An Environmental and Economic Assessment of Future Municipal Solid Waste Disposal: A case study of select high growth regions of Virginia.

• Main Author: Krouse, Joseph
• Format: Others
• Published: VCU Scholars Compass 2009
• Subjects: municipal solid waste; Virginia; landfill; transfer station; WTE facility; LCI; Planning District Commissions; Environmental Sciences; Physical Sciences and Mathematics
• Online Access: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1782; http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2781&context=etd

This research analyzed environmental and economic factors associated with municipal solid waste (MSW) management of select high growth Planning District Commissions (PDCs) of Virginia. Current MSW management scenarios were compared to future hypothetical scenarios utilizing a regional landfill or waste-to-energy (WTE) combustion facility. Life-cycle inventory and full cost accounting methods of the Municipal Solid Waste Decision Support Tool, developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), were utilized to estimate annualized environmental emissions and economic costs. Model results and analysis indicate that a regional landfill would be the least cost intensive MSW management strategy in comparison to current management methods; however present the greatest environmental burden with respect to methane emissions. It was also inferred that a WTE facility would represent the least environmental burden with respect to energy offsets via MSW combustion while being the most cost intensive option. The study supports the anecdotal view that a regional-based approach to MSW management of high-growth PDCs would help reduce costs and potential environmental impacts.