Characterizing waste to cut emissions in Latin America

The document highlights the critical role of waste characterization in reducing methane emissions, which account for nearly 20% of global totals. It details available global tools for emissions estimation, examines the varied regulatory approaches to waste data in several Latin American countries, and advocates for the integration of field-based assessments with satellite monitoring to identify methane super-emitters.

• The waste sector is a major contributor to global warming, with methane emissions from the sector accounting for nearly 20% of global methane emissions, primarily from the decomposition of degradable municipal waste in landfills and open dumps.
• In Latin America, waste generation averages 1 kilogram per person per day, of which 52% is organic material. The vast majority (approximately 95%) of this waste goes to final disposal, while only 1% is used for incineration, anaerobic digestion, or composting, and 4% is recycled.
• Several global resources exist to help governments quantify emissions and plan mitigation, including the Waste Characterization Handbook, the Solid Waste Emissions Estimation Tool (SWEET), the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Screening Tool, and the Landfill Gas (LFG) Screening Tool.
• Latin American countries employ diverse national frameworks for waste characterization: Brazil uses Law 12.305/2010 and the 2022 National Solid Waste Plan; Colombia utilizes the Technical Regulation for the Potable Water and Basic Sanitation Sector; Guatemala follows Government Agreements 281-2015 and 164-2021; Mexico uses various NMX technical standards; Peru uses Resolution No. 457-2018-MINAM; and Ecuador published a guide in 2024 for non-hazardous solid waste quantification in cantons.
• Satellite monitoring is increasingly used to complement local data; between 2022 and 2025, Carbon Mapper surveyed over 10,000 waste sites globally, identifying 371 super-emitters across 71 countries. In Latin America, Mexico, Brazil, and Chile are noted as having multiple landfill super-emitters.

APA

Clean Air Task Force (2025). Characterizing waste to cut emissions in Latin America. https://www.catf.us/resource/characterizing-waste-to-cut-emissions-in-latin-america/

Chicago

Clean Air Task Force. Characterizing waste to cut emissions in Latin America. 2025. https://www.catf.us/resource/characterizing-waste-to-cut-emissions-in-latin-america/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Clean Air Task Force |title=Characterizing waste to cut emissions in Latin America |date=22 September 2025 |url=https://www.catf.us/resource/characterizing-waste-to-cut-emissions-in-latin-america/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cleanairtaskforce2025characterizing, author = {{Clean Air Task Force}}, title = {{Characterizing waste to cut emissions in Latin America}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://www.catf.us/resource/characterizing-waste-to-cut-emissions-in-latin-america/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }