Potential of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Associated with Municipal Solid Waste Management in Hanoi City, Vietnam

Vietnam is considered to be one of the most potentially affected countries by the effects of climate change due to its topography and socio-economic properties. In order to contribute to the global efforts in climate change mitigation the government has recently announced to strive for a low-carbon economy. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with municipal solid waste (MSW) management system are one of the critical concerns in this regard. This study applied Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach to estimate the total amount of emissions from current MSW management in the capital city of Vietnam; and explored the potential of reduction through various possible scenarios of MSW management system. All scenarios studied presented high potential for emission reduction through improving composting, anaerobic digestion (biogas production), installing landfill gas capture system; and reducing amount of waste disposed in landfill. Particularly, the integrated MSW management consisting different technology options has the greatest potential of reduction, and landfill gas recovery system has significant effective impacts on mitigating GHG emissions from waste sector. This study therefore suggests feasible alternatives to achieve targets of emission reduction in the waste sector for the city studied.