Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Through Municipal Solid Waste Composting: A Case Study from Semi-Urban Sri Lanka

The limited existing studies elucidate the significant contribution of open dumpsites to greenhouse gas emissions in Sri Lanka and underscore the necessity of improved waste management practices. Considering this, this study formulates and implements a scenario-based transition framework to assess the potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by diverting biodegradable waste in a semi-urban governance setting in Sri Lanka, which is marked by data limitations and operational challenges. This study concludes that the environmental feasibility analysis reinforces the potential benefits of solid waste compost adoption in municipal solid waste management and agriculture. Greenhouse gas emissions (CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O) were analyzed using the IPCC Tier 1 methodology. The findings revealed that the total emissions declined significantly from 163.10 tonne CO 2 eq/month to 99.31 tonne CO 2 eq/month. The results indicate that diverting biodegradable waste to composting can play a crucial role in climate mitigation in semi-urban contexts, while promoting organic farming. These findings represent the first scenario-based GHG quantification in a semi-urban context in Sri Lanka, addressing a governance level that has received negligible attention in the composting and waste management literature. The scenario-based evaluation framework offers indicative guidance for municipalities in similarly constrained developing contexts, although direct applicability is contingent on comparable waste compositions, governance structures, and operational conditions.