Greenhouse gas emissions from municipal solid waste

Abstract

The threat of climate change is real, and we see the effect of climate change occurrence daily in our life. From the higher occurrence of a natural disaster like floods to the heat wave that hits Singapore causing record high 36 degree Celsius on the thermometer. Based on scientific evidence, the primary driver of climate change is the anthropogenic release of carbon dioxide. Which rise from the 280ppm pre-industrial years of the 1800s to the current 400ppm now.

As such, to control climate change, a systematic control and monitoring of greenhouse gases are warranted. To achieve this the intergovernmental panel on climate change has established the national greenhouse gases inventories for countries to monitor their emission and to set their emission target. One of the categories of the greenhouse gases inventories is waste, whether how much greenhouse gases is produced through the disposal of waste.

However much of the numbers offered by the greenhouse gases inventories are rather ambiguous and board, and are not country specific or method specific. As a result, this will affect the final greenhouse gas emission calculation. While Singapore’s carbon dioxide equivalent emission is considered negligible in the grand scheme, as global citizens Singapore must do her part in reducing her greenhouse gas emission. By putting a value on a product disposal, this could help initiate change to a more sustainable living.

Assuming laboratory condition and calculating the carbon content based on the material type, it is found that there is large deviation of greenhouse gas emission from the first biennial report. This deviation is around 3.28 times more, due to an increase in the metrics parameter of including both fossil content and biogenic origin with a larger material sample base. From this newer metrics, the greenhouse gas emissions from incineration in Singapore is calculated to be around 3.8 megatonnes of CO2-eq.