Towards Zero-Waste through a Circular Recovery Model – Lessons for Managing Municipal Solid Waste from Sweden and India

Background

Cities generate around 2 billion tonnes of solid waste annually and they account for more than 70% of the global emissions. Conventional municipal waste management (MSW) practices are primarily focused on waste collection, treatment and disposal, thus based in a linear model. The global waste production is expected to grow to 3.4 billion tonnes by 2050. The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) has received increased attention in reducing environmental emissions and promoting the zero-waste transition. There is an urgency to design and implement a circular recovery model for making urban economies viable and carbon neutral. The project examines the supply chains of MSW, starting from generation, resource recovery, collection, conversion technologies, and business and market creation. In a world of limited resources, how can cities act to best reduce economic and environmental problems? Are there possibilities for developing a circular recovery model while managing municipal solid waste (MSW)? How can we develop and implement innovations at societal, technology, and business levels? How can interventions be designed in consultations with communities, local governments, and other stakeholders in cities? How can cities in India and Sweden mutually learn from the best practices in their respective countries?

Task description

This thesis project aims at developing integrated actions and feasible solutions for a circular recovery model for managing MSW in the selected cities in India and Sweden. The study will compare and contrast cities, including two mega/large cities e.g., Kolkata and Stockholm, which are part of the C40 cities' global climate leadership group .

Tentative tasks for this project are:

• To perform state-of-art MSW management and conversion technologies together with a literature review on the circularity in the management of MSW
• To analyze the techno-economic analysis of waste-to-energy (WtE) conversion technologies
• To identify/benchmark best practices for the management of MSW in a circularity concept
• To formulate/propose alternatives to convert the waste to energy solutions in the selected case studies
• To develop a scenario-based geospatial and optimal model for an integrated assessment of the circular recovery model in cities
• To showcase a net zero-waste road map for viable smart cities.

We are looking for two master thesis students. The student may choose to work individually or in pairs.

Criteria for evaluation

Critical criteria in the complete work and method development and metric for the final assessment are:

• Fulfilment of the ILOs for Master Thesis at KTH's ITM School;
• The student's initiative and independence in developing the overall research design;
• A critical and system perspective and critical discussion of the assumptions and results;
• Consideration of the literature.
• The ability to communicate the results of scientific work clearly and coherently.

If the work is of good quality and the student and project partners are interested, the research project will be designed to be suitable for a peer-reviewed publication in a high-quality journal.

Prerequisites

The analysis to be undertaken is interdisciplinary in nature, and requires some knowledge of waste conversion technologies, energy planning/policy and economics, Students should have an undergraduate degree in chemistry, biology, engineering, economics, or similar fields. Prior knowledge of the GIS, optimization analysis, and modeling tools is welcome.

Research approach/methodology

The study uses a bottom-up approach linking the urban environment with efforts to promote resource efficiency, economy, and environment. Societal, technological, and business innovations can also be investigated for establishing sustainable socio-technical landscapes to manage urban MSW. The student/s shall formulate the appropriate research questions to meet the given objectives, along with a proper research methodology and work plan. The student/s will begin with a literature review on previous research related to the topic in India, Sweden, and elsewhere. Further details on the studies to be done shall be defined in a work plan. Technoecomic analysis, GIS, supply chain optimization, etc. might be employed to address the research questions.

Specialization track

Transformation of Energy System (TES)

Division/Department

​​​​​​​Division of Energy Systems ​​​​​​​ – Department of Energy Technology

Research areas:

• Circular Economy & Resource Efficiency ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Duration

6 months, starting January/February 2023. We are looking for two master thesis students. The student may choose to work individually or in pairs.

How to apply

Send an email expressing your interest on the topic to suppervisor Dilip Khatiwada.

Supervision

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Suggested readings

1. World Bank. WHAT A WASTE 2.0 A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050. 2018.
2. Kuznetsova et al. 2019 Integrated decision-support methodology for combined centralized-decentralized waste-to-energy management systems design. doi.org/10.1016/J.RSER.2018.12.020 ​​​​​​​.
3. Kumar et al. 2017. Challenges and opportunities associated with waste management in India. R Soc Open Sci 2017;4. doi.org/10.1098/RSOS.160764 ​​​​​​​.
4. Swedish Waste Management Association. Waste management in Sweden | Avfall Sverige 2022. www.avfallsverige.se/in-english/ ​​​​​​​
5. European Commission. Waste Framework Directive 2022.
6. Singh J, Ordoñez I. Resource recovery from post-consumer waste: important lessons for the upcoming circular economy. doi.org/10.1016/J.JCLEPRO.2015.12.020 ​​​​​​​.
7. Laurenti et al. 2018. The Socio-Economic Embeddedness of the Circular Economy: An Integrative Framework. doi.org/10.3390/SU10072129 ​​​​​​​.
8. Sharma et al. 2021.. Circular economy approach in solid waste management system to achieve UN-SDGs: Solutions for post-COVID recovery. doi.org/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2021.149605 ​​​​​​​.
9. Yadav et al. A facility location model for municipal solid waste management system under uncertain environment. doi.org/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2017.02.207 ​​​​​​​.