SWM-GHG Calculator (2023)

Tool for calculating Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in Solid Waste Management (SWM)

The SWM-GHG Calculator was first released in 2009. Its purpose was to support decision makers in developing countries and emerging economies by providing orientation on GHG effects of solid waste management, and to aid in understanding GHG mitigation effects of different waste management options. A further objective was to provide a user-friendly tool. Therefore, it was developed to be Excel-based in a simple manner with mostly fixed background data for the calculations. However, users could define some boundary conditions for the most relevant treatment options, landfilling and incineration.

Since then, the background data has changed and treatment options, like mechanical-biological treatment or stabilisation plants, have become more relevant in developing countries and emerging economies. The current updated SWM-GHG Calculator takes these aspects into account.

The changes allow for an up-to-date and to a certain extent more accurate calculation. However, the tool can still only provide orienting information and allows a rough assessment of the climate effect of different waste management options. Consequently, it cannot represent a fully-fledged Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) or replace an Environmental Impact Assessment. Additionally, it is not suitable for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of national GHG inventories or programmes because these have to follow a different methodology and/or reporting systematic. Nevertheless, it is very valuable to estimate the amount of potential GHG emissions resulting from decisions on future treatment of the current waste generated.

The manual is also updated and provides some background information on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Approach compared to Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) Systems. Alternative and/or complementary tools are described briefly as well as references and a classification or their use. Some insight is given on the relevance of climate zones for landfill gas emissions, and last but not least an outlook on alternative treatment options which are not represented in the tool. The provided explanations on the use of the SWM-GHG Calculator are also updated. However, it is still valid that it is not necessary to study the manual before using the Calculator. The quickest way to learn how to utilise the tool is to start it and to follow the instructions provided.

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