A methodology for estimating the methane emissions from waste landfi lls in Hanoi, Vietnam, as part of a case study on Asian cities, was derived based on a survey of documents and statistics related to waste management, interviews with persons in charge, and fi eld investigations at landfi ll sites. The waste management system in Hanoi was analyzed to evaluate the methane emissions from waste landfi ll sites. The quantity of waste deposited into the landfi ll was evaluated from an investigation of the waste stream. The composition of municipal waste was surveyed in several districts in the Hanoi city area, and the quantities of degradable organic waste that had been deposited into landfi ll for the past 15 years were estimated. Field surveys on methane emissions from landfi lls of different ages (0.5, 2, and 8 years) were conducted and their methane emissions were estimated to be 120, 22.5, and 4.38 ml/min/m 2 , respectively. The fi rst-order reaction rate of methane generation was obtained as 0.51/year. Methane emissions from waste landfi lls were calculated by a fi rst-order decay model using this emission factor and the amount of landfi lled degradable waste. The estimates of methane emissions using the model accorded well with the estimates of the fi eld survey. These results revealed that methane emissions from waste landfi lls estimated by regional-specifi c and precise information on the waste stream are essential for accurately determining the behavior of methane emissions from waste landfi lls in the past, present, and future.Key words Greenhouse effect gas · Methane · Waste landfi ll · Clean development mechanism · Vietnam J Mater Cycles Waste Manag (2008) 10:165-172