Carbon credit estimation from composting of municipal solid waste in India

Abstract

Management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a complex problem for being faced all over
the world, Rapid urbanization and industrialization have led to scarcity of land and other
resources in urban areas and have increased the problem of disposal of the waste generated,
The total MSW generation will continuously rise due to the outgoing urban growth,
Uncontrolled haphazard dumping of MSW on the outskirts of towns and cities has created
overflowing landfills, which are not only impossible to reclaim, but also have induced serious
environmental implications through contributions to ground water pollution and global
warming, Successful composting of MSW is also practiced in a few pockets in some cities of
India but due to low compost quality, the market is very low. Moreover, the Government of
India is detennined to promote only composting technology for treatment of MSW as per the
recommendation of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India based on the views from Expert
Committee.
MSW generally has a considerable fraction of biodegradable materials, even though the
proportions vary from region to region. Biotreatment has, for many decades, been the
preferred method for effectively treating the biodegradable waste, Composting is an ancient,
environmental friendly and globally recognized method of biotreatment and bioprocessing of
MSW, Composting generates a recycled organic product and minimizes the waste quantity
left for disposal, thereby reducing the demand for landfill sites, Different fractions of the
biodegradable organic components eventually mineralize to CO2 and H20 at different rates,
The present paper describes the theoretical and experimental estimation of CO2 emission from
composting of MSW in India, which gives tentative estimation of carbon credit from
composting of MSW,