Every solid waste, collection, transport, transfer and disposal technology has unique environmental characteristics. In the process of strategically planning which technology choices offer the most cost-effective service delivery, it is essential to also factor in these environmental differences. In a strong regulatory climate where each technical option must meet specified environmental emission standards, environmental differences among options are reduced, and decisions are based more on cost-effectiveness. In developing countries where the regulatory and enforcement framework is less rigorous, there is particular value to holistically approaching technology selection from both a cost and an environment perspective.
Beyond the basic need to choose among possible technologies (for example, between whether to compost or landfill organic waste), environmental management involves examining alternative siting options and strategic planning to determine the optimum number and size of facility sites. This exercise inherently involves establishing a wide array of site selection criteria and conducting public consultation workshops that enable assigning weights to these criteria. The weights are usually based on values experienced during public consultation, gleaned through site-specific workshops to assign weights to siting selection criteria.
Whereever there is a planned concentration of waste at one site, careful attention to public consultation is the essential ingredient to avoiding public opposition. New sanitary landfills are particularly difficult to site because of the tendency for public opposition. For this reason, public consultation needs to be an iterative process from the very start of the siting activities. While there are always some residents that will oppose new facilities from a not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) perspective, the public participation should reach a wider audience that has the larger public good of safe disposal at heart.
References provided herein address the above mentioned technology choices and siting requirements.
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