Environmental and Financial Analyses for Waste Management Options in Madinah- KSA

Abstract

Solid waste management options require the integration of economic and environmental principles in order to select the best management method. This study analysed municipal solid waste (MSW) generation, composition and collection of Madinah region, as one of largest cities in KSA with the aim of finding a management method with minimum cost. The study aimed to provide an overview of current state of MSW management and recommendations for improving the waste treatment and management system in this area based on the significance of environmental and financial aspects. These recommendations would be not specific to Madinah region, but also would be applied to other cities in KSA or any other regions with similar features. The analysis results showed that the trend of waste generation would be increased as much as two to three folds in 2030. Approximately 30% of total generated waste is disposed to a sanitary landfill, while 70% is sent to normal dumpsites. The results of environmental and finical analyses recommended the recycling and energy recovery managements options for this type of wastes in this area. The results revealed that the worst scenario for solid waste management is just landfilling whereas the money-back is zero and the best scenario is implementation the composting process for the organic portion of the waste and recycling the other items.