The financial attractiveness assessment of large waste management projects registered as clean development mechanism

• Projects are not financially attractive without registration as CDMs.
• WM benchmarks and indicators are converging and reducing in variance.
• A sensitivity analysis reveal that revenue has more of an effect on the financial results.
• Results indicate that an extensive database would reduce WM project risk and capital costs.
• Disclosure standards would make information more comparable worldwide.

This study illustrates the financial analyses for demonstration and assessment of additionality presented in the project design (PDD) and enclosed documents of the 431 large Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) classified as the ‘waste handling and disposal sector’ (13) over the past ten years (2004–2014). The expected certified emissions reductions (CER) of these projects total 63.54 million metric tons of CO2eq, where eight countries account for 311 projects and 43.36 million metric tons. All of the projects declare themselves ‘not financially attractive’ without CER with an estimated sum of negative results of approximately a half billion US$. The results indicate that WM benchmarks and indicators are converging and reducing in variance, and the sensitivity analysis reveals that revenues have a greater effect on the financial results. This work concludes that an extensive financial database with simple standards for disclosure would greatly diminish statement problems and make information more comparable, reducing the risk and capital costs of WM projects.