Assessing the Potential Climate Impacts and Benefits of Waste Prevention and Management: A Case Study of Sweden

Jurate Miliute-Plepiene () and Jan-Olov Sundqvist
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Jurate Miliute-Plepiene: IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Valhallavägen 81, 114 28 Stockholm, Sweden
Jan-Olov Sundqvist: IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Valhallavägen 81, 114 28 Stockholm, Sweden

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 9, 1-24

Abstract: This study employs a life cycle perspective to analyze the carbon footprints of various waste streams, evaluating 52 cases across 26 types of household waste in Sweden, with a focus on waste prevention and management. It demonstrates that while recycling can reduce carbon emissions, prevention could significantly enhance these benefits, with savings ranging from −36.5 to −0.01 kg-CO 2 -eq per kg of waste. Notably, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), textiles, tires, residual household, and plastic waste are the top five fractions most amenable to prevention on a per mass basis. Further analysis, considering waste volumes, shows that targeted recycling of materials like WEEE, metals, and paper could account for over 80% of potential carbon savings. However, the majority of potential climate impact is attributed to the energy recovery of unsorted (mixed) waste, contributing to more than 90% of total impacts. Redirecting all mixed waste to recycling could triple carbon savings, but focusing on prevention could potentially increase benefits twenty-sevenfold, particularly for waste like WEEE, food, and textiles. This research provides a valuable tool for identifying key areas in waste management to optimize climate benefits and enhance public awareness. However, it advises using local data for precise planning due to inherent uncertainties.

Keywords: LCA; carbon footprint; environmental assessment; household waste; CO 2; municipal waste; recycling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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