Evaluation of greenhouse gas reduction from improvement of solid waste management of Khon Kaen University

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the amount of Greenhouse Gasreduction due to the improvement of solid
waste management in Khon kaen University. The proposed system was to establish the recycling center in the
university to on-site separate the recyclable items from the solid waste. The evaluation was done by comparing
the emission from current solid waste management system to that after improving the management system. The
data used in the study were both primary data and secondary data. This data was then used in the calculation to
determine the Greenhouse Gas emission created from both systems, in order to ultimately determine the
Greenhouse Gas emission reduction. The study results showed that the generation rate of solid waste in Khon
kaen University was 0.28 kg/person/day, of which 44.94% were food garbage, 4.85% were papers, 2.75% were
PET plastic, 20.43% were LDPE plastic/PS Plastic, 0.25% was steel, 0.17% aluminum, 1.96% were glass, 1.60%
were cloth, 11.64% were yard waste, and 43.90% were others. In 2012, 2021, and 2031, the population was
predicted to be 55,840, 60,743, and 66,698, respectively. With the increase in future population, the expected
amount of solid waste is 5,636, 6,141, and 6744 tons/year, respectively. The comparison of the current and the
proposed solid waste management system was conducted by using the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) consisted of 4
main steps: determining goals and scope of study, preparing LCA inventory, evaluate Greenhouse Gas emission,
and interpret study results. The analysis was aimed at the main causes of Greenhouse Gas emission in the
management system which were transportation, decay of organic solid waste, recycle process, and the solid
waste disposal procedures. If the proposed system was implemented, the emission was expected to be reduced,
in 2012, 2021, 2031, in the amount of 8,192.31, 8,927.02, and 9,801.85 tonCo2e/year, respectively. Greenhouse
Gas reduction in each process is expected to be 25.20%, 61.51%, 100.00%, and 42.90%, respectively.