In 1999, the EU produced around 173 000 kilotonnes of municipal waste (1).
That is more than 450 kg of waste per person per year. Around 60% of this went
to landfill and only 14% was recycled.
How waste is managed can have a big impact on greenhouse gas emissions, but studies (1, 2) consistently show that recycling produces fewer emissions. Not only does recycling avoid emissions in manufacture and transport, but also avoids the production of methane emissions in landfill and carbon dioxide emissions in incineration.
| Greenhouse gas Emissions | GWP |
|
Sources |
||
| Carbon dioxide (CO2) | 1 | energy use during production processes transport emissions during all stages incineration of plastic |
| Methane (CH4) | 21 | landfilling of biodegradable waste (mainly paper, food and garden waste) |
| Nitrous oxide (N2O) | 310 | incineration of waste |
Savings |
||
| Carbon dioxide (CO2) | 1 |
Recycling reduces energy at several stages in the cycle (no extraction,
transport of raw material, lower energy use in manufacture of recycled
product) Recycling of paper increases the storage of carbon in existing forests which would otherwise be used for production of virgin paper making electricity from the heat produced when waste is incinerated. How much CO2 is saved depends on the type of electricity which is being displaced. |
| Perfluorocarbons (PFCs) | 7000 | released in the production of alumium from alumina, therefore saved when aluminium is recycled |
| Methane (CH4) | burning (flaring) methane on a landfill site converts methane emissions to carbon dioxide which is not such a powerful greenhouse gas. The gas can also be collected and used to generate electricity. If this electricity is used instead of electricity from fossil fuels, additional savings of CO2 can be made. However methane seeps out of landfill sites over a large area and special management techniques are required in order to safely collect, store and use this gas. (Further information on technical aspects of methane recovery) |
The links in the left column lead you to additional information on recycling of these products.
| product | CO2 savings (kg of CO2 equivalent per tonne of material treated) |
| aluminium | 9108 |
| textiles | 3203 |
| plastic (PET) | 1800 |
| paper | 634 |
| plastic (HDPE) | 530 |
| glass | 287 |
Source:Waste Management Options and Climate change, European Commission, 2001
CO2 equivalent - some greenhouse gases are more powerful than others. For example, methane is 21 times more effective than carbon dioxide at heating the atmosphere. Greenhouse gase emissions are often calculated in terms of how much CO2 would be needed to produce a similar warming effect. This is called CO2 equivalent. For example, 5 tonnes of methane would have a CO2 equivalent of 5 x 21 = 105 tonnes CO2 eq
Greenhouse Gases and Waste Management Options, Friends of the Earth UK, January 2000
(1)Waste Management Options and Climate change, European Commission, 2001
(2)Greenhouse gas emissions from management of selected materials in municipal solid waste, EU Environmental Protection Agency, 1998
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