Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Energy Recovery Potential for Optimum Waste Management Scenarios in Bahrain

The transition to circular economy requires implementation of sustainable waste management strategies that provide opportunities and challenges to developing countries. This study aims to analyze the potential Greenhouse Gases (GHG) mitigation and energy recovery potential of two prospective Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management scenarios in the Kingdom of Bahrain: 1) A material recovery facility (MRF) with composting, 2) Waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and iWARM of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) models were tools utilized to estimate GHG emissions, mitigation, and energy recovery. MSW composition data available in 2017 was utilized to investigate optimum scenarios. Our results showed that MRF with composting scenario mitigated GHG emissions at the rate of 721,735 tCO2-eq/yr due to lowering of virgin products manufacturing from recycling process, whereas the incineration scenario generated 865,386 tCO2-eq/yr of GHG emissions. Moreover, MRF with composting scenario exhibited higher energy recovery potential with 3.85x109kWh/yr. The adoption of integrated approach of MRF with composting as a waste management option is the most sustainable strategy for the MSW management in Bahrain.