Application of Material Flow Analysis to Municipal Solid Waste in Urban Areas in Developing Countries and Possible Solutions under Circular Economic Framework

Abstract

The understanding waste flow of a country is important to identify the main problems associated with waste management and identify opportunities in material flow management. A tool such as material flow analysis (MFA) is a widely used method in waste management studies, to provide a comprehensive analysis of material movements, support for material characterization analysis to identify the severity of a problem, identify the real root cause, and propose suitable management methods. This paper presents an application of MFA for municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Western provinces in Sri Lanka. The outcome includes the identification, and quantification of the main input and output flows of the system in the present context, from waste generation, collection, unaccounted and unidentified flows, material recovery, and final disposal of MSW. Results are evaluated under treatment mechanisms of Recycling, Reusing, and repurposing the materials. Overall results show per capita per day of waste generation in Sri Lanka stood at 0.43 kg, whereas, the Western province represents that 0.56 kg due to the high population area with the highest rate of urbanization. However, the global average per capita per day of waste generation stood at 2.22 kg. The material and energy recovery represent 31% and 33% respectively in the study area from total collected waste. 36% of the material finally ended up in open dumpsites even after collection. Further research needs to be done on material and energy recovery potential identification in dumping waste, as this can convert to valuable results with proper management practices with available resources.