Emission profile of waste sector in Pakistan

Substantial increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from waste sector by rapid population growth and urbanization, emphasizes on the need for mitigation actions to meet commitments of the Paris Agreement (PA). The sector emitting high methane (CH₄) emissions has potential to meet emission reduction targets. Detailed segregated information of waste-related activities responsible for emissions is highly needed for accurate estimation of emissions and placing mitigation actions thereafter. The present study aims to provide an in-depth analysis of all such source activities with associated emissions in one place, needed for tracking progress on waste sector since country’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submission and exploring opportunities for mitigation actions. In this study, emission estimations for 2019–2020 were carried out in accordance with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) revised 1996 guidelines for national GHG inventories. The results showed that waste sector emitted 26.94 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO₂e) emissions in the inventory year, of which 23.88 Mt were CH₄, 2.67 Mt were nitrous oxide (N₂O) and 0.39 Mt were CO₂ emissions. Solid waste disposal (SWD) with 14.30 (53.1%) MtCO₂e emissions was the major emitting category, followed by wastewater handling and discharge (11.43 Mt; 42.4%) and waste incineration and open burning (1.21Mt; 4.5%). Given the highest share of solid waste to the total GHG emissions from waste sector, the results of this study suggest to focus on solid waste more seriously. Further, the current scenario of waste generation, collection and disposal stresses on improved waste management practices providing reliable data that can feed into waste management strategy and GHGs mitigation.