Evaluating carbon footprint of municipal solid waste treatment: Methodological proposal and application to a case study

According to the obtained results, the scenarios based on a total recovery of valuable materials and waste-to-energy or anaerobic digestion treatments present the lowest carbon footprint because burden avoided is more important than direct and indirect emissions from treatments. In addition, the consumption of electricity and the emissions derived from its generation (mix of generation), can increase the carbon footprint of power-intensive treatments.