental, economic and social impacts resulting from the landfilling of the remaining 76 % of MSW. Furthermore, the quantified results in relation to sustainability of recycling reflect the progress made in realizing the policy targets and policy effectiveness in Nonthaburi. Thus, the results of this study could be used to convince stakeholders involved in waste management about the overall benefits of recycling and its influences on sustainability for promoting and strengthening recycling activities in Thailand.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Midpoint Impact Categories Related to MSW Management

 

Resources consumption (inputs) and emissions(outputs)/from MSW management	Midpoint impacts	Unit of measurement	General formula to quantify the magnitude of impacts	References for background information
Input: Land consumption Land occupation and land transformation → treatment facilities, final disposal, transportation, fossil fuel mining for energy	Land occupation (LO)/(Ecological Footprint—EF)	m2 year	${\text{LO}}_{\text{direct(local)}} = \sum\limits_{\text{a}} {{\text{A}}_{\text{a}} \times {\text{t}}_{\text{a}} }$ where LODirect, direct land occupation; Aa, occupation of area by local land use type a, ta-occupation time (years) ${\text{LO}}_{\text{Gross}} = {\text{LO}}_{\text{EM}} + {\text{LO}}_{\text{T}} + {\text{LO}}_{\text{TF}} \quad {\text{LO}}_{\text{Net}} = {\text{LO}}_{\text{Gross}} - {\text{LO}}_{\text{P}}$ where LOEM, T,TF,P, land occupation for energy and material production, transportation, treatment facility, by-products	[21, 41]
Input: Fossil fuel and mineral consumption Crude oil → diesel production for transportation, waste handling and processing machineries Coal, natural gas, crude oil → electricity and thermal energy required for recycling, operating machineries	Abiotic resource depletion potential	kg Sb eq.	${\text{AR}}_{\text{Gross(i)}} = {\text{AR}}_{\text{EM(i)}} + {\text{AR}}_{\text{T(i)}} + {\text{AR}}_{\text{TF(i)}} \quad {\text{AR}}_{\text{Net(i)}} = {\text{ARD}}_{\text{Gross(i)}} - {\text{AR}}_{\text{REM(i)}} = {\text{m}}_{\text{i}}$ where ARGross(i), gross abiotic resource i, AR REM(i) is abiotic resources i conservation from Recovered Energy and Materials. mi, net quantity of resource i extracted ${\text{ADP}}_{\text{i}} = \frac{{{\text{DR}}_{\text{i}} }}{{\left( {{\text{R}}_{\text{i}} } \right)^{2} }} \times \frac{{({\text{R}}_{\text{ref}} )^{2} }}{{{\text{DR}}_{\text{ref}} }}$ where ADPi, abiotic depletion potential of resource i; Ri, ultimate reserve of resources i (kg); DRi, extraction rate of resources i (kg year−1); Rref, ultimate reserve of the reference resource (antimony kg); DRref, extraction rate of the reference resource (kg year−1) ${\text{ADP}} = \sum\limits_{i} {{\text{ADP}}_{i} } \times {\text{m}}_{\text{i}}$	[41]
Outputs: Emissions NH3, NO2 −, NO3 −, PO −34  → landfill/open dumps, anaerobic digestion NOx → transportation, energy and auxiliary materials production, incineration, NH3, H2S → landfills/open dumps, anaerobic digestion, NOx, SOx → fuel production, incinération transportation HCl, HF → fuel production	Eutrophication potential	kg PO4 3− eq. or kg NO3 −eq	${\text{X}}_{\text{Gross}} = \sum {\left( {{\text{Q}}_{\text{i}} {\text{EM}} \times {\text{EF}}_{\text{i}} } \right)} + \sum {\left( {{\text{Q}}_{\text{i}} {\text{T}} \times {\text{EF}}_{i} } \right)} + \sum {\left( {{\text{Q}}_{\text{i}} {\text{TF}} \times {\text{EF}}_{\text{i}} } \right)}$ ${\text{X}}_{\text{Net}} = {\text{X}}_{\text{Gross}} - \sum {({\text{Q}}_{\text{i}} {\text{PA}} \times {\text{EF}}_{\text{i}} )}$ Here X = GWP, POFP, EP, AP, HTP GWP, global warming potential; POFP, photo-oxidant formation potential; EP, eutrophication potential; AP, acidification potential; HTP, human toxicity potential; Qi, magnitude of substance i from EM—energy and material production; T, transportation; TF, treatment facility; PA, potential avoidance; EFi, equivalency factor of ith substance	[7, 12, 38]
	Acidification potential	kg SO2 eq.
VOCs, NH3 → landfill/open dumps, anaerobic digestion, composting, NOx, SOx, PM10 → Transportation, energy and auxiliary materials production, incineration,	Human toxicity potential	kg 1–4 DB eq
VOCs → landfill/open dumps, anaerobic digestion, aerobic composting, CO, NOx → transportation, energy and auxiliary materials production, incineration,	Photo oxidant formation potential	kg C2H4 eq.
CH4 → landfill/open dumps CO2, N2O, CO → transportation of MSW, energy and auxiliary material production, incineration	Global warming potential	kg CO2 eq.

