04 Oct 2022 --- Improving waste management is an essential and dangerously unrecognized key to reducing global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to a report released today by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA). The report’s authors stress that international governments must incorporate waste management strategies into their climate change plans to keep warming beneath 1.5 degrees. The report titled Zero Waste to Zero Emissions: How Reducing Waste is a Climate Game Changer details how waste from materials like plastic and food contributes roughly 20% to global methane emissions. It calls for improved management of waste goods, though deems waste-to-energy practices such as incineration “unacceptable.”
