Integrated municipal solid waste management system simulation of the Republic of Croatia

Abstract

The Republic of Croatia, as EU member, is obligated to carry out the planning and realization of an integrated municipal solid waste management system, which represents the direct implementation of the circular economy principles. This paper describes the procedure for defining the mathematical model of an integrated municipal solid waste management system in the Republic of Croatia using the material flow analysis (MFA) method and substance flow analysis (SFA) method. In the simulation model three different predictions of solid municipal waste generation trends are assumed. System simulation covers the period of 15 years, from 2015 to 2030. On the example of the system simulation results for 2020, it can be concluded that there is a great potential for long-term sustainability of the system. The obtained results from system simulation indicate that from the input mass flow rate 25.6% is processed into various recyclables, 7.5% is processed into compost, and only 19.5% of waste is disposed at landfills. The results indicate that significant electricity production potential is possible using biogas and solid recovered fuel (SRF) in appropriate energy plants.