Appendix 2: Life Cycle Inventory of Recycling, Production of an Equal Amount of Materials via Virgin Production and Landfilling

 

Paper recycling				Plastics recycling				Aluminium recycling
Inputs/outputs	Units	1 tonne of paper waste recycling	Virgin production of 893 kg paper	Inputs/outputs	Units	1 tonne of plastic waste recycling	Virgin production of 900 kg plastics	Inputs/outputs	Units	1 tonne of aluminium waste recycling	Virgin production of 758 kg Aluminium
Raw materials/energy consumption				Raw materials/energy consumption				Raw materials/energy consumption
Hard Wood	m3	0.00E+00	6.96E−02	Hard coal	kg	4.25E−02	1.03E+02	Total scrap input	kg	1.00E+03	0.00E+00
Soft wood	m3	0.00E+00	1.97E+00	Soft coal	kg	7.45E+02	1.51E+01	Bauxite	kg	1.40E−02	3.99E+03
Wood chips	m3	0.00E+00	7.50E−02	Heavy oil	kg	8.69E+00	8.24E+02	Alumina input	kg	0.00E+00	1.46E+03
Sulphate pulp	kg	0.00E+00	6.99E+01	Natural gas	m3	6.55E+02	6.25E+02	Anodes	kg	0.00E+00	3.29E+02
Mixed waste paper	kg	9.76E+02	1.81E+02	Aluminium,	kg	0.00E+00	1.51E−01	Aluminium	kg	0.00E+00	7.58E+02
Kaolin	kg	5.76E+01	8.03E+01	Iron, 46 % in ore	kg	9.75E−03	2.63E+00	Electricity	kWh	9.65E+01	1.19E+04
Aluminium	kg	9.22E+00	6.51E+00	Emissions				Hard coal	kg	6.06E+01	2.40E+03
Electricity	kWh	4.70E+02	1.12E+03	CO2	kg	2.14E+03	1.58E+03	Soft coal	kg	1.90E+01	2.57E+03
Hard coal	kg	3.35E+02	9.13E+01	CO	kg	1.85E+00	7.56E+00	Heavy oil	kg	5.63E+01	2.10E+02
Soft coal	kg	9.27E+01	2.46E+02	CH4	kg	1.71E−02	1.25E+01	Natural gas	m3	1.67E+01	6.08E+02
Heavy oil	kg	1.51E+01	2.83E+01	NOx	kg	6.76E+00	4.01E+00	Emissions
Natural gas	m3	8.30E+01	1.95E+02	SOx	kg	9.05E+00	4.19E+00	CO2	kg	3.91E+02	1.24E+04
Emissions				NMVOC	kg	1.48E−01	3.64E+00	CO	kg	3.11E−01	1.64E+01
CO2	kg	1.25E+03	9.61E+02	PM > 10 mm	kg	2.06E+00	6.68E−01	CH4	kg	3.23E−02	1.27E+00
CO	kg	1.66E+00	1.94E+00	HCl	kg	4.66E−06	5.50E−02	N2O	kg	1.69E−05	0.00E+00
CH4	kg	1.94E−01	2.56E−01					NH3	kg	8.91E−05	0.00E+00
N2O	kg	8.63E−03	2.37E−04					NOx	kg	6.90E−01	4.19E+01
NH3	kg	4.68E−04	1.26E−03					SOx	kg	3.45E−01	5.43E+01
NOx	kg	3.23E+00	3.28E+00					NMVOCs	kg	3.76E−02	7.73E−02
SOx	kg	1.26E+00	2.80E+00					PM > 10 mm	kg	1.53E−01	1.09E+01
NMVOCs	kg	1.95E−01	4.91E−01					HF	kg	0.00E+00	4.22E−01
PM > 10 mm	kg	8.48E−01	9.27E−01

