Towards Zero-Waste through a Circular Recovery Model – Lessons for Managing Municipal Solid Waste in cities

Background

Cities generate around 2 billion tonnes of solid waste annually and they account for more than 70% of the global emissions. Conventional municipal waste management (MSW) practices are primarily focused on waste collection, treatment and disposal, thus based in a linear model. The global waste production is expected to grow to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050. The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) has received increased attention in reducing environmental emissions and promoting the zero-waste transition. There is an urgency to design and implement a circular recovery model for making urban economies viable and carbon neutral. The project examines the supply chains of MSW, starting from generation, resource recovery, collection, conversion technologies, and business and market creation. In a world of limited resources, how can cities act to best reduce economic and environmental problems? Are there possibilities for developing a circular recovery model while managing municipal solid waste (MSW)? How can we develop and implement innovations at societal, technology, and business levels? How can interventions be designed in consultations with communities, local governments, and other stakeholders in cities? How can cities mutually learn from the best practices globally?

Thesis objective and scope

This thesis project aims at developing integrated actions and feasible solutions for a circular recovery model for managing MSW in cities. The study will compare and contrast cities, including two mega/large cities (example can be from the C40 cities' global climate leadership group.

Tentative topics for this thematic research:

• Techno-economic analysis of waste-to-energy (WtE) conversion technologies

• Options and best practices for the management of MSW in a circularity concept

• Scenario-based lifecycle assessment of waste management options in cities

• Geospatial and optimal model for an integrated assessment of the circular recovery model in cities

Students will further elaborate the thesis objectives considering the guiding research questions and suggested research approaches/methods. 

Criteria for evaluation

Critical criteria in the complete work and method development and metric for the final assessment are:

• Fulfilment of the ILOs for Master Thesis at KTH's ITM School;

• The student's initiative and independence in developing the overall research design;

• A critical and system perspective and critical discussion of the assumptions and results;

• Consideration of the literature.

• The ability to communicate the results of scientific work clearly and coherently.

If the work is of good quality and the student and project partners are interested, the research project will be designed to be suitable for a peer-reviewed publication in a high-quality journal.

 Qualifications/prerequisites

The analysis to be undertaken is interdisciplinary in nature, and requires some knowledge of waste conversion technologies, energy planning/policy and economics, Students should have an undergraduate degree in chemistry, biology, engineering, economics, or similar fields. Prior knowledge of the GIS, optimization analysis, and modeling tools is welcome.

Research approach/methodology

The study uses a bottom-up approach linking the urban environment with efforts to promote resource efficiency, economy, and environment. Societal, technological, and business innovations can also be investigated for establishing sustainable socio-technical landscapes to manage urban MSW. The student/s shall formulate the appropriate research questions to meet the given objectives, along with a proper research methodology and work plan. The student/s will begin with a literature review on previous research related to the topic in cities of the students’ choice. Further details on the studies to be done shall be defined in a work plan. Technoecomic analysis, GIS, supply chain optimization, etc. might be employed to address the research questions

Duration

6 months, start time: anytime soon

Specialization track

Transformation of Energy System (TES)

Division/Department

Division of Energy Systems – Department of Energy Technology

Research area

Circular Economy & Resource Efficiency

How to apply

We are looking for two master thesis students. The student may choose to work individually or in pairs. Send an email expressing your interest on the topic to Dilip Khatiwada    

Supervisory team

External supervisors

Brajesh Kumar Dubey  , Professor

Profile

Department of Civil Engineering,

IIT Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

Jagdeep Singh  , Associate Professor

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Centre for Environmental and Climate Research (CEC)

Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Suggested readings

1. World Bank. WHAT A WASTE 2.0 A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050. 2018.

2. Kuznetsova et al. 2019 Integrated decision-support methodology for combined centralized-decentralized waste-to-energy management systems design. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.RSER.2018.12.020.

3. Kumar et al. 2017. Challenges and opportunities associated with waste management in India. R Soc Open Sci 2017;4. https://doi.org/10.1098/RSOS.160764.

4. Singh J, Ordoñez I. Resource recovery from post-consumer waste: important lessons for the upcoming circular economy. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JCLEPRO.2015.12.020.

5. Laurenti et al. 2018. The Socio-Economic Embeddedness of the Circular Economy: An Integrative Framework. https://doi.org/10.3390/SU10072129.

6. Sharma et al. 2021. Circular economy approach in solid waste management system to achieve UN-SDGs: Solutions for post-COVID recovery.. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2021.149605.

7. Yadav et al. A facility location model for municipal solid waste management system under uncertain environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2017.02.207