Methane Emission and Carbon Sequestration Potential from Municipal Solid Waste Landfill, India

• Published in: Sustainability Vol. 15; no. 9; p. 7125
• Main Authors: BP, Naveen, Tabaroei, Abdollah, Garg, Ankit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 24.04.2023
• Subjects: Air pollution; Biodegradable wastes; Biodegradation; Carbon cycle; Carbon dioxide; Carbon sequestration; Cities; Climate change; Developing countries; Emissions; Gas production; Gases; Global warming; Greenhouse effect; Greenhouse gases; Landfill; Landfills; LDCs; Methane; Municipal landfills; Municipal solid waste; Municipal waste management; Natural gas; Nitrogen oxide; Nitrous oxide; Oil and gas production; Organic matter; Per capita; Population growth; Refuse and refuse disposal; Solid waste management; Solid wastes; Sustainability; Urban areas; Waste disposal sites; India; Mumbai India
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su15097125

Quantities of waste generation are drastically increasing every day, and most of the waste is disposed of through open dumps and landfilling. Methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide are major greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced from landfill sites. However, the global-warming potential of methane is 21 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. Hence, there is immense concern for its utilization from landfill sites. In developing countries, the composition of municipal solid waste (MSW) has high amounts of biodegradable waste (50–60%). This leads to higher emissions of GHGs a per ton of MSW compared to the developed world. In this study, the attempt will be made to estimate the amount of carbon stored in MSW burial in landfills. Tests were conducted in two different locations at the Mavallipura landfill. MSW samples were collected for every meter interval (1–2 m, 2–3 m and so on) up to 6 m. The result shows that carbon stored in organic matter increases with depth from approximately 2.2% at 1.0 m depth to 4.8% at 6 m depth. Based on MSW’s carbon storage factor and data on MSW generation, global carbon sequestration from MSW burial in the Mavallipura landfill is estimated to be at least 10 million metric tons per year. In additional, the study aims to quantify methane-gas production from the ward levels and the Mavallipura landfill site in India.