Comprehensive economic evaluation of municipal waste management and its sensitivity analysis: a case study in Karaj

The economic evaluation is a tool for decision-making based on data that helps to select and prioritize waste management components and their implementation based on economic criteria. The purpose of this study was a comprehensive economic evaluation of the waste management components by life cycle costing assessment (LCC) , Net Present Value index (NPV), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR).

The cost of each waste management component, was calculated by LCC for one tonne of waste in. The efficiency of each waste management component was obtained using the NPV and IRR indicators.

The results showed that recycling with 260%, and then composting with 40%, have the highest economic returns and the ability to return capital. The sensitivity analysis showed the profitability of these two processes despite the changes of ±30% in the influential calculation parameters.

In this study, comprehensive economic evaluation showed that using LCC, NPV, and IRR with their sensitivity analysis, simultaneity can have an important role in waste management decision-making.