Reducing methane emissions from municipal solid waste landfills by using mechanical biological treatment (Case Study Wady Alhaddeh (MBT) plant, In Tartous)

In developing countries, including Syria solid waste sector contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases, mainly methane, due to the lack of methods of integrated management of solid waste in these countries. The objective of this research is to study the feasibility and effectiveness of mechanical biological treatment of municipal solid waste in a way to reduce methane gas emissions compared to the way the indiscriminate dumping of municipal solid waste. In order to reach this goal is the use of the formula contained in the guidelines of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in account the emissions of methane from municipal solid waste sector in the Syrian Tartous in the case of landfilling of municipal solid waste generated by the province during the years from 2010 until 2015 in random landfills. In order to compare the account is an assumption that the same amount of municipal solid waste generated by the province during the years from 2010 to 2015 have been treated in accordance with the mechanical biological treatment method. It was also calculate the amount of methane emitted from municipal solid waste entering the integrated waste treatment center in the Province of Tartous within one year from the beginning of June 2014 until the end of May 2015, using mechanical biological treatment method. This study concluded that the mechanical biological treatment for municipal solid waste significantly reduces the amount of methane emissions from solid waste sector compared to the landfill, where the percentage of reduction in the emission of methane 93%.

Application of Life Cycle Assessment approach for municipal solid waste treatment in Latakia city

Latakia is a Syrian city that generates approximately 800 tons per day of municipal solid waste MSW, and the final disposal of MSW is in Al-Bassa open dump with no biogas capturing or leachate collection systems. Thus, a life cycle assessment approach LCA was used to determine the optimal strategy of municipal solid waste management. to find the most eco-friendly scenario, first, the composition study of MSW was conducted in Latakia. The results of first step are to be utilized as a reliable data source in establishing a complete picture of the environmental performances of municipal solid waste management systems with a life cycle perspective. The functional unit of the study was selected as one ton of MSW generated in Latakia. System boundaries included treatment and disposal of MSW using different scenarios: the open dump of waste, sanitary landfilling with gas recovery, and a material recovery facility MRF combined with a sanitary landfill and gas recovery. Data on the process was gathered from a field study conducted in Latakia, and from SimaPro 8.3.0 literature and libraries. The data was evaluated with IMPACT 2002+ methodology and the assessed environmental impact categories were climate change, human health, ecosystem quality, and resources. According to the results, while open dumping has been confirmed as the worst waste final disposal method, landfilling with gas recovery and material recovery facility showed better performance and is considered as a solution towards improved sustainability to overcome the existing waste management problem.