Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Municipal Solid Waste Disposal of Bangkok Metropolitan
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The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on greenhouse gas emissions from solid waste disposal in Bangkok was evaluated using statistics of waste quantities disposed by composting, incineration, and landfill methods from the transfer stations during pre-pandemic period (2015-2019) and pandemic period (2020-2022). The potential emissions of greenhouse gases from these activities were evaluated using the 2006 IPCC and 2019 Refinement methodologies. During pre-pandemic period, the emissions was estimated at 1147.98 GgCO2-eq/year in which waste disposal in landfills contributed majority at 1002.58 GgCO2-eq/year. The landfill emissions gradually decreased to 861.23, 809.78, and 754.73 GgCO2-eq in 2020-2022, respectively. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas emissions from composting and incineration of general wastes during the pandemic were maintained at the same levels as the pre-pandemic period. During the pandemic period, greenhouse gas emissions from infectious waste incineration were significantly increasing to 10.79 GgCO2/year from those during pre-pandemic period (5.42-7.25 GgCO2/year). Despite of these increases, total GHG emissions from waste disposal in Bangkok in 2022 was reduced by 22% from those in 2018 due to the decreasing amount of general waste produced during the pandemic period.
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References
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