Reimagining urban waste management : Addressing social, climate, and resource challenges in modern cities
(2025) In Cities 156.- Abstract
Governments worldwide are seeking better solutions for solid waste management. Thermal treatment projects are presented as quick fixes for rising waste challenges, without addressing the limitations of incineration. Currently, there is a rise in proposals for thermal treatment technologies in developing countries. Scrutiny of the risks and impacts of these alternatives is necessary due to social, climate, and resource considerations. Energy from waste incineration is considered fossil energy since about half of the CO2 emissions come from fossil polymers in the waste. From a sustainability perspective, landfilling is a short-term option for materials currently unsuitable for recycling. Landfills act as bioreactors, producing... (More)
Governments worldwide are seeking better solutions for solid waste management. Thermal treatment projects are presented as quick fixes for rising waste challenges, without addressing the limitations of incineration. Currently, there is a rise in proposals for thermal treatment technologies in developing countries. Scrutiny of the risks and impacts of these alternatives is necessary due to social, climate, and resource considerations. Energy from waste incineration is considered fossil energy since about half of the CO2 emissions come from fossil polymers in the waste. From a sustainability perspective, landfilling is a short-term option for materials currently unsuitable for recycling. Landfills act as bioreactors, producing valuable biogas, and serve as “resource banks,” storing unrecyclable resources until better recycling techniques are developed. In developing countries manual labor is abundant and material sorting and landfilling are more valuable and have a lower climate and resource footprint. This paper offers a novel, integrated perspective of waste management in view of poverty reduction, climate change and resource conservation.
(Less)
- author
- Gutberlet, Jutta and Bramryd, Torleif LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Biogas, Climate change, CO2-sequestration, Developing countries, Recycling, Waste management, Waste pickers, Waste-to-energy
- in
- Cities
- volume
- 156
- article number
- 105553
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85207019785
- ISSN
- 0264-2751
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.cities.2024.105553
- project
- Service Studies Sustainability
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Authors
- id
- 0509acd0-93e8-41ab-95f5-f9924535fe3c
- date added to LUP
- 2024-11-25 15:27:15
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:56:56
@article{0509acd0-93e8-41ab-95f5-f9924535fe3c,
abstract = {{<p>Governments worldwide are seeking better solutions for solid waste management. Thermal treatment projects are presented as quick fixes for rising waste challenges, without addressing the limitations of incineration. Currently, there is a rise in proposals for thermal treatment technologies in developing countries. Scrutiny of the risks and impacts of these alternatives is necessary due to social, climate, and resource considerations. Energy from waste incineration is considered fossil energy since about half of the CO<sub>2</sub> emissions come from fossil polymers in the waste. From a sustainability perspective, landfilling is a short-term option for materials currently unsuitable for recycling. Landfills act as bioreactors, producing valuable biogas, and serve as “resource banks,” storing unrecyclable resources until better recycling techniques are developed. In developing countries manual labor is abundant and material sorting and landfilling are more valuable and have a lower climate and resource footprint. This paper offers a novel, integrated perspective of waste management in view of poverty reduction, climate change and resource conservation.</p>}},
author = {{Gutberlet, Jutta and Bramryd, Torleif}},
issn = {{0264-2751}},
keywords = {{Biogas; Climate change; CO2-sequestration; Developing countries; Recycling; Waste management; Waste pickers; Waste-to-energy}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Cities}},
title = {{Reimagining urban waste management : Addressing social, climate, and resource challenges in modern cities}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2024.105553}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.cities.2024.105553}},
volume = {{156}},
year = {{2025}},
}