Climate change effects of various municipal solid waste management scenarios; Case study Tehran, Iran

One of the main sources that effects on climate change is solid waste disposal systems. They generate high volume of greenhouse gases including methane, SOx, NOx and CO2. Tehran as a mega city generates more than 8000 tons/day municipal solid waste which leads to significant amounts of pollution. Consequently, applying a proper disposal method is a key role to reduce the effects on climate change. Hence, the aim of this study is to compare the effects of various waste disposal scenarios on climate change in Tehran. Five scenarios according to four disposal systems including; landfilling, recycling, incineration and composting, are suggested. The chosen disposal systems are based on the local conditions. A model named Integrated Solid Waste Management [IWM] is applied to appraise the amount of annual production for the suggested disposal scenarios based on the life cycle assessment methodology. ISO 14046 and ECO-indicator 99 are used as the life cycle assessment standards. Due to the results, the scenario with recycling causes the least greenhouse gases which leads to the minimum effects on the climate change rather than the other scenarios.