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Assessment of biowaste losses through unsound waste management practices in rural areas and the role of home composting

Author

Listed:
  • Mihai, Florin-Constantin
  • Ingrao, Carlo

Abstract

The paper examines the biowaste management issues across rural areas of Romania in the context of poor waste management infrastructure in the last decade (2003-2012). Biowaste is the main fraction of municipal waste, thus a proper management is a key challenge in order to sustain a bioeconomy in the near future. The amount of biowaste generated and uncollected by waste operators is generally uncontrolled disposed if not recovered through home composting. The paper points out the role of home composting in diverting the biowaste from wild dumps and landfills for the regions covered or not by waste collection services. Home composting and the biowaste losses are further assessed based on several scenarios (worse-case, pessimistic, realistic, optimistic) where the net loads of greenhouse gasses (GHG) are calculated at national and regional levels. The transition of home composting techniques, from open piles to plastic bins with respect to standard guidelines will improve the home composting performance in terms of compost quality and net GHG’s savings, supporting a bio-based economy which will lead towards a sustainable rural development. Regional disparities are revealed across Romanian counties and the paper opens new research perspectives regarding which options should be adopted by counties and rural municipalities in the biowaste management process.

Suggested Citation

  • Mihai, Florin-Constantin & Ingrao, Carlo, 2016. "Assessment of biowaste losses through unsound waste management practices in rural areas and the role of home composting," MPRA Paper 74854, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:74854
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/74854/1/MPRA_paper_74854.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mihai, Florin-Constantin, 2015. "Spatial distribution of rural dumpsites parameters in Romania," MPRA Paper 69068, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Florin Constantin Mihai, 2016. "East European recycling societies: The first steps of rural communities in Neamt County, Romania," Post-Print hal-01375664, HAL.
    3. Florin Constantin Mihai, 2012. "Improper Household Waste Disposal in Rural Territory.Case Study: Neamt County," Post-Print hal-01150649, HAL.
    4. Simona Ciuta & Tiberiu Apostol & Valentin Rusu, 2015. "Urban and Rural MSW Stream Characterization for Separate Collection Improvement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-16, January.
    5. Mihai, Florin-Constantin, 2016. "East European recycling societies: The first steps of rural communities in Neamt County, Romania (A Glance at the World )," MPRA Paper 74244, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Mihai, Florin-Constantin, 2012. "Improper Household Waste Disposal in Rural Territory. Case Study: Neamţ County, Romania," MPRA Paper 61453, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2012.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Florin-Constantin Mihai & Ionut Minea, 2021. "Sustainable Alternative Routes versus Linear Economy and Resources Degradation in Eastern Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-23, September.
    2. Florin Constantin Mihai, 2017. "Waste collection in rural communities: challenges under EU regulations. A Case study of Neamt County, Romania," Post-Print hal-01546793, HAL.
    3. Mihai, Florin-Constantin & Taherzadeh, Mohammad, 2017. "Rural Waste Management Issues at Global Level(Introductory chapter)," MPRA Paper 81234, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Thabo Gerald Maleka & Gibson Nyirenda & Michael Bamidele Fakoya, 2017. "The Relationship between Waste Management Expenditure and Waste Reduction Targets on Selected JSE Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-20, August.
    5. MIHAI, Florin Constantin, 2017. "Rural waste management at global level (Introductory chapter)," SocArXiv jn8zf, Center for Open Science.
    6. Asada, Raphael & Stern, Tobias, 2018. "Competitive Bioeconomy? Comparing Bio-based and Non-bio-based Primary Sectors of the World," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 120-128.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    home composting; biowaste; rural areas; waste management; GHG’s emissions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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