Metal recycling				Glass recycling				Existing landfilling
Inputs/outputs	Units	1 tonne of metal waste recycling	Virgin production of 900 kg metals	Inputs/outputs	Units	1 tonne of glass waste recycling	Virgin production of 950 kg glass	Inputs/outputs	Units	Landfilling of 1 tonne of waste
Raw materials/energy consumption				Raw materials/energy consumption				Raw materials/energy consumption
Limestone	kg	0.00E+00	2.57E+02	Recycling glass	kg	1.00E+03	1.96E+01	Bauxite	kg	5.69E−02
Iron, 46 % in ore	kg	0.00E+00	2.18E+03	Dolomite	kg	0.00E+00	1.85E+02	Iron	kg	2.97E−02
Scrap, external	kg	1.07E+03	1.10E+02	Iron ore	kg	0.00E+00	1.12E−02	Hard coal	kg	1.37E−01
Hard coal	kg	1.65E+02	1.07E+03	Limestone	kg	5.10E+00	2.40E+02	Soft coal	kg	1.07E−01
Soft coal	kg	2.54E+02	9.60E+01	Sand, quartz	kg	0.00E+00	5.83E+02	Heavy oil	kg	7.14E+00
Heavy oil	kg	2.23E+01	7.97E+01	Sodium chloride	kg	6.39E+00	2.31E+02	Emissions
Natural gas	m3	1.15E+02	1.18E+02	Hard coal	kg	1.15E+01	9.60E+01	CO2	kg	2.65E+01
Emissions				Soft coal	kg	7.93E+00	1.92E+01	CO	kg	3.85E−01
CO2	kg	1.05E+03	2.69E+03	Heavy oil	kg	1.60E+02	2.06E+02	CH4	kg	3.50E+01
CO	kg	4.16E+00	1.67E+01	Natural gas	m3	2.34E+01	−3.02E+00	N2O	kg	7.10E−05
CH4	kg	1.83E+00	9.77E+00	Emissions				NH3	kg	1.02E+01
N2O	kg	5.34E−03	8.69E−03	CO2	kg	5.51E+02	1.00E+03	NOx	kg	2.55E−01
NH3	kg	1.69E−03	1.78E−03	CO	kg	2.54E−01	1.49E+00	SOx	kg	2.48E−02
NOx	kg	2.43E+00	4.12E+00	CH4	kg	7.42E−01	7.86E−01	H2S	kg	4.47E−01
SOx	kg	2.64E+00	5.64E+00	N2O	kg	1.60E−03	2.49E−03	NMVOCs	kg	1.48E−01
H2S	kg	0.00E+00	8.96E−03	NH3	kg	2.49E−03	8.44E−02	PM > 10 mm	kg	6.08E−02
NMVOCs	kg	4.09E−01	9.14E−01	NOx	kg	2.89E+00	1.04E+00	NO3 −	kg	9.01E−01
PM > 10 mm	kg	1.06E+00	1.28E+00	SOx	kg	7.09E−01	4.26E+00
HF	kg	1.37E−02	9.96E−03	NMVOCs	kg	1.30E+00	2.00E+00
HCl	kg	1.20E−01	7.81E−02	PM > 10 mm	kg	6.74E−01	1.84E+00
				HF	kg	2.23E−02	3.12E−03
				HCl	kg	5.58E−02	1.12E−01

Appendix 3: Quantification of Ultimate Damages for Recycling of One tonne of Paper Waste

(a) Quantification of “damage to ecosystem” from paper recycling (this table shows only the gross damage calculation from paper recycling. Similar approach was followed to quantify gross damage from the virgin production process)

 

