Low-Carbon Integrated Waste Management

Project description

Title: China Integrated Waste Management NAMA (IWM NAMA)
Commissioned by: NAMA Facility
Country: People's Republic of China
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development
Overall term: 2017 bis 2022

group photo of kick-off workshop

Context

The vision of NAMA Facility is to support the implementation of the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), and to induce transformational change towards a low-carbon development pathway. In 2010, China submitted its NAMA of reducing CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 per cent based on 2005 levels by 2020.

In 2012, 158 megatons of CO2 were produced by the waste sector alone, amounting to 1.3 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in China. Landfill and incineration are still regular practices to treat the municipal solid waste (MSW), which accounts for 62 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.

Current sectoral policies and technical standards are mainly characterised by the improvement of individual waste treatment facilities Possible synergies that lie in combining different MSW treatment facilities are not taken into consideration. As a result, the integrated waste management (IWM) and GHG emission reduction potential in the sector has not yet been fully utilized.

Following its development targets and its national commitment towards a low-carbon and circular economy, China strengthens its efforts to reduce GHG emissions and increase the usage of municipal waste for the production of energy. However, at present the transformation of the waste sector towards low-carbon pathways faces technical and capacity challenges.

Objective

Integrated Waste Management Systems (IWM) have been established in some municipalities and serve as prototypes in China. They make use of the best available technologies and increase the appeal of IWM as financially sustainable investment fields. Through using IWM, Chinese greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced.

Approach

The IWM NAMA project will accelerate the low-carbon development of China’s waste sector by:

  • establishing IWM systems using the best available technologies and demonstrating best environmental practices in in three municipalities
  • helping to improve China’s political framework, technical standards and market conditions for a waste sector with low greenhouse gas emissions
  • supporting stakeholders in applying Chinese national measuring, reporting and verification (MRV) methodologies to build up a database in which potentials for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the sector can be collected
  • improving the understanding of the national emissions trading scheme (ETS) as a new income stream
  • increasing technological and institutional capacities at governmental levels and in the private sector to anchor lessons learned and spread the know-how
  • raising the awareness of IWM systems and their benefits for the public

Last update: June 2022

Additional information