GAIA’s Statement of Concern on Waste and Climate Change
Waste management practices are an important, although oft-neglected, contributor to climate change. Waste disposal drives climate change directly through the release of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from incinerators and methane (CH4) from landfills. Waste disposal also drives climate change indirectly by depriving the economy of reused, recycled and composted materials, thus requiring increased extraction of raw materials, an extremely energy-intensive process.