	Concept/mathematical formula used	Magnitude			Description/background information
1. Ecosystem damage from acidifying/eutrophying substances
Acidifying/eutrophying substances		NH3	NOx	SOx
Emission per tonne of waste paper recycling (kg)	(mi)	4.68E−04	3.23E+00	1.26E+00	Data from inventory analysis
Damage factor $( {\text{PDF}}\,{\text{m}}_{\text{local}}^{2} \,{\text{year}})$/kg of substance	(αi)	15.57	5.713	1.041	[16]
Damage to ecosystem from each substance$({\text{PDF}}\,{\text{m}}_{\text{local}}^{2} \,{\text{year}})$/tonne of waste paper	${\text{DE}}_{\text{local}} = {\text{m}}_{\text{i}} \times \alpha_{\text{i}}$	7.29E−03	1.84E+01	1.32E+00	[16]
Total damage to ecosystem from all the acidifying/eutrophying substances $(PDF.m_{local}^{2} .yr)$/tonne of waste paper	${\text{DE}}_{\text{local}} = \sum\limits_{\text{i}} {{\text{m}}_{\text{i}} \alpha_{\text{i}} }$	1.98E+01			[16]
Equivalency factor (EF) for marginal cropland (global m2) (assuming the effects may occur at cropland)	Equivalency factor (global m2/m2)	1.8			[20, 21]
Yield factor for marginal cropland	Yield factor (dimensionless)	2			[18, 19]
Damage to ecosystem at global scale due to acidifying/eutrophying substances (PDF global m2 year)/tonne of waste paper	DEglobal = DElocal × equivalency factor (global ha/ha) × yield factor	7.12E+01			Authors derived formula
2. Ecosystem damage due to direct and indirect land occupation/conversion
Damage to ecosystem (local) due to direct land occupation for recycling of paper$({\text{PDF}}\,{\text{m}}_{\text{local}}^{2} \,{\text{year}})$/tonne of waste paper	DElocal = PDF × Area × time (direct land occupation for paper recycling is assumed to be negligible. Thus Area = 0)	0E+00			[16]
Damage to ecosystem due to direct land occupation for recycling of paper (PDF global m2 year)/tonne of waste paper	DEglobal = DElocal × equivalency factor (global ha/ha) × Yield factor	0E+00			Authors derived formula
Total fossil energy consumption for recycling (MJ/tonne of waste paper) (including energy for transportation, thermal energy and electricity)	Total energy consumed (MJ) = transportation + heat + electricity	1.32E+04			Authors derived formula
Land occupation for fossil energy generation (global m2 year/MJ)	Characterization factor (global m2 year/MJ)	0.5			[20]
Land occupation for fossil energy generation (global m2 year/tonne of waste paper)	Land occupation(global) = total energy (MJ) × characterization factor (global m2 year/MJ)	6.62E+03			[16]
PDF of fossil fuel mining land	PDF (dimensionless)	1.19			[17]
Yield factor for mining land	Yield factor (dimensionless)	2			[18, 19]
Damage to ecosystem due to fossil energy consumption (PDF global m2 year)/tonne of waste paper	DEglobal = land occupation(global) × PDF × yield factor	1.58E+04
Gross ecosystem damage (PDF global m 2 year) from recycling of one tonne of waste paper	Gross ecosystem damage = DE acidification/eutrophication  + DE occupatiom	1.58E+04

(b) Quantification of “damage to abiotic resources” from recycling

Calculation of damage to reference resources (Dr) (Reference resource—crude oil 42 MJ/kg^a)

Description	Value	Unit
(a) Volume of one oil barrel in liters	160	L
(b) Estimated extraction cost incrementa	30	$/barrel in year 2000
(c) Mass of oil in one barrel	136	kg
(d) Extraction cost increment per kg oil extraction (d) = (b)/(c)	0.22	$/kg (relative to year 2000)
(e) Production amount in base year 2000 (based on ReCiPe Model)a	3.43E+12	kg
(f) Marginal Cost Increase (MCIr)a (f) = (d)/(e)	6.43E−14	$/kg/kg
(g) Average inflation rate of Middle East countries (d)b	5	%
(h) Time period between current year and the base year (t)a	10	From base year (2000 to 2010)
(i) Future value of 1 dollar for year 2010 (1 + d)t (i) = (1 + (g)/100)h	1.63	$ (relative to base year 2000)
(j) Damage of 1 kg of crude oil extraction (Dr) (j) = (e) × ((f) × (i)	0.36	$/kg (year 2010)

1. (Sources of references: ^a[16], ^b[24])

Calculation of “damage to abiotic resources” from paper recycling (similar approach was followed to calculate damage from the virgin production process)

