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Introduction

The lack of proper disposal of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) has led to various contaminants in different media leading to air, land and water pollution (Khandelwal et al., 2019). Its further mismanagement has led to the complication of the environmental pollution issue (Das et al., 2019). In various regions, it leads to the blockage of sewage pipes enhancing the breeding of different pests and insects (Coban et al., 2018). Improper incineration of solid wastes immensely fosters air pollution (Malinauskaite et al., 2017). There is usually a generation of unwanted gases from these incinerations and degraded landfill sites (resulting from the decomposition of various organic matter) (Meena et al., 2019). The leachates from these landfill sites seep into nearby aquatic bodies contaminating and endangering marine life (Chen, 2018). There is also the issue of global health deterioration, as mismanaged solid wastes attracts various disease vectors which leads to a transmission of a variety of diseases (Yousefloo and Babazadeh, 2020). Pathogens also find their way to our municipalities as a result of the utilization of water from the already polluted water bodies. There is also the issue of emission of unwanted gases from machines and vehicles (waste collection vehicles included) which tears our stratosphere and toxifies our respiratory systems. These all contribute to global health deterioration (Pardini et al., 2019).

Modern day cities and towns have evolved over a period of time. As time progressed, human civilization evolved into more organized and complex habitations and the modern day city stands at the top. Hunting and gathering were replaced by villages which further evolved into cities (Fernando, 2019).

In recent years, the economy has achieved considerable economic and social development. The adoption of market oriented policies and the active participation of the private sector has contributed immensely to this development process (Kaza et al., 2018). Although significant economic and social progress has been made, this has resulted in the widespread degradation and depletion of our natural environment (Istrate et al., 2020). 

Rising population, rapid urbanization and increased use of natural resources have given rise to a number of serious environmental problems like loss of bio diversity and habitat destruction, depletion and degradation of forest resources, marine resources, air and water pollution, waste disposal among others (Fernández-Gonzalez et al., 2017). According to World Development Report, economic growth and urbanization are closely related trends (Kaza et al., 2018). Urbanization stimulates severe environmental problems which mean that a higher rate of economic growth and urbanization results in increased environmental problems (Tsui and Wong, 2019). So, there exists a close link between economic growth, urbanization and environmental degradation. Loss of crops and grazing land, depletion of the world‘s tropical forests, species extinction, rapid human population growth, shortages of freshwater resources, over fishing, habitat destruction, pollution, threats to human health, global climate change, acid rain and pressures on energy resources are the ten main threats to environment (Liu et al., 2017). There are now about 6 billion people in the world and the global population is currently increasing by about 78 million people per year.  Population is rapidly consuming the once vast supply of natural capital, especially the resources of deep and rich agricultural soils, natural sources of groundwater, and biodiversity (Rajaeifar et al., 2017). Environmental pollution is a problem faced by both developed and developing countries (Yukalang et al., 2018). But unlike the developing world, the developed world has already started taking measures to tackle environmental pollution (Kamaruddin et al., 2017). The task of dealing with pollution is quite challenging for the developing countries due to so many constraints (Asefi and Lim, 2017). 

Different waste treatment methods are being utilized to either eliminate or reduce the volume of solid wastes generated and therefore need to be disposed (de Souza Melaré et al., 2017). There is usually a recovery of some materials found in volumes of waste that are usually utilized to varying extents in different sectors (Singh, 2019). The methodological framework utilized is usually dependent on the characteristics of the solid waste, the total cost of disposal and the availability of geographical regions for waste disposal (Di Foggia and Beccarello, 2020).

Solid wastes are now classified in different ways (Meng et al., 2019). On the basis of sources of origin it is classified into industrial, hospital and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) (Nie et al., 2018). It is also classified into hazardous and non-hazardous categories on the basis of the toxicity of materials in the waste (Adedeji and Wang, 2019). Municipal solid waste can be generally defined as wastes generated by residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, construction, demolition, process and municipal services (Awe et al., 2017).

Problem Statement

The exponential rate at which solid wastes are globally generated poses a significant global concern, as it translates to issues of environmental pollution, global warming, ocean life degradation and global health deterioration (Chen et al., 2020). Globally, waste collection is usually done by the government or private agencies. In developed nations like ours, waste collection is usually considered a government function. There are usually points along the waste generation, collection and disposal line where solid waste is usually mismanaged (Orlova et al., 2017). These inadequacies in solid waste management usually represent a source of air, water and land pollution which translates to environmental concerns and health deterioration (Tisserant et al., 2017).

Aim and Objectives

The aim of this research is to evaluate the environmental impact of various methodological frameworks used in handling the generation, collection and disposal of municipal solid waste in the most environmentally friendly approach in the UK through a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (Rodrigues et al., 2018).

The objectives of the research work are; 

• Objective 1:  To gain further knowledge regarding LCA methodology (Yadav and Samadder, 2018). 
• Objective 2:  To carryout LCA for  different scenarios of municipal solid waste management in the UK (Khandelwal et al., 2019).
• Objective 3:  To proffer solutions to the UK government on the proper management of municipal solid waste.

Research Questions

The identified research questions for this project are provided below:

• How is the LCA on municipal solid waste in the UK carried out?
• What constraints are considered when carrying out the LCA? (Singh, 2019)
• What methodological framework was used in carrying out this LCA?
• What database was used in carrying out this LCA?
• What sample size was used in carrying out this LCA?
• What impact could arise from this research work?

Deliverables

The deliverables of this project are a project report and an impact analysis.  Also, the report should contain a complete documentation of how the LCA was carried out, the methodology framework utilized, the database used, mitigations and solutions proffered after carrying out an impact analysis.

Relevance

This research mainly focuses on carrying out a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) with respect to  municipal solid waste in the UK (majorly after waste generation) by undertaking an investigation which majors on both quantitative and qualitative analysis.

The LCA would be carried out within the constraints of an appropriate methodological framework, and also using a suitable software to analyze the database. An assessment would also be carried out on the probable impacts.

Methodology

This project focuses on secondary research, LCA methodology and impact assessment, and they are discussed below:

Secondary research

The secondary research in this project will utilize a systematic approach (Johnson et al., 2016) to review the works of literature. The steps involved in the systematic review of the literature are provided below:

• Step 1: Identify the research questions that can be used for the project.
• Step 2: Identify the keywords that should be used to research the works of literature.
• Step 3: Extract the journals and books that are appropriate for this project.
• Step 4: Write the literature review chapter.

LCA methodology

The  LCA methodology is in stages namely:

• Stage 1:  Choice of Scenario
• Stage 2:  Sample size selection
• Stage 3:  Goal and scope definition.
• Stage 4:  Life Cycle Inventory (LCI).
• Stage 5:  Life Cycle Analysis (LCA).
• Stage 6:  Interpretation.

Impact Assessment

After the LCA is carried out, the probable impacts would be assessed in order to proffer solutions and build up mitigations.

Evaluation

The risk assessment conducted for this project is provided in the table below:

Table 1:  Risk assessment