Emissions from landfills: A methodology comparative assessment

Climate change from greenhouse gas emissions has been at the forefront of current research in the past decade. Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases, over the past 100 years led to a considerable increase in the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere. Methane emissions, of which municipal solid waste landfilling is one of its major anthropogenic sources, make a significant contribution to the greenhouse effect. This paper considers the influence of municipal solid waste management, particularly landfilling on climate change, presents a brief review of methane formation mechanisms in municipal solid waste landfills, describes estimation methods used in determining methane emissions, and compares results and associated uncertainties that are typically obtained with each method. Applications for estimating country-wide (with the country of Lebanon as an example) methane gas emissions from solid waste are presented using the approach adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The relative significance of these emissions is assessed in comparison with methane emissions from developing and developed countries. Mitigation measures to reduce the potential impacts of methane emissions taking into consideration country specific economic and technological conditions are also discussed.