System Dynamics Analysis On Municipal Solid Waste Management Under Flooding : Case Study Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

The municipal solid waste management service system has been one of the key service provisions to indicate the sustainability of the city as defined in Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs #11. Complex linkages of stock and flow within the system are impacted by waste quantities and spatial characteristics. The complex characteristics make it difficult to design a sustainable management system, particularly in case of a disaster. Flooding is a major natural disaster in many regions of the world and poses a challenge as an external disturbance that can affect any part of the waste management system. Flood mitigation plans are gravely important for mitigating the impact during crisis situation for communities to face no disruption of the waste management service.

The present research has applied the concept of system dynamics (SD) to understand and evaluate flood impacts on waste management system. The SD modelling approach has been designed to investigate management patterns of the system and evaluate the impacts of flooding on the waste management service in Bangkok, Thailand. The model illustrates waste generation trends and collection and transfer network patterns to predict potential flood-affected areas. The research analyzed different flooding scenarios and evaluated their potential impact. There are 11 flooding scenarios represented by 11 flood-prone locations. The vulnerable flood-prone area in Bangkae district is the most affected area with the highest accumulated waste amount. The flooding impacts have affected services within and outside the flooded areas to various degrees. The results have been applied to provide the mitigation impact approaches with the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) technique. The flood impacts on municipal solid waste management are classified into 3 situations including: (1) cannot collect wastes from generating sources, (2) cannot transfer wastes to final disposal and 3) cannot collect from sources and transfer wastes to final disposal. The decision support system based on the principles of sustainable development considers the impacting criteria, namely, environment, society, and economic factors. The truck modification is the first alternative practicable to mitigate impact for all scenarios. Health risk of community and waste separated management are the significant influential criteria to decide the most appropriate approach.

The findings can help to develop an appropriate mitigation management plan for waste management systems during floods to increase the capacity and preparedness toward sustainable cities.