Assessment of municipal solid waste management system in Lae City, Papua New Guinea in the context of sustainable development

Abstract

Abstract: Lae City (LC) of Morobe Province is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. Due to the abundant natural resources it inherits, the resultant urbanization has led to an influx of the human population. This increase in population as a result of industrialization has led to increased municipal solid waste (MSW) accumulation. To address this exigent issue, which affects the nation's carbon footprint, it is imperative to review socio-economic and geographic factors to establish a feasible approach for managing MSW efficiently and sustainably. In the quest to achieve the same, the present assessment focuses on the 3 core waste management hierarchy systems to support sustainable development for LC by reviewing existing opportunities and challenges associated with the current MSW management system and the associated policies. The result shows that as a sustainable approach to MSW management of LC, a zero-waste campaign for resource recovery engaging all stakeholders can be implemented since the organic content of MSW generated in LC is as high as 70%. Moreover, the dumping of MSW at the dedicated dumpsite site can be minimized if policies are strengthened and the proposed waste avoidance pathway is implemented strictly. In addition to this, to avoid the contamination of groundwater and recovery of methane, the use of the Fukuoka approach in the existing landfills has been suggested to capture leachate without any huge expenditure.

Keywords: Fukuoka method; Landfill; Municipal solid waste; Resource recovery; Waste avoidance; Waste management hierarchy 3 core systems.

Fig. 1

Methodology used for the present study

Fig. 2

Waste management hierarchy system (WMHS) and the modified 3 Core waste management hierarchy systems (3CWMHS) concerning challenges and opportunities for Lae city

Fig. 3

Interrelationship of concerning bodies to regulate, and the imposition of policies related to avoid and reduce waste (Wilson et al. 2013)

Fig. 4

a Suitable household composting system for Lae city (Sharma and Garg 2019) and b large scale composting methodology along with plausible composting technique considering socio-economic factors and resources available in Lae city

Fig. 5

Issues with the conventional and existing disposal of municipal solid waste in the second seventh landfill in Lae city

Fig. 6

Planned collection and processing of MSW proposed for LC

Fig. 7

Fukuoka method to capture leachate in second seventh landfill (Matsuto et al. 2015)

Fig. 8

Maps showing Morobe province and Lae district of Papua New Guinea

Fig. 9

Locations of the second seventh and Poasung landfills

Fig. 10

Issues with the current municipal solid waste management system

Fig. 11

a, b Geographical evolution of second seventh landfill over the years from 2002 to 2020; c, d ground-level investigation of waste composition