The Influence of Municipal Solid Waste of Georgia on Climate Changes

Abstract

Currently, the improvement of municipal solid waste (MSW) management is an ongoing process in Georgia. Up to 90% of wastes generated in the country are disposed without any separation procedures. Unfortunately, information on amount and morphological composition of waste generated in Georgia does not exist, and methodology of waste accounting is not elaborated that creates great problems during drawing of international scientific projects, determination of energy efficiency of waste and possibility of waste processing. One of the important issues of technogenic impact of waste on the environment is produced greenhouse gases and its impact of global climate change. After disposal of replaces waste, a large amount of landfill gas is produced in landfill. The formation of landfill gas depends on the natural conditions (geographical, climatic and meteorological factors) and landfill management and the composition of the waste as well. The goal of our project was determination of morphological composition of MSW and identification of the total amount of waste, generated from the domestic and commercial facilities of Georgia (including all cities and villages of each municipalities of State) by uses of gravimetrical analyses and obtained data from the effectiveness questionnaire of waste. The results show that the main fractions of municipal solid waste are paper, plastic and food waste. The character of Georgian waste defines the generating big amount of methane. The impact of waste on global climate change was identified based on the IPCC methodology.