Low-carbon municipal solid waste management using bio-based solutions and community participation: The case study of cultural tourism destination in Nan, Thailand

Tourism expansion has led to increased municipal solid waste (MSW) generation, which can exacerbate environmental and societal problems if proper waste management systems are not implemented. The study develops a framework for implementing bio-based solutions (BbS) for MSW management in a cultural tourism destination, using the walking street in Nan, Thailand, as a case study. Four low-carbon waste management scenarios were assessed, including increasing recycling rates (RE), using food waste as animal feed (BbS1), using bagasse containers as a soil conditioner (BbS2), and substituting single-use plastics with bamboo products (BbS3). Results showed that the BbS1 scenario had the highest performance in greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, reducing 66.3 t CO2e/year, followed by BbS2, RE, and BbS3 scenarios, which reduce GHG by about 12.3, 11, and 1 t CO2e/year, respectively. However, the BbS2 scenario has an additional benefit in returning around 84 kg N/year to the soil. Implementing the combination of RE, BbS1, BbS2, and BbS3 reduced waste to landfills by about 25.5 t MSW/year and reduced GHG emissions by 90.3 t CO2e/year. Enhancing residual waste management is recommended, which can lead to mitigation of about 164.3 t CO2e/year, or 83 % GHG emissions reduction compared to the base case.