Evaluation of the potentialities to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions resulting from various treatments of municipal solid wastes (MSW) in moist tropical climates: Application to Yaounde

Abstract

The authors here analyse the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) resulting from the various treatment of municipal solid waste found in the town of Yaounde. Four management systems have been taken as the basis for analyses. System 1 is the traditional collection and landfill disposal, while in system 2 the biogas produced in the landfill is recuperated to produce electricity. In systems 3 and 4, in addition to the collection, we have introduced a centralised composting or biogas plant before the landfilling disposal of refuse.

A Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of the four systems was made; this enable us to quantify the flux of matter and of energy, consumed or produced by the systems. Following this, only the greenhouse effect was taken into account to evaluate the ecological consequences of the MSW management systems. The method used to evaluate this impact takes into consideration on the one hand, GHG emissions or avoided emission following the substitution of fuel with methane recovered from landfills or produced in the digesters, and on the other hand, sequestrated carbon in the soil following the regular deposit of compost.

Landfilling without recuperation of methane is the most emitting solution for greenhouse gas: it leads to the emission of 1.7 ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂E) per ton of household waste. Composting and methanisation allow one to have a comparable level of emission reduction, either respectively 1.8 and 2 tCO₂E/t of MSW. In order to reduce the emission of GHG in the waste management systems, it is advisable to avoid first of all the emissions of methane coming from the landfills.

System 2 seems to be a solution that would reduce the emissions of GHG at low cost (2.2 to 4 $/tCO₂E). System 2 is calculated as the most effective at the environmental and economic level in the context of Yaounde. Therefore traditional collection, landfill disposal and biogas recuperation to produce electricity is preferable in moist tropical climates.