Abstract

Research Article

A comparative study of solid waste management in the United States, Europe and Asia

MA Karim* and John Taylor Wetterhan

Published: 17 April, 2020 | Volume 4 - Issue 1 | Pages: 003-011

Managing municipal solid waste correctly is critical to the success of a society. Many regions and countries in the world are behind others in the context of solid waste management. In order to compare three such regions within this context, a meta-analysis was conducted in order to develop a decision matrix. Within this decision matrix, the United States, Europe, and Asia were compared to determine which region is managing municipal solid waste the best. This research design allowed for compiling information from many sources to increase the accuracy of data used in the justifications for the decision matrix. Purposive sampling was used to select and evaluate sources that discuss solid waste management to discern which region’s processes are most favorable in many parameters. The decision matrix consists of nine parameters: main management techniques; finances; landfill taxes; jobs created; waste generation; waste composition; waste storage, collection, and transportation; energy recovery; and environmental health. Each was scored on a scale from zero to ten, ten being the best score and zero being the worst. The final score from the decision matrix suggested that Europe had the most favorable municipal solid waste management (MSWM) system, and the United States had a notably close yet lower score. Asia had the lowest score that was hardly comparable to the other two regions.

Read Full Article HTML DOI: 10.29328/journal.acee.1001019 Cite this Article Read Full Article PDF

Keywords:

Municipal solid waste; Solid waste management; Decision matrix; Purposive sampling; Meta-analysis

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