Gridded Emissions of CO, NO x , SO 2 , CO 2 , NH 3 , HCl, CH 4 , PM 2.5 , PM 10 , BC, and NMVOC from Open Municipal Waste Burning in India
Abstract
Accurate emission inventories serve as critical inputs for air quality and climate models but are poorly constrained over India. We present a new municipal open waste burning emission inventory from India (OWBEII), at a resolution of 0.1° × 0.1°. Out of the 216 (201–232) Tg y –1 of waste produced in the year 2015, 68 (45–105) Tg y –1 was burned in the open. To determine emissions from waste burning, emission factors of 59 non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), CH 4, CO 2, CO, and NO x were measured from garbage fires in rural and urban sites in India. The NMVOC emissions from open waste burning of 1.4–2 Tg y –1 increase India’s total anthropogenic NMVOC budget by 8–12%, while BC emissions (40–110 Ggy –1 ) increase the total anthropogenic BC emissions by 8–12%. Open waste burning in India emits 3–7 Tg y –1 of CO and 58–130 Tg y –1 of CO 2 . Emissions increase the total anthropogenic CO and CO 2 in the MIX-Asia inventory by 4–11% and 2–6%, respectively. Open waste burning may affect atmospheric OH reactivity and ozone formation rates downwind of urban centers through the emission of other highly reactive compounds such as acetaldehyde (20–320 Gg y –1 ), propene (50–170 Gg y –1 ), and ethene (50–190 Gg y –1 ) and is s source of carcinogenic benzene (30–280 Gg y –1 ).
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Open waste burning results in the release of toxic pollutants and greenhouse gases.
“Open waste burning results in the release of toxic pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHGs)19–21.”
From Potential for future reductions of global GHG and air pollutants from circular waste management systems (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
In the absence of reliable waste management systems, dumping and open burning of MSW become the only alternatives to reduce waste volumes.
“In the absence of reliable waste management systems, dumping and open burning of MSW, either at residential or dumpsites, become the only alternatives to reduce waste- volumes19,20.”
From Potential for future reductions of global GHG and air pollutants from circular waste management systems (2022) · cites this paper as [19]
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Ditzler, L., Breland, T. A., Francis, C., Chakraborty, M., Singh, D. K., Srivastava, A., Eyhorn, F., Groot, J. C. J., Six, J., & Decock, C. (2018) · Agricultural Systems · doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2017.12.010 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
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McDuffie, E. E., Smith, S. J., O'Rourke, P., Tibrewal, K., Venkataraman, C., Marais, E. A., Zheng, B., Crippa, M., Brauer, M., & Martin, R. V. (2020) · Earth System Science Data · doi:10.5194/essd-12-3413-2020 · Cited by 714 · see citing works
Gómez-Sanabria, A., Kiesewetter, G., Klimont, Z., Schoepp, W., & Haberl, H. (2022) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27624-7 · Cited by 306 · see citing works
Shi, K., Shen, J., Wu, Y., Liu, S., & Li, L. (2021) · International Journal of Digital Earth · doi:10.1080/17538947.2021.1946605 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sharma, G., Sinha, B., Pallavi, Hakkim, H., Chandra, B. P., Kumar, A., & Sinha, V.
- Affiliations
- Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Sinha, Baerbel
- ORCID
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2019-04-17
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 4765-4774
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2935724762
- Cited by
- 133
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 5
- FWCI
- 5.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
- Ministry of Human Resource Development
- Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology (DST/CCP/MRDP/100/2017(G))
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Municipal Solid Waste Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Keywords
- open waste burning, municipal solid waste, emission inventory, non-methane volatile organic compounds, black carbon, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen chloride, particulate matter, acetaldehyde, propylene, ethylene, benzene, OH reactivity, ozone formation, India
- MeSH terms
- Air Pollutants, Asia, Carbon Dioxide, India, Particulate Matter
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