Mitigating Methane from the Waste Sector

The report identifies that the waste sector, comprising municipal solid waste and wastewater, contributes one fifth of global anthropogenic methane emissions. It argues that improving waste management—through organic waste diversion, landfill gas capture, and upgraded sanitation—can significantly reduce tropospheric ozone and prevent millions of premature deaths. The document provides a framework for health professionals to advocate for these changes and highlights case studies from Nigeria, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines to demonstrate the feasibility of methane mitigation and its associated health and economic benefits.

• The waste sector, which includes wastewater and municipal solid waste, is responsible for 20% of global anthropogenic methane emissions, with municipal solid waste alone contributing approximately 12% and wastewater contributing about 8%.
• Reducing methane from the waste sector can significantly lower the formation of tropospheric ozone, which is linked to approximately 1 million premature deaths annually. Specifically, waste methane solutions could avoid 45,000 ozone-related deaths and 135,000 emergency room visits for asthma each year.
• Improved solid waste management provides critical health co-benefits, including the prevention of physical injuries from landfill slides—such as the 2017 event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that killed 116 people—and the reduction of 7 million premature deaths attributed to global air pollution.
• Upgrading wastewater treatment and sanitation is essential for public health, as inadequate sanitation and unsafe water contributed to 829,000 global mortalities in 2016. By 2030, the population without sewer access is projected to reach 5 billion, primarily in Africa and Asia.
• National strategies for methane reduction can yield substantial health and environmental gains; for example, Nigeria's 2018 Action Plan aims to reduce national methane emissions by 61% and black carbon by 83% by 2030, which could prevent 7,000 premature deaths from air pollution.
• Financial mechanisms such as emission reduction purchase agreement (ERPA) credits have successfully funded methane mitigation in the Philippines, leading to the installation of wastewater biogas systems on 70 pig farms and landfill gas collection systems at the Montalban and Payatas landfills.

APA

Nguyen, L., Quintana, A., Rowland, A., & Vegh-Gaynor, G. (2023). Mitigating Methane from the Waste Sector. Global Climate and Health Alliance. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MethaneReport-Waste-FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Nguyen, Linh, Amanda Quintana, Amy Rowland, and Gabriel Vegh-Gaynor. Mitigating Methane from the Waste Sector. Global Climate and Health Alliance, 2023. https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MethaneReport-Waste-FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nguyen |first1=Linh |last2=Quintana |first2=Amanda |last3=Rowland |first3=Amy |last4=Vegh-Gaynor |first4=Gabriel |title=Mitigating Methane from the Waste Sector |publisher=Global Climate and Health Alliance |date=August 2023 |url=https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MethaneReport-Waste-FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nguyen2023mitigating, author = {Nguyen, Linh and Quintana, Amanda and Rowland, Amy and Vegh-Gaynor, Gabriel}, title = {{Mitigating Methane from the Waste Sector}}, institution = {Global Climate and Health Alliance}, year = {2023}, month = aug, url = {https://climateandhealthalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MethaneReport-Waste-FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }