Updated: Good Practice Study on GHG-Inventories for the Waste Sector
The purpose of this study is to support the preparation of GHG inventories in the waste sector through good practice examples which can be adopted in other countries. This report complements the existing reporting guidance under the UNFCCC with real life examples in the waste sector from different countries.
It is directed at persons involved in the compilation of GHG inventories in the waste sector, especially in developing countries. In addition, the study analyses the interlinkages between GHG emission inventories and mitigation actions in the sector and provides an overview of different models and data sources for waste inventories. All analysed countries in this report are applying guidelines developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and need to collect and determine the same data and parameters. While national circumstances differ, the problems can be similar, and an approach chosen in one country may be adapted and may help to overcome obstacles in another.
Furthermore, this study discusses and provides recommendations for general GHG inventory development and specific issues related to the preparation of GHG inventories in the waste sector, including:
• The institutionalisation of the system, by developing and agreeing processes to avoid “starting from scratch” whenever an inventory is prepared. Together with adequate documentation of assumptions, data sources and calculations, this greatly facilitates inventory preparation for each subsequent report.
• Conducting key category analysis in order to allocate resources and efforts to the most relevant categories.
• Using IPCC methodologies and default values to gap-fill missing data.
• Ensuring time series consistency in the transition from one source to the other if different data sets are combined.
• Improving the quality of the inventory as part of a continuous Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC) process, which should include an inventory improvement plan.
The study has been prepared by the Öko-Institut e.V. with inputs from PATPA, which is carried out on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV).
This study is available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.