The waste sector with methane emissions is the third, after the energy and agriculture sectors. This sector emits about 17 percent of methane.
The main emissions from the waste sector come from landfills, waste incineration and wastewater disposal. According to 2017 data, emissions from landfills accounted for 68.7 percent of total waste sector emissions, while emissions from waste incineration accounted for 3.33 percent. Emissions from sewage disposal accounted for 28 percent of the total emissions from the waste sector. This is mentioned in the project "Strategy for long-term development (until 2050) with low emissions of greenhouse gases of the Republic of Armenia" .
Emissions from landfills are the result of poorly developed waste management systems where the best available technologies and practices have not yet been implemented. "In the coming years, the implementation of national and regional solid and domestic waste management programs together with specific additional measures aimed at climate change should become the main opportunity to reduce emissions from the waste sector," the project states.
The draft of the new strategy envisages the creation of gas removal stations from landfills, including the introduction of a separate organic collection system, the exclusion of open burning, as well as the introduction of the best available technologies in the field of hazardous waste use, particularly incineration. These actions, according to the scenarios considered by the strategy, will reduce emissions by a total of 5,880 GgCO2 equivalent in 20 years, and by 140 GgCO2 equivalent in 2050.
The "Measures" scenario of the draft strategy envisages the collection and use of biogas from wastewater treatment plants with at least 50 percent utilization of wastewater by 2050, which would reduce emissions by 735 GgCO2 equivalent during the period 2031-2050. The most ambitious scenario of the project, "With additional measures", envisages full utilization, doubling the reduction of emissions to 1 470 GgCO2 equivalent.
The project also envisages the development of a circular economy by ensuring the reduction of waste in the value chain through the introduction of resource-efficient, waste-free technologies and the digitization of production processes.