Title: Comparing greenhouse gas emissions from different waste management alternatives in India

Authors: Munish Kumar Chandel; Shailendra Kumar Yadav

Addresses: Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai-400076, India ' Formerly with Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Uttrakhand 247 667, India

Abstract: Improper treatment and disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) and continuous increase in waste generation in India has increased greenhouse emissions as well as other pollutant emissions. In the present study, we analyse greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from MSW management sector in India. We calculate GHG emissions for different treatment processes and then analyse the GHG emissions for waste management scenarios which reflect recycling, biological treatment and waste-to-energy (WtE). Our results show that annual GHG (CO₂-eq) emissions from urban MSW management in India is ~38 million tonnes/year out of which 94% is from open dumping alone. Increasing recycling to 50% from the current rate of 17.5% could reduce the GHG emissions by 17%. Similarly increasing biological treatment process, such as composting and anaerobic digestion, of biodegradable waste to 50% could reduce the GHG emissions by 12%.

Keywords: municipal solid waste; MSW; solid waste management; greenhouse gases; anaerobic digestion; open dumping; composting; climate change; India; GHG emissions; waste management alternatives; recycling; biological treatment; waste-to-energy; WtE.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2016.077230

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2016 Vol.19 No.2, pp.167 - 175

Accepted: 11 Feb 2016
Published online: 24 Jun 2016 *

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