Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions: An alternative approach to waste management for reducing the environmental impacts in Myanmar

Abstract

Along with growing population and economic development, increasing waste generation rates in developing countries have become a major issue related to the negative impacts of waste management on the environment. Currently, the business-as-usual waste management practices in Myanmar are largely affecting the environment and public health. Therefore, this study developed an alternative approach to waste management for reducing the environmental impacts in Myanmar by highlighting the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from business-as-usual practices and three proposed scenarios during 2018-2025. The calculation methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies were used for estimating the GHG emissions from waste management. It was estimated that the current waste management sector generated approximately 2,000 gigagrams of CO2-eq per year in 2018, trending around 3,350 Gg of CO2-eq per year in 2025. It was also observed that out of the proposed scenarios, Scenario-2 significantly minimized the environmental impacts, with the lowest GHG emissions and highest waste resource recovery. Moreover, the GHG emissions from business-as-usual practices could be reduced by 50% by this scenario during 2018-2025. The target of the similar scenario could be achieved if the local government could efficiently implement waste management in the future.