This paper examines Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Management with a high organic matter content employing the Waste and Resource Assessment Tool for the Environment (WRATE) and the Ecoinvent database, by conducting a Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA). Four scenarios, aligned with Algeria’s National Waste Management Strategy, are analyzed as case studies. LCA results identify the baseline scenario (current state) as the worst case. Significant improvements (84% reduction in climate change impact) are observed for scenario 2 to 4, which incorporate methane capture and energy recovery. Likewise, acidification potential was reduced, while eutrophication balanced positively for scenario 1 to 3 and negatively for scenario 4, promoting sustainable practices. This study proposes an optimal solution where the MSW service covers the charges and starts generating profit by shifting from a flat rate of 2000 Algerian Dinars (DZD) per household per year to 1% of household income. This change aims for at least 41% cost recovery from citizens at the national level, with minimum recovery targets for composting (50%), recycling (25%), and efficient landfilling (15%), alongside 20% energy recovery. To align with the Waste Hierarchy priorities, the Algerian government should gradually restrict organic waste landfilling (54% of MSW) and promote composting. Additionally, Algeria should establish regulations to encourage recycling programs, such as implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations and setting recycling targets for various waste streams.

This paper presents several transformative scenarios of municipal solid waste landfilling sites from technical and ecological points of view, applicable to upper-middle-income countries, as per the classification of the World Bank. Our approach is based on numerical simulations of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2012 and 2025 and numerical simulations of methane emissions in a selected landfilling site, Oued Smar, in Algiers (Algerian capital city), according to the LandGem and IPCC models. Business-as-usual, landfill gas flaring, and electricity generation scenarios are considered in the numerical simulations. Finally, a novel metric dividing the recoverable electrical power by the amount of avoided greenhouse gas emissions is suggested. This paper reveals that the LandGem results were closer to reality and exhibited slightly higher values of energy recovery. A novel “techno-ecological” metric, computed as the ratio of energy recovery to avoided amounts of GHG emissions, was suggested for controlling landfill transformation. Accordingly, transitioning from uncontrolled landfilling to energy recovery could reduce GHG emissions by up to 99.87%, with a generated power of 0.89 W per ton of CO₂-eq avoided by 2025.

The object of the study is the phosphates of the Djebel Onk region, which are part of a vast group of phosphate deposits formed in the Late Cretaceous-Eocene period on the South and Southeast Mediterranean shores. These concentrations of economic interest are operated near the town of Bir El Ater (Tebessa, Algeria). The mining industry based on the extraction and processing of different minerals while respecting the environmental framework plays an important role in the economy of a country. The economic potential of each country will be determined based on the level of production of metals and various mineral substances. In the case of the Djebel Onk phosphate ore, the most dominant mineral in addition to P2O5 is calcium carbonate CaCO3 with more than 50 % in the all-mineral content. In addition, phosphate concentrate contains harmful elements which reduce the value of the market product. Therefore, this study aims to recover the enriched product efficiently and profitably with a minimum of deleterious elements. This work aims to develop a treatment technology with a minimum rejection rate, which allows for achieving production goals and reducing environmental impacts. For this purpose, we proposed an enrichment of these phosphate discharges from the settling process utilizing pneumatic selection (Turbo Separator Ventilate – TSV). The results of the chemical analyses confirm the significant difference in useful and major elements (P2O5) and the minor and harmful elements (MgO). According to the granulochemical analysis of each slice, it is possible to note that the P2O5 content is similar to the various particle-size slices. It is therefore necessary to treat the mass of waste if we want to recover as much phosphate as possible. The obtained X-ray diffractograms highlighted appreciable differences between the raw phosphates and the concentrates, in fact, the qualitative and quantitative variation of the mineralogical species, particularly the calcite, quartz, dolomite, and apatite. TSV is a process used to improve the quality and quantity of phosphate and to eliminate the layer below 0.8 mm. Corresponding to the analyses it was appeared that the P2O5 content 29.5–30 % of the settled product increases to 30.2–31 % after dust removal. Then it is possible to achieve an increase in the quality of phosphate from 63/65 % TPL to 66/68 % TPL.

The geographic and economic contexts play a major role in decision-making when it comes to municipal solid waste management. In the present study, simulations are carried out using the Waste and Resource Assessment Tool for the Environment (WRATE) software academic version 3.0.1, based on the Ecoinvent database (version 2) to assess the greenhouse gas emissions released by 1 ton of municipal solid waste with a typical composition characterizing upper middle-income countries, with an organic fraction of approximately 50% by weight. The variation over time (2000 to 2022) with no intended transformation in the management strategy is first analyzed, then several transformations are applied by varying the waste management routes (open dumping, landfilling, recycling and composting) as well as the energy recovery integration. The results are then discussed based on the waste categories and the performed operations (landfilling, recycling, transportation, treatment and recovery). The results revealed that the most promising scenario includes limited open dumping that does not exceed 10%, landfilling with at least 20% energy recovery, and major fractions addressed to composting and recycling. Overall, this scenario returns a negative carbon footprint with a value of approximately−0.35 tons of CO₂-Eq/ton of MSW. Results are mostly applicable to countries with similar waste composition and infrastructure levels; preconditions include source segregation, compost markets, and landfill gas infrastructure.