Economic, Environmental and Social Aspects of Waste Management – the LCA Analysis

Abstrakt

The intention of this article is to discuss the theoretical and practical aspects of the life cycle assessment (LCA) and its application in the modelling of waste management. The research was conducted with the use of the LCA-IWM software for the Ciechanowski Region of Municipal Waste Management, Mazovia Voivodeship. Three scenarios of municipal waste management have been analysed during the research – the municipal waste management system being currently in force (after 1st July 2013) and two fulfilling the Waste Management Plan for Mazovia 2012–2023. Following the concept of sustainability, the scenarios were compared in terms of environmental, economic and social aspects. The research proved that both proposed scenarios have considerable lower environmental impacts than the one being currently in force in the city of Ciechanow. Simultaneously, however, these scenarios generate higher costs per household and per 1 Mg of processed waste. In terms of the social indicators, the three scenarios are comparable. In conclusion, taking into account all indicators of sustainability, two proposed scenarios (scenario 2 and scenario 3) enable to satisfy the objectives of waste management law at commensurate costs and social acceptability.