Municipal solid waste management in Bandung, Indonesia: is incineration the right way to treat your waste?

Abstract

Globally, the most used waste treatment method is landfilling, although (improper) landfilling, which is typical for developing countries, has no material or energy recovery possibility compared with other treatment methods. In Indonesia, open dumping on final disposal sites covers most of the treated waste, which is an even worse method than landfilling in terms of environmental issues. The main objective of this article is to evaluate the feasibility of the waste-to-energy solution/waste incineration approach for proper and sustainable waste management in Bandung. A big issue of municipal solid waste is the organic portion of waste, as most emissions and pollution come from organic waste and improper handling. A specific objective is to conduct the risk analysis
of an incineration plant model and to compare the environmental impact of incineration vs landfilling. The input data for the assessment will be obtained from the laboratory analyses of solid waste samples collected from the Sarimukti disposal site. The lab analyses will comprise the determination of fractional composition (biodegradable and non-biodegradable compounds like food waste, paper, textiles, plastics) and physico-chemical properties (such as moisture content, calorific values, trace elements). The research will also include general calculations of energy balance and economic costs of the incineration plant. Thus, the selected criteria will assess the following aspects of the incineration plant model: technical, environmental, social, energy, and economic.