Title: Global warming potential of waste management options: case study of Delhi

Authors: Anand Bohra; Arvind K. Nema; Poonam Ahluwalia

Addresses: National Council for Cement & Building Materials, Ballabgarh, Faridabad, Haryana 121004, India. ' Department of Civil Engineering, IIT. Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India. ' TATA Consulting Engineers Limited, 17-18, Zamrudpur Commercial Complex, New Delhi 110017, India

Abstract: Municipal solid waste in developing nations like India is an area of major concern. The concerns associated with waste management are not only public health and safety but also for sustainable development. Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be applied to assess the environmental sustainability of waste management systems. In the present study, global warming potential of various municipal waste management options was evaluated using LCA. The model was applied for a case study of Delhi (India). From the results of the study, it was found that the scenario of maximum diversion from sanitary landfill results in least impact to global warming.

Keywords: solid waste management; global warming potential; life cycle assessement; LCA; landfill; sustainable management; municipal solid waste; India; sustainability; sustainable development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2012.049233

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2012 Vol.15 No.3/4/5/6, pp.346 - 362

Published online: 17 Dec 2014 *

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