Greenhouse gas emissions from municipal solid waste management in Vientiane, Lao PDR

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Municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the major environmental problems throughout the world including in Lao PDR. In Vientiane, due to the lack of a collection service, open burning and illegal dumping are commonly practised. This study aims to estimate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from the current situation of MSW management (MSWM) in Vientiane and proposes an alternative solution to reduce the GHG emission and environmental impacts. The 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC 2006 model) are used for the estimation of GHG emission from landfill and composting. For the estimation of GHG emission from open burning, the Atmospheric Brown Clouds Emission Inventory Manual (ABC EIM) is used. In Vientiane, a total of 232 505 tonnes year-1 of MSW was generated in 2011. Waste generation in Vientiane is 0.69 kg per capita per day, and about 31% of the total MSW generated was directly sent to landfill (71 162 tonnes year-1). The total potential GHG emission from the baseline scenario in 2011 was 110 182 tonnes year-1 CO2-eq, which is 0.15 tonne year-1 CO2-eq per capita. From the three MSWM scenarios proposed, scenario S3, which includes recycling, composting and landfilling, seems to be an effective solution for dealing with MSW in Vientiane with less air pollution, and is environmentally friendly. The total GHG emission in scenario S3 is reduced to 91 920 tonnes year-1 CO2-eq (47% reduction), compared with the S1 scenario where all uncollected waste is diverted to landfill. © The Author(s) 2015. View source
Author(s)

Babel S., Vilaysouk X.,

Year

2016

Secondary Title

Waste Management and Research

Publisher

SAGE Publications Ltd

Volume

34

Number

1

Pages

30-37

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0734242X15615425

Language

Keyword(s)

ABC EIM, Composting, GHG emission, IPCC model, Landfill, Municipal solid waste, Open burning, Carbon dioxide, Climate change, Climate models, Environmental impact, Gas emissions, Greenhouse gases, Land fill, Solid wastes, Waste management, Waste treatment, Alternative solutions, Environmental problems, Greenhouse gas inventory, Intergovernmental panel on climate changes, Municipal solid waste (MSW), ammonia, black carbon, nitric oxide, sulfur dioxide, air pollutant, gas, solid waste, burning, emission control, emission inventory, environmental modeling, estimation method, greenhouse gas, guideline, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, pollution policy, air pollution, Article, carbon footprint, moisture, particulate matter, pH, priority journal, recycling, temperature, analysis, city, environmental protection, greenhouse effect, Laos, waste disposal, Vientiane, Air Pollutants, Cities, Conservation of Natural Resources, Gases, Refuse Disposal

Classification
Form: Journal Article
Geographical Area: Laos

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