Title: GHG emissions with the mismanagement of municipal solid waste: case study of Bangalore, India

Authors: T.V. Ramachandra; Gouri Kulkarni; Bharath H. Aithal; Sun Sheng Han

Addresses: Energy and Wetlands Research Group, Center for Ecological Sciences (CES); Centre for Sustainable Technologies (Astra); Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation; Urban Planning (CiSTUP), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, 560 012, India ' Energy and Wetlands Research Group, Center for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560012, India ' Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management (RCGSIDM), Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India ' Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC 3010, Australia

Abstract: Municipal solid wastes collected by the agencies dispose at identified disposal sites about 60%, while the balance are disposed-off at unauthorised disposal sites in an unacceptable manner, leading to the environmental consequences including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Mitigation strategy necessitates understanding of composition of waste for its management in an environmentally sound way. The study revealed that the per capita waste generated is about 91.01 ± 45.5 g/day and household per capita waste generation was positively related with household size and income. Organic fraction in municipal solid waste based on the sample household's data is about 74.09 ± 34.94 g/person/day, which constitutes 82% with the strong recovery potential and conversion to energy or compost range. The total organic waste generated is about 231.01 Gg/year and due to mismanagement consequent emissions are about 604.80 Gg/year. Integrated solid waste management strategy is suggested to manage the organic fractions through technology interventions, which helps in mitigating GHG emissions with potential economic benefits.

Keywords: municipal solid waste; MSW; domestic sector; greater Bangalore; socio-economic factors; greenhouse gas; GHG emissions; integrated solid waste management; ISWM; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2017.090058

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2017 Vol.20 No.4, pp.346 - 379

Accepted: 09 Jan 2018
Published online: 27 Feb 2018 *

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