The Climate Change Impact of Possible Municipal Solic Waste Management Scenarios in Estonia

Abstract

Waste management has an influence on the greenhouse gas (GHG) formation. The emissions of greenhouse gases vary between the EU countries depending on waste treatment practices and other regional factors such us composition of waste. The aim of this paper was to examine, from a life-cycle perspective, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management in the context of greenhouse gas formation and to evaluate the possible reduction of climate change potential of alternative waste management options in Estonia. The paper summarises the results of a case study in Estonia, assessing the climate change impact by 2020 in terms of net greenhouse gas emissions from two possible management scenarios. As a result it can be concluded that better management of municipal waste and diversion of municipal waste away from landfills could significantly reduce the emissions of GHG and, if high rates of recycling and incineration with energy recovery are attained, the net greenhouse gas emissions may even become negative. It means that these waste management options can partly offset the emissions that occurred when the products were manufactured from virgin materials and energy was produced from fossil fuels. This is especially important concerning the climate change impact.