Integrated System Dynamic Study and Prognosis on Municipal Solid Waste Management for Northern New Jersey Urban Area

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Environmental Management (D.Env.M)

College/School

College of Science and Mathematics

Department/Program

Earth and Environmental Studies

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Huan Feng

Committee Member

Gregory A. Pope

Committee Member

Danlin Yu

Committee Member

Ruiliang Wang

Committee Member

Eric A. Stern

Abstract

Ordinary effects from everyday human activity such as waste generation and management have currently graduated to a global problem, vexing the social, environmental, economic and political functions of the society at all spatial scales. The US has one of the highest per capita productions of waste in the world accounting for an average of 4.5 pounds per person per day. With approximately 8.7 million residents (US Census Bureau, 2006) New Jersey comprises the most densely populated state in the nation and thus has more than a passing problem to face in the area of waste management. Integrated waste management involves the prediction of waste generation of an area and analysis of its impact on the environment and general socio-economics involved of the process, for adopting better management procedures and achieving optimized results. This work tries to assess possible future scenarios at the city level for the state of New Jersey and seek to derive an optimal balance in municipal solid waste management (MSW) operations at different scales of human activity that contributes to it (from the individual to the state), incorporating environmental, social and economic parameters. The dissertation, thus, provides the results of three primary research objectives: The first objective involved estimating the possible future scenario of MSW generation at business-as-usual rate using a prognosis model build on a Java platform for a representative city in New Jersey and determining the limitations. The second objective was to explore the possibility of integrating systems dynamics methodology for a comprehensive assessment of waste management system and their impacts so as to provide integrated assessments though a systems perspective and contribute to state (or regional) scale planning. The increase in waste generation and related management costs, apart from relating it to general population growth, can also be related to geographic size and nature of urban development. The third objective was thus to assess the possibilities of developing alternate solutions for the issue of urban solid waste management incorporating geoprocessing methods using Geographic Information System. By the proposed evaluation procedure of current methods of management, it would be possible to make better decisions in administering and planning of urban waste resource functions to attenuate adverse future environmental, economic and social impacts.

Comments

Print version available at Sprague Library.

Full text available at ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global

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