The potential climate change impacts
of the development in Chinese
household waste management, with less landfilling, more incineration
with energy recovery, and source-separated food waste treated in biorefineries,
were assessed through a life cycle assessment. When the waste management
system interacts with a fossil-based energy system, landfilling produces
a load of 144 kg CO2-eq/ton wet waste, while incineration
shows a saving of 36 kg CO2-eq/ton wet waste. The introduction
of food waste source separation lowers climate change impacts by an
additional 33 kg CO2-eq/ton at a 60% sorting efficiency.
As the Chinese energy system lowers its climate change impact over
the next 30 years, energy recovery from waste treatment will change
its relative contribution to climate change. In nonfossil energy systems,
landfilling is estimated to have a climate change load of 180–240
kg CO2-eq/ton wet waste, while incineration, including
combinations with the source-separation of food waste, will have a
load of 310–540 kg CO2-eq/ton wet waste. These large
intervals are due to waste composition uncertainty. However, considering
a 20 year CH4 characterization factor representing a shorter
time perspective, the impacts from landfilling are more dramatic due
to the large methane release. This significant climate change impact
calls for an increased focus on the developments in Chinese household
waste management. The key issues identified may also apply to other
countries.