Waste Management 59 (2017) I–IV

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Waste Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

A Glance at the World

Edited by Francesca Girotto

This column comprises notes and info not subjected to peer-review focusing on waste management issues in different corners of the world. Its aim is to
open a window onto the solid waste management situation in any given country, major city or significant geographic area that may be of interest to
the scientific and technical community.

Management of municipal solid waste in Mexico
Since the second half of the last century, Mexico has experienced
a crescent industrialization process, with a higher demand of raw
materials, necessary to meet the requirements of goods and services
for a population in constant growing. As a result, waste generation
has increased significantly, making difficult its collection, transport,
management and final disposal. In Mexico, municipal governments,
responsible for the public sanitation systems, often face several
administrative problems and lack of adequate planning, which make
the implementation of an efficient municipal solid waste manage-
ment (SWM) program difficult.
According to the National System of Environmental Information
and Natural Resources (2013), a 44% increased waste generation
was recorded from 1997 to 2012 (Fig. 1).
In Mexico more than 91 million people live in cities and
metropolitan areas, the rest of the population, near to 28 million
people, live in rural areas. For these reason the metropolis and mid-
dle cities contributed to 80% of the total MSW generated in the
whole Country.
The MSW composition is highly heterogeneous (Table 1). The
main component, more than 50% of the total MSW, is the organic
fraction, followed by paper and cardboard (14%).
In Mexico, the traditional SWM strategy was open dumping,
however, in the last years, landfills have been put into operation to
eliminate this practice. Nevertheless open dumps still prevail in rural
areas, small and middle cities. Moreover, in most of the landfills, a
great quantity of waste with the potential to be recycled is disposed.
Because of that, many low income people collect recyclable materi-
als from the landfills to sell them.
The combination of these factors has been promoting home-recy-
cling, with a decrease in the amount of waste that need to be
disposed both in open dumps and landfills. Further actions that are
being explored in Mexico, such as composting of the organic fraction

45,000 1.05

40,000
Total generation (thousand tons)

Per capita generation (kg/day)

1.00
35,000

30,000 0.95

25,000
0.90
20,000

15,000 0.85

10,000
0.80
5,000

0 0.75
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Year
Metropolitan zones Middle cities Small cities
Rural and semiurban localities Per capita generation

Fig. 1. MSW generation for the period 1997–2012. Generated with the information of SNIARN-SEMARNAT, 2013).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0956-053X(16)30726-7
II A Glance at the World / Waste Management 59 (2017) I–IV

Table 1
Generation and management of MSW in México.
Generationa Year MSW type
Total
Organic materials Paper products Plastics Glass Metals Textiles Othersb
2012 22070.27 5822.82 4584.99 2475.66 1448.25 602.06 5098.70 42102.75

Collectionc Number of Kind of collection

Cover population
collection vehicles Transfer stations Collection centers Selective Non selective Total collection
2012 14,959 113 841 ND ND 99,770,725 108,521,344

Recoveryc Kind of material

Aluminium Copper/bronze/lead Electronics/electro domestics Iron Paper/cardboard PET/Plastics Glass Others
2012 6129 5709 22,842 21,868 143,187 111,913 62,051 74,364

a
Final disposal Disposal Source of the generated waste
Landfills Controlled open dumps Uncontrolled open dumps Recovery Metropolis Medium cities Small cities Rural/semi-urban
2012 27979.45 3343.93 8679.45 2099.91 18004.14 15824.48 3548.13 4726.00

ND No data.
Generated with the information of SNIARN-SEMARNAT, 2013).
a
Thousand tons.
b
This category includes disposable diapers.
c
Daily average, Kg.

