1Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency, Str. Luan Haredinaj, Government Building Rilindja, XV/04, 10000 Prishtina, Kosovo
2Agriculture University of Tirana – Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Republic of Albania
*Corresponding author e-mail: tafe.veselaj@gmail.com
Abstract:
The paper presents an estimation of methane emissions from the deposited municipal solid waste in Landovica sanitary landfill, starting from 2006 to 2016 and the projection of methane emissions for 2017-2022. Methane emissions were calculated according to the empirical calculation methodology based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2006) recommendation, using default values and country specific conditions. In additional to methane emissions, the following parameters were evaluated: population covered by the waste service collection in the area of research, climate conditions for the region, amount of landfilled waste, landfill characteristics, and composition of disposal waste. The landfill was established in 2006, with a total surface of about 20 ha and actual waste deposition area of the size of about 6 ha. According to the analysis of waste in the Prizren region, the main fractions of waste composition are organic waste of about 37 %, paper and cardboard waste of about 13%. The yearly amount of deposited waste in the sanitary landfill, in Landovica has amounted to about 93,101 tons in 2016, and overall, to about 632,100 tons of waste deposited in the period from 2006 to 2016. Based on these parameters, the total amount of methane emitted from the landfill during 2006–2016 was estimated at 15.6 Gg or 390 Gg CO2 equivalents. The total mass of methane emitted for the time period of 2017–2022 is projected to be 25.7 Gg, or 642 Gg CO2 equivalents.
Keywords: solid waste; landfill; methane emission; climate change
