Technological watch

This study aims to evaluate municipal landfill sites’ operational and financial viability, waste amount and characterization, primary and secondary collection systems, revenue generation from MSW, vehicle routing, and age of landfill sites located in Akhtarabad, Sahiwal Division. Three operational and financial models were developed to calculate cost/ton value based on obtained data. The obtained results indicate that the cost/ton values for models are the following: 20.01 USD for Model-1, 8.96 USD Model-2, and Model-3 is about 10.23 USD. The waste characterization represented waste consisting of compostable (57%), recyclable (10%), Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) (12%), earth fill (20%), and disposable material (1%). Revenue/ton of municipal solid waste was about 19.47 USD, and according to cost-benefit analysis, the cost of Model-1 was higher than the benefit. In contrast, the costs of Model-2 and Model-3 were found to be lower than the revenue/ton. However, the waste collection efficiency of Model-1 was greater than both remaining models. The study concluded that utilizing all generated waste, only 21% of waste is dumped at the landfill site. It will reduce the area required for landfill sites from 431437 to 90602 m2 for the next 10 years and increase the age of landfill sites by over 20 years. It is recommended that the reuse of municipal solid waste and implementation of the no waste to landfill model would surely save money, land, and fuel, and it will also increase the age of landfill sites.

Graphical abstract