	Type of fossil fuel used
Description	Hard coal (18 MJ/kg)	Soft coal (10 MJ/kg)	Heavy oil (42 MJ/kg)	Natural gas (36.6 kg/m3)
Amount of fossil energy used (kg/tonne of paper waste)*	335	92.7	15.1	83
Characterization factors (relative to the energy content of crude oil 42 MJ/kg)a	0.43	0.24	1.00	0.87
Fossil fuel consumption (kg crude oil-eq)/tonne of paper waste	143.57	22.07	15.10	72.33
Total fossil fuel consumption (kg crude oil-eq/tonne of paper waste)	253.07
Damage of 1 kg of crude oil (reference resource) extraction ($/kg)	0.36
Gross damage to abiotic resources from recycling ($/tonne of paper waste)	91.11

1. Sources of references: ^a[16]
2. * These data obtained from inventory analysis, see “Appendix 2”

(c) Calculation of “Life Cycle Cost” of paper recycling

 

Description	Value	Unit
(a) Capital Cost	85 (3)*	Baht/tonne of paper waste
(b) Operational and maintenance costs	18,457 (599)	Baht/tonne of paper waste
(c) Environmental cost	2,833 (92)	Baht/tonne of paper waste
(d) Gross life cycle cost of paper recycling (d) = (a) + (b) + (c)	21,374 (694)	Baht/tonne of paper waste
Revenue generation
(e)Average selling prices of the recycled paper	22,400 (727)	Baht/tonne of recycled paper
(f) Recyclability of paper waste	0.91	Tonne of recycled paper/tonne of paper waste
(g) Income generation potential by selling recycled paper (g) = (e) × (f)	20,384 (662)	Baht/tonne of paper waste
(h) Credited environmental cost	3,045 (99)	Baht/tonne of paper waste
(i) Total revenue generation (i) = (g) + (h)	23,429 (761)	Baht/tonne of paper waste
(j) Net life cycle cost (j) = (d) − (i)	−2,055 (−67)	Baht/tonne of paper waste

1. *Values in parentheses are in US$ per tonne of paper waste or recycled paper

(d) Calculation of “damage to human health” from paper recycling (similar approach was followed to calculate damage from the virgin production process)

 

(a) Type of emissions*	(b) Magnitude of emissions from paper recycling (kg/tonne of paper waste)*	Characterization factorsa			(f) Total health damage (DALYs/tonne of paper waste) (f) = (b) × (c) + (b) × (d) + (b) × (e)
		(c) Mortality occurrence (YOLL/kg of pollutant)	(d) Severe morbidity(person years YLD/kg of pollutant)	(e) Morbidity (persons years YLD/kg of pollutant)
CO2	1.25E+03	7.93E−07	3.53E−07	6.55E−07	2.26E−03
CO	1.66E+00	2.38E−06	1.06E−06	1.96E−06	8.94E−06
CH4	1.94E−01	1.95E−05	8.65E−06	1.60E−05	8.55E−06
N2O	8.63E−03	2.87E−04	1.10E−04	2.14E−04	5.27E−06
NH3	4.68E−04	2.64E−05	−4.66E−06	7.22E−06	1.36E−08
NOx	3.23E+00	2.45E−05	−2.06E−06	3.61E−06	8.41E−05
SOx	1.26E+00	3.76E−05	−6.58E−06	1.02E−05	5.21E−05
NMVOCs	1.95E−01	1.53E−05	4.25E−06	0.00E+00	3.83E−06
PM > 10 mm	8.48E−01	4.24E−04	−2.33E−06	3.61E−06	3.61E−04
Total health damage (DALYs/tonne of paper waste recycling (∑f)					2.78E−03

1. Sources of references: ^a[29]
2. * These data obtained from inventory analysis, see “Appendix 2”

(e) Calculation of “Income based community well-being” from paper recycling

 

Description	Amount	Unit
Income generation from selling of paper wastea	4376.54	Baht/tonne of paper waste
Total created employment opportunities throughout the recycling process chainb	0.71	Labour days/tonne
Wages based income generationc	1,797.88	Baht/tonne of paper waste
Total income generation potential to the community	6,174.43	Baht/tonne of paper waste
Per capita living expenses of middle-class people in Thailand	5,000	Baht/person/month
No of individual who may deserve a better lifestyle due to this income increment in the society	≥1	No of individuals/tonne of paper waste recycling

1. ^aAverage selling price of paper waste
2. ^bTotal labour requirement at sorting and recycling facilities
3. ^cWages based income has been calculated considering the hierarchal positions of the created jobs