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Sustainability
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Toward Circular Economy: Solid Waste Treatment
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Toward Circular Economy: Solid Waste Treatment

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 August 2023) | Viewed by 8250

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Wu-Jang Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environment Engineering & Sciences, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Neipu 912, Taiwan
Interests: circular economy model; circular design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue consists of papers which report on practical cases of circular economy, collect representative cases or policies throughout the world on the circular economy, report on recent advances and novel techniques in solid waste treatment and recycling , and which aim to understand the current social needs regarding the coming "Circular Era".

The current model of economic growth based on mass produciton caused more consumption, which generates more solid waste, causing socials issue throughout the world. Although in the past several decade, waste recycling has been a well-known issue in the world, the lack of a sufficient recycling market is also long-standing issue. To develop a new model of economic growth based on decoupling of natural resource and green energy and nat zero emissions has become indeed necessary. Furthermore, depression is also becoming a growing social problem. Research on the circular economy just started few years ago, and government policy on this front is also attracting attention globally. Until now, there has been much confusion between waste recycling and the cicular economy. This Special Issue aims to report on practical cases of circular economy, to collect representative cases or policies throughout the world on the circular economy, report on recent advances and novel techniques in solid waste treatment and recycling, and to understand the current social needs regarding the coming "Circular Era".

Dr. Wu-Jang Huang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • ciruclar economy
  • solid waste treatment
  • waste recycling

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1483 KiB  
Article
Analysing the Sustainability of the Production of Solid Recovered Fuel from Screening Waste
by Juan Jesús De la Torre Bayo, Montserrat Zamorano Toro, Luz Marina Ruiz, Juan Carlos Torres Rojo and Jaime Martín Pascual
Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13841; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813841 - 18 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1627
Abstract
The development in wastewater management has caused a shift towards a circular model that prioritises energy generation and waste reduction. Traditional unitary processes in wastewater treatment, such as screening, only allow for landfill disposal without energy recovery. However, producing solid recovered fuel ( [...] Read more.
The development in wastewater management has caused a shift towards a circular model that prioritises energy generation and waste reduction. Traditional unitary processes in wastewater treatment, such as screening, only allow for landfill disposal without energy recovery. However, producing solid recovered fuel (SRF) from waste screening may be a possibility. The economic and environmental viability of this alternative, as a fundamental requirement for its implementation at industrial level, was assessed through a multi-scenario analysis using Monte Carlo simulation. The cost and benefit streams were determined based on the financial net present value (NPVf) and the social net present value (NPVs), including monetised CO2 emissions generated. The results showed that waste drying costs were found to be the most significant ones, with thermal drying being more financially advantageous than solar drying. The densification of SRF raises the costs by 7.88 to 8.48%, but its use as fuel would likely be profitable due to the economic benefits it provides. Current landfill disposal practices, which have an NPVs of −1052.60 EUR/t, are not a feasible, particularly when compared to the other SRF production scenarios, with maximum NPVs of −53.91 EUR/t. SRF production without densification using solar drying is the most acceptable scenario with the lowest NPVs (38.39 EUR/t). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toward Circular Economy: Solid Waste Treatment)
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24 pages, 3277 KiB  
Article
Designing a Flexible and Adaptive Municipal Waste Management Organisation Using the Viable System Model
by Emmanuel D. Adamides, Konstantinos Georgousoglou and Yannis Mouzakitis
Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13323; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813323 - 5 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1579
Abstract
Changing consumption patterns, new packaging materials, innovative waste processing, and recycling technologies, but also unforeseen events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, in the presence of the climate crisis and ecological degradation, necessitate the development of flexible and adaptive municipal waste management infrastructure and [...] Read more.
Changing consumption patterns, new packaging materials, innovative waste processing, and recycling technologies, but also unforeseen events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, in the presence of the climate crisis and ecological degradation, necessitate the development of flexible and adaptive municipal waste management infrastructure and processes governed by equally flexible and adaptive organisations. In this regard, this paper presents the design process for such an organisation based on the Viable System Model (VSM). The VSM is a systems approach for the methodological diagnosis and design of organisations that can adapt to, and survive, changes in the environment that they are part of. Through a reference case of a large municipality in Greece, we demonstrate how the VSM and the related VIPLAN methodology can be used for the methodological development of flexible and adaptive municipal waste management systems (MWMS) for governing organisations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toward Circular Economy: Solid Waste Treatment)
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14 pages, 703 KiB  
Article
Cost Efficiency in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW): Different Alternatives in Service Delivery for Small and Medium Sized Spanish Local Governments
by Jose-Luis Zafra-Gómez, Germán López-Pérez, Marta Garrido-Montañés and Elisabeth Zafra-Gómez
Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 6198; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15076198 - 4 Apr 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1629
Abstract
The provision of local public services has become one of the main concerns of local governments. Therefore, the selection of the most appropriate form of management to maximize efficiency levels in the provision of local public services has been widely analyzed throughout the [...] Read more.
The provision of local public services has become one of the main concerns of local governments. Therefore, the selection of the most appropriate form of management to maximize efficiency levels in the provision of local public services has been widely analyzed throughout the academic literature. In this context, the aim of this paper is to add new knowledge to the literature on efficiency in the provision of local public services. To this end, we propose the study of four forms of management (interested indirect management; indirect management by concession; intermunicipal co-operation; public service provision) through a free disposal hull data panel (FDHDP) methodology for the 2014–2016 period. We find that public-private partnership contracting is less efficient on waste removal services when accounting for quality. However, the promised benefits of contracting out are realized when contractors are made responsive to service quality through concessions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toward Circular Economy: Solid Waste Treatment)
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13 pages, 1580 KiB  
Article
Bibliometric Analysis on Sustainable Supply Chains
by Franklin Enrique Reyes-Soriano, Juan Carlos Muyulema-Allaica, Christina Michelle Menéndez-Zaruma, Jorge Manuel Lucin-Borbor, Isabel Del Roció Balón-Ramos and Gerardo Antonio Herrera-Brunett
Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13039; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013039 - 12 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2629
Abstract
In recent years, efforts have been expanded to create and adopt tools that contribute to mitigating the environmental impact caused by industrial development. In this sense, the objective of this article is twofold: (i) to identify the countries worldwide that have generated and [...] Read more.
In recent years, efforts have been expanded to create and adopt tools that contribute to mitigating the environmental impact caused by industrial development. In this sense, the objective of this article is twofold: (i) to identify the countries worldwide that have generated and disseminated the most information on sustainable supply chains (SSCs) and (ii) to recognize the organizations that have interacted most with each other to generate greater scientific contributions on SSCs. Methodologically, the starting point was a bibliometric scan, and a systematic review of the literature focusing on SSCs was carried out. The search engine used was the Dimensions platform, limited only to the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, and the articles had to belong to the categories of engineering and economics. For the network visualization, VOSviewer was used, as it allows the connections to be visualized in a network graph. The findings of this paper show the existing links between organizations worldwide whose purpose is the study and scientific dissemination of SSCs. The countries that have generated the greatest scientific contribution in the last three years with respect to SSCs were China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy and the Netherlands. In addition, the organizations that have interacted the most belong to the European Union. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Toward Circular Economy: Solid Waste Treatment)
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