Waste-to-energy generation technologies and the developing economies: A multi-criteria analysis for sustainability assessment

To attain the sustainable development goals of the United Nations with a focus on the circular economy, it is necessary to explore every possible sustainable option in different sectors. Of these, sustainable waste management and electricity for all are the two most vital goals. However, to date, sustainability assessments of waste-to-energy (electricity) generation technologies have been limited in scale with respect to the three-dimensional sustainability framework (economic, environmental, and social). Most often, the assessments were dominated by environmental factors/indicators, omitting the social and economic indicators. This study thus considered a large number of indicators (34) with due importance placed on the three dimensions of sustainability towards sustainability assessment of four waste-to-energy options; incineration, gasification, pyrolysis, and anaerobic digestion (AD). Among the four technologies, AD and incineration are found as the most and least sustainable waste-to-energy technologies, respectively. Gasification, pyrolysis, and AD were found to be 33%, 65%, and 111% more sustainable waste-to-energy generation technologies than incineration. These findings were then discussed, paying particular attention to the developing world with a focus on Bangladesh, where waste-to-energy generation is yet to be developed. This is important for policymakers' future development plans for waste management systems and renewable electricity generation in similar contexts of the developing world. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.