By Bunmi Yekini
Governments are missing cost-effective opportunities to reduce methane emissions from waste by failing to adopt zero waste strategies in their national climate plans, according to a new analysis by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA).
The study examined 14 updated national climate plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by countries including Nigeria, Brazil, Chile, and Bangladesh. All had signed the Global Methane Pledge and the Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste.
While GAIA found promising elements in four of the plans, ten were deemed weak or even counterproductive. “It is good to see increased attention on waste sector mitigation potential in national climate plans,” said Doun Moon, policy and research officer at GAIA. “However, too many plans focus on waste disposal rather than prevention or material recovery, often favoring private profits over people.”
Moon added that “community-led zero waste initiatives are one of the fastest, cheapest ways to cut methane emissions.”
The report noted that Brazil showed the most progress from its previous NDC, introducing solid policies and concrete measures to manage organic waste. Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia, and Nigeria placed greater emphasis on a “just transition,” with commitments to retrain workers and address challenges faced by the informal sector.
However, GAIA said most plans failed to include waste pickers, workers who play a critical role in recycling and waste recovery, and warned that some countries were prioritizing harmful waste-to-energy projects. Nations such as Nepal, Uruguay, Colombia, Morocco, and Bangladesh plan to expand incineration infrastructure, which GAIA said emits carbon dioxide, undermines recycling, and displaces jobs.
Waste is responsible for about 20% of human-caused methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas. GAIA estimates that best practices such as composting, bio-stabilization, and source separation could reduce these emissions by up to 95% while creating decent employment opportunities.
“Zero waste strategies that follow the reduce, reuse, recycle hierarchy can cut emissions across every stage of the value chain,” the group said, noting that 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from the material economy.
“We urge governments to embrace zero waste as a climate solution, with waste pickers and communities at its heart,” said Mariel Vilela, director of GAIA’s global climate program. “The upcoming COP30 climate conference is a moment to share success stories and get money flowing to the people making things happen on the ground.”
GAIA’s analysis focused on Global South countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe, that it said could “leapfrog false solutions like incineration and move directly to zero waste models” with the right financial support. The group also launched an interactive map showing the latest country-level analysis of waste management in NDCs.