MODELING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF LANDLFILING AND INCINERATION WASTE MANAGEMENT SCENARIOS WITH GABI6 TOOL

O.S. Olaniyan, S.O. Ojoawo, R.A. Olaoye, A.S. Akolade, B.K. Olawoore, E.R. Oyediran

Abstract: Improper solid wastes management poses environmental risks to both humans and plants. Landfilling and Incineration are two identified prominent means of waste disposal, and they both have residual pollution impacts on the environment. This study assessed the environmental impacts of these waste disposal methods from the waste dumps of Odo-Oba, Ogo Oluwa Local Government Area, Nigeria. Field Survey, questionnaire interviews, and measurement of trace gases emitted from the dumps were carried out. Wastes were sorted, weighed and characterized. Two Scenarios of Landfilling and Incineration were formulated and the field data were modeled with GaBi6 software to determine the environmental impact of the waste. Findings show that the present method of waste management in Odo-Oba area is inadequate as there is no landfill and open burning of indiscriminate dumps is in practice. The waste generated is majorly of agricultural products of about 43% composition. Others in decreasing magnitude include nylon, metals, paper, plastic, textiles, ashes and demolition respectively. The per capita waste generation per day within the agricultural market is 0.92kg per day while that of the selected residential houses is 0.31kg per day. Wastes are usually burnt on daily basis, leading to emission of certain trace gases of which methane is of the highest concentration of 619 ppm. For landfilling model, paper contributes the highest in Global Warming Potential and Eutrophication Potential whereas biodegradable materials and plastic materials dominate in Acidification Potential and Ozone Depletion Potential respectively. Glass and metal has the least noticeable impacts. From incineration model, plastic materials contribute the highest environmental impact in Acidification Potential, Global Warming Potential and Eutrophication Potential while metals have the least influence in all cases, aside the Ozone Depletion Potential having glass materials. The landfill model thus poses lesser environmental threat and its sanitary type is therefore recommended for use in the study area.

Keywords: Environmental impact indices, GaBi6 tool, Life Cycle Assessment, Landfilling, Incineration

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2015.0407042