Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from municipal solid waste in Sub-Saharan Africa via sustainable waste management: An economic benefit assessment

Abstract

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is a major challenge for cities worldwide, particularly in Africa. This study used an emission-reduction framework to assess the economic benefit of sustainable MSW management in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over a 60-year period (2000–2060). Two waste-to-energy (WTE) methods, sanitary landfills and anaerobic digestion, were used to assess the potential electricity generation from MSW under four waste collection scenarios. The assessment was compared to the potential economic damage from cumulative methane (CH4) emissions under business-as-usual waste management practices for the same period. The results show that energy recovery from current MSW generation forecasts can contribute to 100–245 kWh per capita electricity generation between 2025 and 2060, depending on the WTE technology employed. The net present value (NPV) of WTE technologies is less than half the dollar cost of the potential economic damage from methane emissions. These results have significant policy implications for increasing access to sustainable and clean energy in SSA countries. Given that the current average per capita electricity generation in SSA is 158 kWh and that several countries in the area are experiencing energy problems, MSW electricity generation offers untapped economic development prospects. These findings highlight the economic advantages of effective waste management in SSA to mitigate future environmental and climate change consequences of greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, this study underscores the need for stakeholders to develop cost-effective and sustainable waste management strategies to avoid possible future economic and environmental damage in SSA.