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SITUATION
Post-consumer waste contributes 1.3 billion tons of CO2e emissions annually, or approximately 3% of global anthropogenic emissions, according to the IPCC. Emissions from this sector come primarily from landfill methane and releases of methane and nitrous oxides from wastewater.
Post-consumer waste contributes 1.3 billion tons of CO2e emissions annually, or approximately 3% of global anthropogenic emissions, according to the IPCC. Emissions from this sector come primarily from landfill methane and releases of methane and nitrous oxides from wastewater.
Under a business-as-usual scenario, the IPCC extrapolates waste emissions rising to 1.7 billion tons of CO2e a year by 2020. Increasing CO2e emissions in the sector are contributing to rising atmospheric concentrations of CO2e that lead to dangerous climate change.
Recent increases in waste are the result of increasing affluence and population, particularly in the developing world. Increased waste in the developing world poses difficult environmental challenges, as these areas often prioritize low-cost management over low-emissions and safe disposal.
The IPCC observed in its 2007 assessment, "Increased infrastructure for wastewater management in developing countries can provide multiple benefits for GHG mitigation, improved public health, conservation of water resources, and reduction of untreated discharges to surface water, groundwater, soils and coastal zones."
OBJECTIVE
Waste production is an inescapable reality of the modern world, yet significant changes can be made to mitigate its contribution to global warming. The IPCC estimates mitigation potential to be more than one billion tons of CO2e per year by 2030, with a billion tons available from reduced landfill CH4 emissions.
Waste production is an inescapable reality of the modern world, yet significant changes can be made to mitigate its contribution to global warming. The IPCC estimates mitigation potential to be more than one billion tons of CO2e per year by 2030, with a billion tons available from reduced landfill CH4 emissions.
Policies and measures to reduce emissions in the waste management sector include the following:
- Reducing landfill CH4 emissions through capture and combustion of landfill gas
- Promoting incinerations and other waste-to-energy processes
- Promoting waste minimization, re-use, and recovery
- Introducing wastewater and sludge treatment.
Instruments to promote these measures include regulation and economic incentives.
Market-based Approaches
Waste can be an economic source of energy, either through capture and combustion of methane released from waste or through incineration of certain wastes. Water treatment and reuse is also increasingly economic given the rising costs of water supply development and water scarcity.
There are active markets for both capturing and using landfill gas and for water treatment and reuse, and developed countries landfill emissions have been essentially stabilized through the former.
In places where markets haven't developed, it is often due to lack of information regarding the opportunity or lack of financial capital, which would suggest new financing models are needed to unlock these markets. The infrastructure needed to support better waste management often requires an upfront investment, which in turn requires capital or an ability to borrow money. Financing for these projects will unlock technology markets, with a number of technology solutions for both material and water waste, including collection and transport, reuse and recycling, and treatment.
WASTE EMISSIONS ARE 3.5% OF CO₂E
Emissions from waste are rising, and pose a particular challenge in developing countries...
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WASTE IS A GROWING THREAT TO THE CLIMATE
Post-consumer waste contributes 1.3 billion tons of CO2e emissions annually, or approximately 3%, of global anthropogenic emissions, according to the IPCC. Under a business-as-usual...
Read more >
MITIGATION OF WASTE EMISSIONS IS POSSIBLE
Methane gas emissions at landfills can be captured, and even used productively to create energy...
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CARBON FLOWS FOR POST-CONSUMER WASTE
Carbon flows through major waste management systems including carbon storage and gaseous carbon emissions. The CO2 from biomass is not included in GHG inventories for waste...
Read more > Source: IPCC, 2007
LANDFILL METHANE EMISSIONS ARE RISING
Global methane emissions from landfills contribute to dangerous global warming. The IPCC suggests that mitigation potential is significant for these methane emissions through capture, recycling,...
Read more > Source: IPCC, 2007
METHANE EMISSIONS ARE 16% OF CO2E
Methane, predominantly from agriculture and waste management, accounts for 16% of global CO2e emissions...
Read more > Source: IEA, 2009INTELLIGENCE
REPORTS
UNEP, 2005
European Environment Agency, 2001