of MSW, could also help to minimize the negative environmental
impacts of the generated waste. Environmental education and link-
age between Government and inhabitants are fundamental.
Reference
SNIARN-SEMARNAT, 2013. Base de datos estadísticos-BADESNIARN, Módulo de
consulta temática <http://dgeiawf.semarnat.gob.mx:8080/approot/dgeia_mce/
html/mce_index.html?De=BADESNIARN>.
A. Rodríguez
M.L. Ortiz-Hernández
E. Sánchez-Salinas
Centro de Investigación en Biotecnología, Universidad Autónoma del
Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
M.L. Castrejón-Godínez
Programa de Gestión Ambiental Universitario,
Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos,
Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
Biomass energy conversion park: Case study of the Alegria
sewage treatment plant in Rio de Janeiro City
A synergetic, multi-dimensional biomass conversion site with a
highly integrated set of conversion technologies in which a multi-
tude of regionally available residue (biomass) sources are converted
into energy and materials (Van Dael et al., 2013) or the transforma-
tion of multiple primary energy sources to multiple energy outputs
(EU, 2015) seems to have many advantages like residue streams
reduction, environmental, sanitary and land-filling policies contribu-
tion, more efficient end-products use, reduction of logistic and regio-
nal costs, and increased available energy outputs from the overall
system (Guisson and Van Dael, 2013).
The Alegria Sewage Treatment Plant (ASTP), owned by the Rio de
Janeiro State Water and Sewage Company (CEDAE) is an example of
Energy Park with many installed conversion technologies: anaerobic
digester, biogas, pyrolysis and esterification plants, with many end-
products: biogas, clean biogas (70% CH4), natural gas vehicle (NGV),
biodiesel, bio-oil and bio-coal. The ASTP (Fig. 1) includes primary and
secondary sewage treatment processes and uses the activated sludge
technology, anaerobic digesters and a sludge condenser via mechan-
ical centrifugation.
Currently, the Energy Conversion Park (ECP) works with 40%
(1.8–2.5 m3/s) of its designed average capacity (5 m3/s) due to
sewage collection system connection delays.
During the park development, the end-products have had many
regulatory issues and many challenges to overcome. A national
resolution prevents the landfill and sewage biogas retail sales, due
to the concern regarding how to determine the siloxane limits. With
this determination, the ASTP expects to increase co-generation, and
it is studying the use of the biogas in its own fleet of vehicles.
Besides, the grease traps, raw material of biodiesel plant is not recog-
nised as the frying oil itself requiring esterification. Tests conducted
with the pyrolysis products showed that the bio-oil has a calorific
value of 9500 kcal/kg, but bio-coal only reaches 2300 kcal/kg due
to ashes presence.
CO, CO2 and NOx emission tests were performed for diesel,
biodiesel, and several blended fuels: diesel/NGV, biodiesel/
bio-methane, and biodiesel/NGV in the biogas plant dual-fuel
reciprocating engine (NAPRO gas Analyser). The CO tests results
showed that biofuels blends emissions are lower than the emissions
of the diesel and GNV blends, depending on the fuel load. The
NOx electronic and balloon tests indicated that biodiesel emits less
than diesel. Despite all blends emitting more HC than diesel oil,
those with the presence of bio-methane emitted less than those
with vehicle natural gas (NGV), although the fossil gas with biodiesel
mixture produced only a small difference with the purely fossil
fuel mixture. In the case of the mixture with bio-methane, it is
always better to use biodiesel and diesel oil to reduce the HC
content.
The study suggests that a strong regulatory environment, govern-
ment programs and economic instruments are necessary to support
a continued and sophisticated waste management solution, such as
an Energy Conversion Park. Considering the electricity consumption
avoided and the respective shadow price, the ASTP is operationally
and economically feasible.
 A Glance at the World / Waste Management 59 (2017) I–IV III

2 8
4
6
0
1 5

Fig. 1. Alegria Sewage Treatment Plant (ASTP) – (0 - Sewage pit; 1 - decanter chambers; 2 - primary sludge quiescent basin; 3 - scum floating basin; 4 - anaerobic digesters;
5 - sludge thickening; 6 - biogas pilot plant and internal combustion engines; 7 - pyrolysis and esterification pilot plants; 8 - boiler and steam turbine). Source: Google Maps
( 22.8707, 43.2274)

