Reimagining urban waste management: Addressing social, climate, and resource challenges in modern cities

IF 6 1区经济学 Q1 URBAN STUDIES

Cities Pub Date : 2024-10-24 DOI:10.1016/j.cities.2024.105553

Jutta Gutberlet , Torleif Bramryd

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Abstract

Governments worldwide are seeking better solutions for solid waste management. Thermal treatment projects are presented as quick fixes for rising waste challenges, without addressing the limitations of incineration. Currently, there is a rise in proposals for thermal treatment technologies in developing countries. Scrutiny of the risks and impacts of these alternatives is necessary due to social, climate, and resource considerations. Energy from waste incineration is considered fossil energy since about half of the CO₂ emissions come from fossil polymers in the waste. From a sustainability perspective, landfilling is a short-term option for materials currently unsuitable for recycling. Landfills act as bioreactors, producing valuable biogas, and serve as “resource banks,” storing unrecyclable resources until better recycling techniques are developed. In developing countries manual labor is abundant and material sorting and landfilling are more valuable and have a lower climate and resource footprint. This paper offers a novel, integrated perspective of waste management in view of poverty reduction, climate change and resource conservation.

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重新构想城市废物管理：应对现代城市的社会、气候和资源挑战

世界各国政府都在寻求更好的固体废物管理解决方案。热处理项目被视为应对日益严峻的废物挑战的快速解决方案，但却没有解决焚烧的局限性。目前，发展中国家关于热处理技术的建议越来越多。出于社会、气候和资源方面的考虑，有必要对这些替代技术的风险和影响进行审查。垃圾焚烧产生的能源被视为化石能源，因为大约一半的二氧化碳排放来自垃圾中的化石聚合物。从可持续发展的角度来看，垃圾填埋是目前不适合回收利用的材料的短期选择。垃圾填埋可作为生物反应器，产生有价值的沼气，还可作为 "资源库"，储存不可回收的资源，直到开发出更好的回收技术。在发展中国家，人工劳动力丰富，而材料分类和填埋更有价值，对气候和资源的影响也更小。本文从减贫、气候变化和资源保护的角度，为废物管理提供了一个新颖的综合视角。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Cities URBAN STUDIES-

CiteScore

11.20

自引率

9.00%

发文量

517

期刊介绍： Cities offers a comprehensive range of articles on all aspects of urban policy. It provides an international and interdisciplinary platform for the exchange of ideas and information between urban planners and policy makers from national and local government, non-government organizations, academia and consultancy. The primary aims of the journal are to analyse and assess past and present urban development and management as a reflection of effective, ineffective and non-existent planning policies; and the promotion of the implementation of appropriate urban policies in both the developed and the developing world.