Abstract for: Model Conceptualization for Sustainable Waste and Resource Management Policy Design in Low and Middle-Income Countries

The article sets out to describe the first stages of conceptualization process initiated within the scope of an action research project in the field of waste and residual resource management in a large urban center in a low-income country. For the project it is important to test that the technological concepts developed by the project have the potential of improving waste management in future megacities. This involves evaluating if when implemented, these technological solutions can contribute to the alleviation of the current problematic situation. Additionally, it is important for the project to find out to what extent could the performance (financial, socioeconomic, environmental, etc.) of the waste management system improve as a result from the implementation of the waste management strategies it proposed. For this purpose a set of simulation models is being conceptualized and developed using a modeling methodology (namely System Dynamics), which will allow evaluating how the waste management situation would evolve if a set of strategy options would be introduced. This would be done by comparing the future development of the system in the absence of the strategies (business as usual) with the development of the system in the presence of the strategies. The article presents the first results of model conceptualization and gives an outlook of the activities that will follow.