2021 Volume 32 Pages 72-85
A survey comparing processing costs, CO2 emissions, and life of landfill sites between the currently used mixed collection/landfill treatment method and the newer treatment method that uses composting and carbonization was conducted on the waste being discharged from urban areas and suburbs of Guangnan in Yunnan Province in The People’s Republic of China. Survey results estimate that costs will tend to increase when municipal waste is collected then separated, then newly treated, related to an extended landfill life. Treatment costs were estimated to be reduced and landfill life was extended in the scenario whereby urban waste was separated at home/on-site, then collected and transported using new electric vehicles, and finally newly treated, while suburban wastes were directly landfilled, as is the current treatment method. On the other hand, estimates show that if both urban and suburban waste are separated at home/on-site, then collected and transported by a new electric vehicle, and finally subject to new treatment, costs tend to increase slightly but landfill life is markedly extended. The study also estimates that final CO2 emissions decreased as a result of reducing the amount of organic waste to be landfilled.
