In order to understand the climate co-benefits of ISWM, the
GHG emissions potential of the existing ISWM system in Muangklang
was compared with two base scenarios from a life cycle
perspective. As shown in Fig. 4, the existing ISWM system has
significantly lower GHG emissions compared to the two conventional
treatment systems. For instance, GHG mitigation potential of
the ISWM system is 17% and 60% as compared to open dumping and
sanitary landfilling (without gas recovery) respectively. Although
the GHG reduction of the current ISWM system compared to open
dumping is not remarkable, open dumping has so many other
negative consequences that it should not really be considered as an
option. In fact, the PCD has defined open dumping as an illegal
practice in the regulation of “Code of Practice” on solid waste
management in Thailand. However, a very significant GHG reduction
has been achieved compared to sanitary landfilling without
gas recovery, which is the most common management practice in
Thailand. On an annual basis, the climate co-benefits of the ISWM
system amount to 3608 tonnes of CO2-eq compared to 100% sanitary
landfilling. If Muangklang improves the source separation of
organic waste to avoid landfilling and also expands the capacity of
anaerobic digestion, composting and animal feed, and the sorting of
recyclables, the municipality could make further progress towards
“zero GHG emissions”.