Sustainability and Mitigation Potential of Municipal Solid Waste Management Systems: A Global City-Level Analysis

Abstract

The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a key solution to the development of urban sustainability and increasing the mitigation capacity in the waste sector. This paper analyses the sustainability performance and ability to mitigate the municipal solid waste management systems of over 300 cities in the world using harmonized city-level data. A composite Mitigation Potential Index (MPI) was developed using the recycling levels, composting levels, landfill diversion and reduction of open dumping levels. To investigate the performance differences and determine the most important determinants of sustainability performance, descriptive statistics, correlation, multiple regression modeling, and hierarchical clustering were used. The findings demonstrate that there is a high heterogeneity among cities as the landfill disposal has been the most common mode of treatment in most areas. Increased MPI scores had a significant relationship with the greater coverage of collection, reinforcement of the governance factors, and greater diversion by recycling and composting. Open dumping depicted a high negative effect on sustainability performance. The three typologies of the systems identified by the cluster analysis portray different levels of transition into sustainable waste management. The results indicate that institutional ability, diversion structures and controlled disposal are important in enhancing mitigation potential. The paper gives an international comparative framework to enhance evidence-based policy formulation and strategic planning in sustainable municipal waste management systems.