Comparative environmental assessment of alternative waste management strategies in developing regions: a case study in Kazakhstan

The management of municipal solid waste in the Republic of Kazakhstan is still in its infancy. This situation poses a potential threat to the environment and public health and, therefore, it is necessary to introduce improved management schemes in the country. In this study, the life cycle assessment methodology was followed to evaluate the potential environmental benefits of implementing alternative management schemes based on low-waste generation and renewable energy production. The current situation of the capital city Astana was considered as the base case. Environmental results showed that air emissions in terms of landfill gases are the major contributor to climate change impacts, while landfill disposal of the non-recovered fraction of recyclable materials was responsible for the highest impacts in the other categories (especially land use). However, the reuse of recycled materials largely offsets the related environmental burdens, along with energy generation. In comparative terms, it was demonstrated that the proposed waste management scenarios are more environmentally friendly than current practices (S0), mainly owing to the credits associated with the valorisation of renewable energy (S2) and recovered materials (S3). Consequently, the evaluation showed that greater efforts should be made to exploit the energy potential of organic fraction, together with higher recycling rates, to move towards lower environmental impacts associated with municipal solid waste management.