Abstract
The increasing municipal solid waste (MSW) generation along with the high fraction of organic waste and a common disposal of open dumping is the current scenario in many areas in Thailand. As a response to this problem, the country’s Pollution Control Department (PCD) aims to reduce the MSW generation rate to less than 1 kg/capita/day, increase the collection efficiency, and improve the recovery of recyclables. For many years, more than 60% of the solid waste disposal system in Thailand has been carried out by open dumping. According to the survey conducted by this study, in 2004 there were 425 disposal sites (95 landfills; 330 open dumps) in Thailand and an estimated methane emission of 115.4 Gg/year was generated based on this practice. It has been estimated that the anticipated methane emission in Thailand will rise from 115.4 Gg/year to 118.5 Gg/year if the largest open dumpsites in provinces with no existing landfill are upgraded to sanitary landfill; and it will increase to 193.5 Gg/year if the existing sanitary landfill is upgraded to integrated waste management facilities. Moreover, Bangkok metropolitan have the highest methane emission (54.83 Gg/year) among all the regions in Thailand. The methane emission forecast of 339 Gg/year by 2020 (based on LandGEM methodology) provides a stimulus to create a comprehensive plan to capture and utilize methane as an energy source.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Boeck, P., & Van Cleemput, O. (1996). Methane oxidation in a neutral landfill cover soil: Influence of moisture content, temperature and nitrogen turnover. Journal of Environmental Quality, 25, 178–185.
Greiner, S. (2005). Municipal solid waste and carbon finance. http://www.worldbank.org/urban/urbanforum2005/ulwpresentations/sw/Greiner.pdf.
IPCC (1997). The revised 1996 IPCC guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories: Reference manual, intergovernmental panel on climate change, pp. 6.2–6.13.
Luanratana, W., & Visvanathan, C. (2006). Sustainable waste management: A case study of the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority. In M. Mudacumura & S. Haques (Eds.), Sustainable development policy and administration. USA: Taylor & Francis, ISBN: 1-57444-563-4.
Muttamara, S., Visvanathan, C., & Alwis, K. U. (1994). Solid waste recycling and reuse in Bangkok. Waste Management and Research, 12, 151–163.
Pollution Control Department (2004). Pollution prevention and mitigation 1997–2016. Pollution from solid waste. http://www.pcd.go.th/info_serv/en_reg_polwaste.html.
Thailand Environment Monitor (2003). A joint publication of the Pollution Control Department (PCD) of Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), the World Bank, the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership (USAEP), and Japan Bank for International cooperation (JBIC). Retrieved June 30, 2006 from http://www.worldbank.or.th/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/EASTASIAPACIFICEXT/THAILANDEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20206649~menuPK:333323~pagePK:141137~piPK:217854~theSitePK:333296,00.html.
Thurgood, M. (1998). Decision-maker’s guide to solid waste landfills summary. The World Bank, World Health Organization, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and Swiss Center for Development Cooperation in Technology and Management, Washington DC, July 1998.
United Nations (UN) (2000). State of the environment in asia and the pacific. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific, and Asian Development Bank (UNESCAP and ADB). New York: United Nations publications, ISBN: 92-1-120019-9.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) (1998). User’s manual: Landfill gas emission model: Version 2.0, Office of Research and Development, U.S. EPA, Washington, DC, February 1998.
United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.EPA) (2004). Direct emission from municipal solid waste landfilling. Climate leaders greenhouse gas inventory protocol. http://www.epa.gov/climateleaders/docs/protocol-solid_waste_landfill.pdf.
Visvanathan, C., Trankler, J., Joseph, K., Chiemchaisri, C., Basnayake, B. F. A., & Gongming, Z. (2004). Municipal solid waste management in Asia. Asian Regional Research Program on Environmental Technology (ARRPET). Asian Institute of Technology publications. ISBN: 974-417-258-1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chiemchaisri, C., Juanga, J.P. & Visvanathan, C. Municipal solid waste management in Thailand and disposal emission inventory. Environ Monit Assess 135, 13–20 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-9707-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-9707-1