Material Flows and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Potential of Decentralized Composting in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study in Tiassalé, Côte d’Ivoire

Dotanhan Yeo, Kouassi Dongo, Adeline Mertenat, Phillipp Lüssenhop, Ina Körner and Christian Zurbrügg
Additional contact information
Dotanhan Yeo: Unité de Formation et de Recherche des Sciences de la Terre et des Ressources Minières (UFR STRM), Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, 22 BP 582 Abidjan 22, Cote d’Ivoire
Kouassi Dongo: Unité de Formation et de Recherche des Sciences de la Terre et des Ressources Minières (UFR STRM), Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, 22 BP 582 Abidjan 22, Cote d’Ivoire
Adeline Mertenat: Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Phillipp Lüssenhop: Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection, Bioresource Management Group, Hamburg University of Technology, Eissendorfer Str. 42, 21073 Hamburg, Germany
Ina Körner: Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection, Bioresource Management Group, Hamburg University of Technology, Eissendorfer Str. 42, 21073 Hamburg, Germany
Christian Zurbrügg: Eawag: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-15

Abstract: Despite many composting initiatives implemented in recent years throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, there is yet a lack of data on material flows and the potential contribution of decentralized composting towards greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. This study fills this gap assessing flows, emissions reduction and other environmental benefits of decentralized composting, based on a pilot composting facility implemented in the municipality of Tiassalé in Côte d’Ivoire. Primary data collected at the site were visualized with the STAN version 2.6 software developed at the Vienna University of Technology (Austria), for material flows, while carbon emissions reduction was estimated using the UNFCCC methods. Results show that in 2017, from the 59.4 metric tons of organic waste processed by this pilot station, 14.2 metric tons of mature compost was produced, which correspond to 24% of the input mass (on wet weight basis). On dry weight basis, mature compost represents 36% of the input mass. The nutrient content of the compost is in line with data from literature on sub-Saharan African compost, and heavy metal contamination fulfils both French and German compost standards. Concerning the GHG emissions reduction potential, the results show that with this composting scenario, 87% of the baseline emissions occurring in open dumping can be avoided.

Keywords: sub-Saharan Africa; decentralized composting; material flow; GHG emissions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7229/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7229/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:19:p:7229-:d:423202

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().