Design of a biowaste management strategy using multicriteria analysis from a socioeconomic and environmental perspective

Abstract

Given that Food Waste generation entails a high economic, environmental and social impact, it is considered one of the priority waste streams of the European Commission and for which a series of actions have been proposed in the coming years. One of the most important is the obligation to establish its selective collection together with other organic waste generated in homes and businesses (bio-waste). Therefore, it is paramount to design sustainable biowaste management strategies, that are customized considering the particularities of each area. Cantabria is a small region located in the north of Spain, and it is formed by 102 municipalities, that have different socio-economic and physical characteristics. For the design of a sustainable bio-waste management strategy, it is necessary, first of all, to quantify the bio-waste that is generated to serve as a basis for establishing the different alternatives, based on parameters as important as the types of collection and their frequency or the containerization ratios to be applied in each type of municipality. Through the use of Multicriteria Analysis, a ranking of the best strategies is obtained, after their evaluation based on economic, environmental and social criteria. This thesis aims to provide solutions to the regional management of biowaste.