Methane Emissions: 2 landfills in India among world’s top 25 super-polluting methane emission waste sites | India News
India’s two largest landfills – Hyderabad’s Jawahar Nagar landfill and Mumbai’s Kanjurmarg landfill – are among the world’s top 25 super-polluting methane emitting waste disposal sites, a new study by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) shows.The study found 25 waste facilities in 18 countries responsible for peak methane emission rates of 3.6 to 7.6 tons per hour of methane detected from space by key satellites in 2025.To put that in perspective, UCLA’s STOP Methane Project report states that a source emitting 5 tons of methane per hour (5,000 kg) would contribute about as much to global warming as a million SUVs.Methane is a powerful heat-trapping gas, 86 times more lethal than CO2 and responsible for more than 45% of recent global warming.The study ranked Hyderabad’s Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management Project at Jawahar Nagar Landfill, emitting 5.9 tonnes/hour, in fourth place and the Mumbai one, emitting 4.9 tonnes/hour, 12th on a suspect list of 25 whose landfills include Campo de Mayo, Buenos Aires, Air 7. Tons per hour, peak.These landfills are found in developed and developing countries of all income levels and in all regions of the world, including three sites in Brazil and Chile; two each in India, Saudi Arabia and Turkey; and one each in Algeria, Argentina, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand and the United States.“We’ve already seen how making reliable data available to a wider audience and increasing visibility can be an effective means for action,” said Juan Pablo Escudero, UCLA’s STOP Methane project partner and professor at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez School of Law in Santiago, Chile.“This data provides great opportunities for responsible operators and national governments to lead the way in cleaning up their waste sector,” he said.“Researchers from UCLA’s Stop Methane Project analyzed data showing nearly 3,000 plumes from more than 700 waste sites worldwide and identified the top 25 sites worldwide,” the report said.
