Analysis of methodologies to evaluate the environmental impacts of solid waste management in the city of Bogotá

Solid waste management produced in megacities is usually being transformed under a linear treatment scheme which considers the circular economy model guidelines (waste reduction, reuse and recycling). The comprehensive solid waste management plan (PGIRS 2020) proposed for the city of Bogotá (Colombia) implements this circular economy approach through different strategies, such as increasing the separation levels at the source, optimizing collection and recycling, including waste as raw materials in production processes and designing technological alternatives different from landfills for the use and treatment of solid waste. Under this new vision, the design of waste management systems must consider those environmental impacts generated throughout the life cycle of waste while integrating ways to address these impacts in comprehensive waste management plans. Furthermore, health and environmental impacts that will result from new forms of waste use or mismanagement must be considered, including the mitigation of climate change effects by diverting waste that would potentially go to a landfill. Therefore, the methodologies adopted to evaluate environmental impacts must be aligned with these new trends while being capable of providing the required and appropriate results for decision-making to achieve established goals.

This work shows the methodologies used to evaluate the environmental impacts generated by solid waste in Bogotá. These methodologies have generally been qualitative so far: checklists, double-entry matrices, indicators and problem trees. They have been selected based on the availability of information, ease of calculation and the physical and technical availability of infrastructures. While different phases of solid waste management may require different methodologies, progress must be made in using more precise methods to reduce uncertainty in the evaluation and become more effective decision-making tools. One of these tools is the Life Cycle Analysis methodology (LCA). LCA provides an opportunity to make progress in including the circular economy approach in the comprehensive solid waste management of the city of Bogotá.