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 appro
ach 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.
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 t
o 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%.
The process of collecting and transporting solid waste is the first and fundamental issue in the management of solid waste as it is the most economically expensive operation, in which its expenses in the process of system of municipal solid waste man
agement (MSWM) reaches about 60-70% of the total expenditure. This process starts from placing waste in containers till unloading these containers in transportation vehicles and then carry them to transfer stations or final disposal sites.
The fees of collection and transportation can be reduced through the selection of the optimal path, and thus obtaining many economical benefits.
In this research, the applications of geographical information systems (GIS) have been used in order to choose the optimal route for waste collection, transportation and transference in the city of Lattakia, Where a database has been designed which included mainly the streets, bridges and tunnels, it also included residential areas serviced by waste containers, and the process of linking them to each other took place by using the techniques of GIS in order to choose the best economical and timetable ways for the traffic of vehicles to collect and transport the waste, which contributes practically and effectively in improving the activities of municipal solid waste management in this city.
