IPCC sector · WASTE · 2023
Waste: Global Emissions by Country
Solid waste landfilling, wastewater treatment, incineration.
Sector answer
Waste ranks #7 / 7 by absolute EDGAR total and #1 / 7 by methane share among IPCC sectors in 2023; China leads country-level emissions at 386.91 MtCO₂e (27% of the top-20 sum) - sector size and methane intensity are not the same ladder.
- #7 / 7
- Sector Mt rank
- #1 / 7
- Methane-share rank
- China
- #1 country · 386.91 Mt
- 27%
- of top-20 sum
Source: EU EDGAR v8.0 sectoral breakdown. AR6 GWP100; excludes LULUCF.
EDGAR sector concentration roll
WASTE · 2023 · 1,409 Mt top-20
- VOL 1,409 Mt
- RANK-A #7 / 7
- RANK-CH4 #1 / 7
- LEAD China
- SHARE 27%
- GAS 92% Methane
- PHOTO United States
- BOOK 7 sectors
Leader: China (386.91 Mt · 27% of top-20 sum)
Year-to-year inventory change
What changed between 2022 and 2023
- Waste's methane total across tracked economies rose from 1,540 MtCO₂e in 2022 to 1,569 MtCO₂e in 2023 in the EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024) extract, a change of +28.8 MtCO₂e (+1.9%).
- Waste's tracked-economy sector total rose from 1,667 MtCO₂e in 2022 to 1,697 MtCO₂e in 2023 in the EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024) extract, a change of +30.4 MtCO₂e (+1.8%).
According to the European Commission's Joint Research Centre EDGAR v8.0 corpus, Waste ranks #7 of 7 IPCC sectors with live EDGAR rows by absolute greenhouse-gas total in 2023 (largest MtCO2e = #1) and #1 of 7 by methane share of the sector total (highest CH4 fraction = #1). How we place sectors.
Waste vs all sectors by EDGAR greenhouse-gas total
Where this sector's 2023 EDGAR MtCO₂e sits among every IPCC sector with live rows (inventory mass, not policy priority)
1,697 0th percentile in the bottom 1% of 7 sectors
Sectors, banded by EDGAR MtCO₂e (AR6 GWP100)
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more sectors. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source EU EDGAR v8.0 · 2023
Top 15 emitters in waste (2023, MtCO₂e)
EU EDGAR v8.0, highest first
Data from EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024 release)
Largest-country share in waste
2023 · top-20 tracked total
Top 20 countries - Waste (2023)
| Country | MtCO2e | Share of top 20 |
|---|---|---|
| China | 27.5% | |
| United States | 10.4% | |
| India | 10.0% | |
| Russia | 9.6% | |
| Brazil | 9.1% | |
| Turkey | 4.9% | |
| Mexico | 4.6% | |
| Indonesia | 3.7% | |
| Nigeria | 2.3% | |
| Saudi Arabia | 2.2% | |
| Thailand | 1.9% | |
| Pakistan | 1.8% | |
| Colombia | 1.6% | |
| Canada | 1.6% | |
| South Korea | 1.6% | |
| South Africa | 1.5% | |
| Spain | 1.5% | |
| Morocco | 1.4% | |
| Algeria | 1.4% | |
| France | 1.4% |
Source: EU EDGAR v8.0 (Joint Research Centre, 2024). CC BY 4.0.
Waste emissions trend (1970–2023, MtCO₂e)
Sum across all tracked countries, EU EDGAR v8.0
Data from EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024 release)
Gas mix in waste
| Gas | MtCO2e |
|---|---|
| Methane | |
| Nitrous oxide | |
| Carbon dioxide |
Waste: smaller EDGAR slice · China 386.91 MtCO₂e (27% of top-20)
China leads at 27% of the top-20 sum; the next emitters still matter for any sector-wide cut. Methane leads the gas mix at 92% of the sector total (AR6 GWP100) - abatement tracks methane controls more than stack CO₂. Absolute Mt rank #7 / 7 diverges from methane-share rank #1 / 7 - size and CH₄ intensity are different ladders.
Source: EU EDGAR v8.0 (Joint Research Centre). Sector totals summed from emissions_records; AR6 GWP100; excludes LULUCF.
Methodology
Waste is IPCC source category WASTE. Country totals are summed from
emissions_records for that code; figures are EDGAR's reported annual values
(1970–2023), converted to CO₂-equivalent at AR6 GWP100.
This sector sits in the lower third of live EDGAR sector mass (1,697 MtCO₂e corpus total). EDGAR's main GHG dataset excludes LULUCF. See methodology for the full pipeline.
Source: EU EDGAR v8.0 (Joint Research Centre, 2024) - global bottom-up sectoral model, CC BY 4.0 license.
FAQ
Which gas dominates waste emissions?
Methane dominates the waste sector with 1,569.18 MtCO2e in 2023 (92% of sector total), weighted via AR6 GWP100.
Which country emits the most in the waste sector?
China leads waste emissions in 2023 at 386.91 MtCO2e (27% of the top-20 sum) per EU EDGAR v8.0.
What does the waste sector include?
Solid waste landfilling, wastewater treatment, incineration.
Data vintage: EU EDGAR v8.0 (2024 release), 2023 data year. Sector emissions summed from EDGAR records for the focal year; LULUCF handling follows the sector taxonomy.