WP12A Studies on Social Impacts
C120-122
1:20 PM - 4:40 PM, Wednesday
() Development of social criteria and indicators to assess the social sustainability of a waste management system.
Meneses, M.1, Rodrigo, J.1, Castells, F. 1, Szpadt, E. 2, Boer, J. den 2, Jager, J.2, 1 ETSEQ, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain2 Technische Universitaet Darsmstadt, Darsmstadt, Germany
ABSTRACT- The current study is a part of The Use of Life Cycle Assessment Tool for the Development of Integrate Waste Management Strategies for Cities and Regions with Rapid Growing Economies (LCA-IWM). This project has been founded by the European Commission under the Fifth Framework Programme. The objective is to identify qualitative criteria along with quantitative impact indicators for waste management assessment. Three kind of sustainability are addressed: environmental, economic and social. The first two are based on the principles of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) which ensures integration of all aspects and potential impacts of a waste management system (WMS). In the past, the economic cost of a WMS was the major controlling factor; more recently environmental considerations have played a more important role. The inclusion of the social aspects in WMS, although not a new concept in itself, is only just beginning. Because of that, the aim of this study is to identify qualitative social criteria and to develop quantitative social indicators, in order to assess the social sustainability of a WMS. The social criteria and indicators are classified under three perspective; the social acceptability, equity and function of the WMS. A set of 13 social criteria has been selected within the three main stages of the WMS: temporary storage, collection and transport system, and pre-treatments and treatments. In order to quantify these criteria, a set of indicators has been developed. The indicator considered are; odor, visual impact, comfort, urban space, private space, noise, complexity, traffic, risk perception, distribution and location, employment quality, employment creation and final destination. These social indicators, as well as the economic and environmental indicators developed in the project, will be integrated in a tool (software application) in subsequent work packages, that will provide a monitoring tool for measuring the sustainability of a WMS.
Key words: social criteria, waste management, social indicators, social sustainability