Recognizing the value of municipal solid waste resource utilization in delivering carbon dioxide removal

Xu Chu; Zixuan Fei; Xiankun Wang; Ping Jiang; Wei-Chiao Huang

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.126338

Recognizing the value of municipal solid waste resource utilization in delivering carbon dioxide removal

J Environ Manage. 2025 Jun 26:390:126338. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.126338. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xu Chu¹, Zixuan Fei², Xiankun Wang³, Ping Jiang⁴, Wei-Chiao Huang⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China; Fudan Tyndall Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
² School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
³ The Economy and Management School, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, 150001, China.
⁴ School of Environment, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China; Fudan Tyndall Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China; Institute for Global Public Policy, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: jiangping@fudan.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Economics, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, 49008, USA; Department of Economics, National Chung Cheng University, Chiayi, 621301, Taiwan.

PMID: 40580864
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.126338

Abstract

This paper attempts to verify that the resource utilization of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a feasible method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We combine the data and empirical study results of Shanghai, China, to calculate and project Shanghai's contribution to China's 2030 carbon peak commitment through MSW resource utilization process from 2021 to 2030. The calculation uses IPCC recommended methods. The results show: compared to Scenario 1 (the traditional mixed treatment of MSW), Scenario 2 (the classification of MSW for resource utilization) demonstrates significant carbon emission reduction benefits for all types of MSW in Shanghai, with an increasing trend year by year. Among these, the emission reduction potential of recyclable material utilization is the most prominent. Through S2, Shanghai's MSW sector can cumulatively reduce emissions by 325 million tons from 2020 to 2030, surpassing the carbon peak target for 2030. Additionally, it is projected to generate economic benefits ranging from 11.35 billion to 28.192 billion yuan, equivalent to 0.89 %-2.21 % of Shanghai's GDP in the first quarter of 2025 (1.27 trillion yuan).

Keywords: Carbon emission; Global greenhouse gas (GHG); IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change); Municipal solid waste; Resource utilization; Treatment.