Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions of municipal solid waste management system: case study of Chengdu, China

Municipal solid waste management has become a worldwide concern. Chengdu municipality has decided to adopt the “zero landfilling” strategy for local waste management after 2020. In this study, life cycle assessment is performed to identify the potentials of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Chengdu. The results of this study showed that net greenhouse gas emission of the current municipal solid waste management system is estimated to be 1,775,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent. Furthermore, if incineration is to be the primary waste end-life disposal method, it is critically important to exclude plastic wastes from incineration wastes and improve the energy recovery efficiency, while the landfilling with landfill gas collection still can be a good option for MSW disposal, or expanding the processing capacity of composting plant, to achieve the better outcomes of greenhouse gas mitigation. The results indicate the high potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions of the local municipal solid waste management system, and detailed recommendations for further improvements on local municipal solid waste management system are proposed at the end of this study, which could be the reference for municipal solid waste management practice in both Chengdu and other cities in China.