Journal of Engineering in Industrial Research

h-index: 18     i10-index: 25

Comparative Life Cycle Economic Assessment of Treatment Technologies for Converting Municipal Solid Waste into Bio-Energies

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Zahra Alidoosti 1, 2
Ahmad Sadegheih 1
MirSaman Pishvaee 3

1 Industrial Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

2 Commercialization, Industrial Liaison, and Entrepreneurship Management, Deputy of Technology, National Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

3 Department of systems and supply chain engineering, School of Industrial Engineering, Iran University of science and technology, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.48309/jeires.2025.517322.1199
Abstract
Life cycle economic assessment serves a vital role in evaluating sustainability across various industries. This study aims to conduct a comparative life cycle economic analysis of different conversion technologies to identify the most viable options for treating Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). It specifically examines six different scenarios based on these conversion technologies: anaerobic digestion for heat and electricity, anaerobic digestion for household biogas, anaerobic digestion for fuel gas, pyrolysis for electricity, fermentation for bioethanol, and landfill gas collection for household use. A case study was conducted in Aradkooh, Iran. The results reveal that the landfill gas collection scenario is the most economically viable option, with a net present value (NPV) of $5.28 million. In contrast, the fermentation scenario shows an NPV of -$1,209 million, highlighting its significant economic shortcomings. The sensitivity analysis demonstrates that the most influential factors in enhancing the NPV are the operational efficiency of the conversion technologies and the market prices for bio-energies. It is highly recommended that stakeholders secure sufficient funding to improve treatment technology readiness. Additionally, the government should take proactive steps to attract venture capital in this sector by developing strong infrastructure and offering compelling incentives. To promote sustainable decision-making, it is essential to conduct comprehensive environmental and social assessments along with economic evaluations before implementing any conversion technologies.

Keywords

Bioenergy
Economic assessment
Treatment technology
Life cycle

Subjects

OPEN ACCESS

©2025 The author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

[1] F.C. Luz, M.H. Rocha, E.E.S. Lora, O.J. Venturini, R.V. Andrade, M.M.V. Leme, O.A. del Olmo, Techno-economic analysis of municipal solid waste gasification for electricity generation in Brazil, Energy Conversion and Management, 2015, 103, 321-337. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[2] C.A. Salman, S. Schwede, E. Thorin, J. Yan, Enhancing biomethane production by integrating pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion processes, Applied Energy, 2017, 204, 1074-1083. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[3] Y. Yang, J. Wang, K. Chong, A.V. Bridgwater, A techno-economic analysis of energy recovery from organic fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW) by an integrated intermediate pyrolysis and combined heat and power (CHP) plant, Energy Conversion and Management, 2018, 174, 406-416. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[4] T. Ayodele, A. Ogunjuyigbe, M. Alao, Economic and environmental assessment of electricity generation using biogas from organic fraction of municipal solid waste for the city of Ibadan, Nigeria, Journal of Cleaner Production, 2018, 203, 718-735. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[5] S. Afrane, J.D. Ampah, C. Jin, H. Liu, E.M. Aboagye, Techno-economic feasibility of waste-to-energy technologies for investment in Ghana: A multicriteria assessment based on fuzzy TOPSIS approach, Journal of Cleaner Production, 2021, 318, 128515. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[6] H. Nassar, M. Biltagy, A.M. Safwat, The role of waste-to-energy in waste management in Egypt: A techno-economic analysis, Review of Economics and Political Science, 2025, 10, 151-167. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[7]. M.S. Khan, J. Cui, Y. Ni, M. Yan, M. Ali, Techno-economic and Exergo-Economic evaluation of a novel solar integrated waste-to-energy power plant, Applied Thermal Engineering, 2023, 223, 119929. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[8] M.-J. Park, S. Yun, D.-W. Jeong, W. Won, Upcycling municipal solid waste: Scenario-based techno-economic evaluation and life cycle assessment, Energy, 2025, 136786. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[9] M. Van de Velden, J. Baeyens, A. Brems, B. Janssens, R. Dewil, Fundamentals, kinetics and endothermicity of the biomass pyrolysis reaction, Renewable energy, 2010, 35, 232-242. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[10] J. Dong, Y. Tang, A. Nzihou, Y. Chi, E. Weiss-Hortala, M. Ni, Life cycle assessment of pyrolysis, gasification and incineration waste-to-energy technologies: Theoretical analysis and case study of commercial plants, Science of the Total Environment, 2018, 626, 744-753. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[11] D. Chen, L. Yin, H. Wang, P. He, Pyrolysis technologies for municipal solid waste: a review, Waste Management, 2014, 34, 2466-2486. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[12] M.M.-U.-H. Khan, S. Jain, M. Vaezi, A. Kumar, Development of a decision model for the techno-economic assessment of municipal solid waste utilization pathways, Waste Management, 2016, 48, 548-564. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[13] F. Demichelis, T. Tommasi, F. Deorsola, D. Marchisio, G. Mancini, D. Fino, Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of advanced anaerobic digestion of organic fraction municipal solid waste, Chemosphere, 2022, 289, 133058. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[14] H. Xiao, D. Zhang, Z. Tang, K. Li, H. Guo, X. Niu, L. Yi, Comparative environmental and economic life cycle assessment of dry and wet anaerobic digestion for treating food waste and biogas digestate, Journal of Cleaner Production, 2022, 338, 130674. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[15] S. Belboom, J.M. Digneffe, R. Renzoni, A. Germain, A. Léonard, Comparing technologies for municipal solid waste management using life cycle assessment methodology: a Belgian case study, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2013, 18, 1513-1523. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[16] C. Beausang, K. McDonnell, F. Murphy, Anaerobic digestion of poultry litter–a consequential life cycle assessment, Science of the Total Environment, 2020, 735, 139494. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[17] T. Fruergaard, T. Astrup, Optimal utilization of waste-to-energy in an LCA perspective, Waste Management, 2011, 31, 572-582. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[18] M.A. Bozorgirad, H. Zhang, K.R. Haapala, G.S. Murthy, Environmental impact and cost assessment of incineration and ethanol production as municipal solid waste management strategies, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 2013, 18, 1502-1512. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[19] M.G. Chacón, C. Ibenegbu, D.J. Leak, Simultaneous saccharification and lactic acid fermentation of the cellulosic fraction of municipal solid waste using Bacillus smithii, Biotechnology Letters, 2021, 43, 667-675. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[20] H.K. Jeswani, A. Azapagic, Assessing the environmental sustainability of energy recovery from municipal solid waste in the UK, Waste Manag, 2016, 50, e63. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[21] Z. Alidoosti, A. Sadegheih, K. Govindan, M.S. Pishvaee, Sustainable network design of bioenergies generation based on municipal solid waste (MSW) management under uncertainty, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, 2023, 15. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[22] A.M. Harijani, S. Mansour, B. Karimi, C.-G. Lee, Multi-period sustainable and integrated recycling network for municipal solid waste–A case study in Tehran, Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017, 151, 96-108. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
[23] M. Edalatpour, S. Mirzapour Al-e-Hashem, B. Karimi, B. Bahli, Investigation on a novel sustainable model for waste management in megacities: A case study in Tehran municipality, Sustainable Cities and Society, 2018, 36, 286-301. [Crossref], [Google Scholar], [Publisher]
Journal of Engineering in Industrial Research
Volume 6, Issue 4
Summer 2025
Pages 352-364

  • Receive Date 16 April 2025
  • Revise Date 17 July 2025
  • Accept Date 07 August 2025

Home

A-Z Journals

Indexing and Abstracting

Editorial Board

Guide for Authors

Submit Manuscript

Contact Us