Investigation of solid waste disposal alternatives in lavan island using life cycle assessment approach

ABSTRACT

Escalating development of tourism and petroleum industries in small islands such as Lavan-Iran requires sound solid waste management. In the present investigation, three scenarios which consist of the combination of landfill, recycling, incineration and composting and their environmental impacts have been evaluated for 7514 Kg/day of waste generation in Lavan island. For this purpose, life cycle assessment was used. The environmental impact assessment was carried out by Eco-indicator 99. The impacts include health [organic substances, inorganic substances, climate change, ionizing radiation, and ozone layer depletion], ecosystem quality [ecotoxic emissions, acidification, eutrophication and double coating] and resources [extraction of minerals and the fossil fuels]. Although all three scenarios have positive impacts on the environment, the third one causes the least damage. Introduced Scenario one has the most adverse effects on human health and ecosystem quality. However, introduced scenario Two has less than the others. In general, the effects of scenario three [landfilling plus recycling, incineration and composting] is less than the other two scenarios which makes it a better candidate for further investigations