Design of an Optimal Waste Utilization System: A Case Study in St. Petersburg, Russia

Storing municipal solid waste (MSW) in landfills is the oldest and still the primary waste management strategy in many countries. Russia is the third largest methane (CH4) emitter country after USA and China, representing 5% of total global CH4 emissions from waste landfilling. Due to high economical growth, the amount of waste generated in Russia has risen sharply over the last ten years. However, waste management in Russia is mainly based on landfilling. In order to design an optimal MSW utilization system considering various aspects related to sustainable MSW management, a linear programming model was introduced for this research. The performance of the proposed MSW utilization system in the target area has been evaluated in light of energy, economic, and environmental (3Es) aspects, such as system net cost, annual energy generated from the waste, and the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of the system. St. Petersburg city was considered as the target area for the present analysis. The results show that the introduction of the proposed MSW system with energy recovery from waste along with a high level of material recovery has energy, environmental and economic benefits compared to the conventional treatment system. This paper emphasizes the importance of introducing waste treatment methods as an alternative to landfilling, and to improve recycling activities in Russia.