Proceedings

Each year 2-4 billion people dispose of their solid waste by uncontrolled dumping. The majority of these are located in developing countries and generate waste with high organic content, typically 60-80% by weight is putrescible. Whilst some work has been done in the major cities in these countries to manage waste in a controlled manner it has not been possible in the smaller cities. Uncontrolled dumping leads to significant emissions of methane and CO2 as a result of the anaerobic processes in the dumped waste. A series of small community projects in Brazil has demonstrated an appropriate methodology for collecting this waste, composting it and using it in agriculture. These were initially set up to generate income via recycling and the produce a material to enhance soil fertility. Additional aspects which have been realised subsequently are the savings in greenhouse gas emissions (equivalent to more than 20 tonnes of CO2 per day for a population of 15,000) and the sequestration of the carbon in the soil which also has substantial environmental gains. The Kyoto carbon accounting period for sequestration of 100 years does not reflect the benefits to be gained in shorter sequestration periods in the soil which effectively increase the reservoir of soil organic carbon thus reducing the rate of release back into the atmosphere. If the small communities were able to trade their emissions savings on the international market this could generate substantial income to offset the costs of implementing effective waste management practices.

KEYWORDS Waste, carbon trading, agriculture, composting