An enviromental analysis for comparing waste management options and strategies

The debate on different waste management practices has become an issue of utmost importance as human activities have overloaded
the assimilative capacity of the biosphere. Recent Italian law on solid waste management recommends an increase in material recycling
and energy recovery, and only foresees landfill disposal for inert materials and residues from recovery and recycling. A correct waste
management policy should be based on the principles of sustainable development, according to which our refuse is not simply regarded
as something to eliminate but rather as a potential resource. This requires the creation of an integrated waste management plan that
makes full use of all available technologies.
In this context, eMergy analysis is applied to evaluate three different forms of waste treatment and construct an approach capable of
assessing the whole strategy of waste management. The evaluation included how much investment is needed for each type of waste management
and how much ‘‘utility’’ is extracted from wastes, through the use of two indicators: Environmental yield ratio (EYR) and Net
eMergy. Our results show that landfill is the worst system in terms of eMergy costs and eMergy benefits. Composting is the most efficient
system in recovering eMergy (highest EYR) from municipal solid waste (MSW) while incineration is capable of saving the greatest quantity
of eMergy per gram of MSW (highest net eMergy). This analysis has made it possible to assess the sustainability and the efficiency of
individual options but could also be used to assess a greater environmental strategy for waste management, considering a system that
might include landfills, incineration, composting, etc.