Acknowledgements
The authors greatly thank the SEDEIS, FAPERJ, FINEP, CNPq and
MCTI for the financial support to the ASTP research project.
References
EU, 2015. OPTimum Integration of POLYGENeration in the Food Industry
(OPTIPOLYGEN) <http://ec.europa.eu/energy/intelligent/projects/en/projects/
optipolygen>.
Guisson, R., Van Dael, M., 2013. Energy conversion park – a concept for the efficient
use of regionally available biomass residue streams. Waste Manage. 33 (8),
1689–1690.
Van Dael, M., Van Passel, S., Pelkmans, L., Guisson, R., Reumermann, P., Luzardo, N.
M., Broeze, J., 2013. A techno-economic evaluation of a biomass energy
conversion park. Appl. Energy 104, 611–622.
L.B. Oliveira
L.R. Martins Pedroso
ECO 100 Sustainable Development, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
W.G. Victer
State Water and Sewage Company of Rio de Janeiro – CEDAE, Brazil
A.L. Bufoni
Accounting Department, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Material flow analysis applied to solid waste management: A
case study of Lagos metropolis, Nigeria
Lagos is the biggest and most important city in the Federation of
Nigeria. The calculated waste generation rate in Lagos increases
annually due to the constantly increasing population growth rate
(8–10%). Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) is
responsible for the collection and disposal of municipal and indus-
trial waste, as well as for the provision of commercial waste services
to the State and Local Governments. LAWMA manages three
major landfills and two temporary dumpsites. The State’s waste
management policy encourages public-private partnerships (PPPs)
to support infrastructure maintenance.
In this paper, the Authors comment processes for optimizing
solid waste recovery and recycling for Lagos metropolis by employ-
ing Substance Flow Analysis (STAN), a Material Flux Analysis (MFA)
tool.
LAWMA lists 8 waste categories to be segregated (putrescible;
fines of ash, dust and sand; textiles; metals; plastics; glass; paper
and vegetables). About 80% of the waste generated and collected is
recyclable (Table 1). Based on the data collected by the LAWMA,
80% of solid waste is being accumulated in the functional landfill
sites and constitutes the accumulation term. The remaining 20% is
burnt even though it includes hazardous waste like batteries, and
is referred to as the removal term.
In 2012, about 3,179,077 and 794,769 tons of recyclable and
non-recyclable waste were produced, respectively. From the MFA
analysis, the average waste material flux for the entire 2012 was
calculated to be 66.23 tons/year/km2 (covering up to 70% of the total
metropolis area). The waste generation rate (tons per day) was
forecasted using the regression analysis. The forecasted waste
generation rate for 2015, 2018 and 2020 in Lagos metropolis yielded
13,840, 17,720 and 25,480 tons/day of waste, respectively. These

Table 1
Waste characterization in 2012.
Material Flow Analysis (MFA) finds its application in environ-
mental engineering and waste management through analysis, plan- Category Percentage Weight of recyclable Flux
ning and allocation, exploitation, and upgrading of resources; in composition (%) portions (tons) (tons/year/km2)
modeling elemental compositions of wastes; in material manage- Putrescible 4 127163.08 2.12
ment performance of recycling/treatment facilities; and also in the Fines 10 317907.70 5.28
Textiles 6 190744.62 3.18
remediation of hazardous waste sites, and design of air pollution
Metals 10 317907.70 5.28
control strategies. These strategies are most effective when they Plastics 6 190744.62 3.18
are formulated at the level of the entire waste management system Glass 8 254326.16 4.24
of a specific area of interest, as in the case of Lagos metropolis in Paper 6 190744.62 3.18
Nigeria, West Africa. Vegetables 50 1589538.50 26.49
IV A Glance at the World / Waste Management 59 (2017) I–IV

data can be employed in planning future waste management headquarters within the State. An adequate generated waste
processes within the metropolis. pattern should be recorded daily for future improvements of waste
It is advisable that about 24% of the recyclable waste fractions treatment processes.
(paper, plastics and metals) are separated at an organized collection
point. In addition, composting of 44 tons of green garden waste C.O. Ijagbemi
should be necessary and feasible. For an effective waste manage- K.H. Olajide
ment system in Lagos metropolis, more landfill sites and landfill Department of Mechanical Engineering,
equipment need to be procured, while personnel should be engaged Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
in constant training to develop efficient manpower. More transfer
loading stations, and recycling plants are to be constructed in zonal