From Waste to Warming: A Review of Solid Waste Mismanagement.

Abstract

Solid waste mismanagement is often an overlooked source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This narrative review collates evidence from peer-reviewed and Scopus-indexed literature to explore (i) the contribution of GHG emissions from MSW disposal, specifically landfill CH4 and open burning, (ii) how socioeconomic and governance factors perpetuate poor waste management practices, and (iii) how effective household-level behavioral interventions reduce waste generation and associated emissions. Based on a review of approximately 60 primary and review articles published from 2000 to 2024, the review reveals that methane gas emissions from landfills together with open burning account for 5–12% of global anthropogenic emissions, with much greater per-capita emissions in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Behavioral interventions, such as source separation programs, economic incentives, community-based social marketing, and nudging strategies, have been shown to reduce the amount of residual household waste by 10–40%, and the adoption of recycling and composting has been seen to improve by 10–40% when a multi-component intervention is used. The review highlights the need for more long-term randomized trials in LMIC settings and the lack of incorporation of climate-behavior feedback modelling, and suggests a conceptual approach that connects waste governance, individual agency, and GHG mitigation outcomes. Climate action and waste management go hand in hand and need to be strengthened to reach Sustainable Development Goal 12 (responsible consumption and production) and the targets of the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Introduction

This review examines the relationship between municipal solid waste (MSW) mismanagement, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, governance, and household behavioral interventions for climate change mitigation. Global MSW generation has risen rapidly due to urbanization and consumption, increasing from 2.01 billion metric tons in 2016 to a projected 3.40 billion metric tons by 2050. A significant proportion of waste, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), is improperly managed through open dumping and open burning, leading to severe environmental, public health, and climate impacts.

The waste sector contributes approximately 5% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions, with methane (CH?) from landfills being the largest contributor due to anaerobic decomposition of organic waste. Methane is especially concerning because its global warming potential is 27–30 times greater than CO? over 100 years. Open burning also releases CO?, nitrous oxide (N?O), black carbon, dioxins, and other pollutants, making it a significant but often underestimated source of climate-forcing emissions.

Using a systematic literature review based on PRISMA guidelines, the study analyzed around 60 peer-reviewed publications (2000–2024) to address three key questions: the contribution of waste mismanagement to GHG emissions, the socioeconomic and governance factors influencing waste mismanagement, and the effectiveness of household behavioral interventions for reducing waste and emissions.

The review highlights that about one-third of global municipal waste is managed unsafely, with over 90% of waste in many LMICs disposed of through open dumping or burning. South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa experience the highest levels of waste mismanagement due to inadequate infrastructure, rapid urbanization, weak governance, and limited financial resources. Landfill methane emissions are particularly high in developing countries because their waste contains larger proportions of organic material, while warm climates accelerate decomposition. Informal recycling and composting provide significant opportunities to reduce emissions by diverting waste from landfills, although informal waste workers often lack institutional support.

Socioeconomic and governance factors strongly influence waste management performance. Higher national income generally corresponds to better waste collection and treatment infrastructure, whereas poor governance, weak regulatory enforcement, corruption, and insufficient institutional capacity contribute to persistent waste mismanagement. Rapid urbanization, especially in informal settlements, further limits access to waste collection services. The review also emphasizes the important but often overlooked role of gender, noting that women frequently make household waste management decisions and should be specifically considered in designing waste reduction programs.

The review evaluates several household behavioral interventions for improving waste management. Psychological frameworks such as the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Value–Belief–Norm (VBN) theory explain how attitudes, values, social norms, and perceived behavioral control influence recycling and waste reduction. However, positive environmental attitudes alone are insufficient without supportive infrastructure and policies.

Among policy interventions, Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) schemes and deposit-refund systems have consistently reduced household waste and increased recycling rates in many high-income countries. Information campaigns are more effective when combined with social norms, behavioral nudges, community-based social marketing (CBSM), commitment strategies, and feedback mechanisms rather than relying solely on environmental education. Programs emphasizing what others are already doing (descriptive norms) have proven particularly successful in encouraging recycling and source separation.

Conclusion

Substantial and important GHG emissions are generated by the mismanagement of solid waste; 80% of solid waste emissions are methane from uncontrolled landfills and GHG emissions from open burning provide a climate forcing agent that would yield significant near-term GHG emission reductions for warming trajectories. The evidence presented here shows that when appropriately designed, contextualized, and supported by the right infrastructure and economic instruments, behavioral interventions within the household can yield significant waste reduction and source separation improvements and provide cascading GHG benefits by decreasing methane generation and eliminating higher-emission treatment options. Actual policy and the extent of the research evidence, however, are not ambitious enough, or extensive enough, to meet the challenges of climate and waste crises. National climate mitigation plans continue to underrepresent the waste sector; there is a significant bias in the evidence base for behavioral interventions in HIC contexts; and there is minimal understanding of how waste behavior evidence can be integrated with GHG accounting. Adapting these shortcomings by investing in research, inter-jurisdictional collaboration, and linking waste management explicitly to the climate policy agenda is not only an academic need but also a necessity for achieving environmental sustainability globally. Finally, changing household behavior is not a side effect of climate action; it is a cross-cutting issue that covers many different aspects of consumption, urban governance, social equity, and atmospheric chemistry. The potential to fully align the waste sector with climate science and climate policy is a huge opportunity to maximize co-benefits for climate, public health, and the circular economy, especially in fast-growing cities in the Global South, where the waste issue is most pressing and there is significant potential to leapfrog to more sustainable systems.

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Copyright © 2026 Iftikar Ali, Kundan Kumar. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.