ASPECTS OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN A WARMER WORLD.

Global warming is the single most pervasive issue facing society today. What role can waste management practices play in this complex issue? Some insights were gained through work conducted for Edmonton's Waste Management Branch: • Climate change mitigation is "core business". Managing climate change related risk is just as important to an organization as safety, financial risk management or other environmental management issues. • Climate change mitigation is "real business". The optimum approach is to adapt traditional financial management principles to climate change related activities. • Climate change mitigation is "risk management". Risk must be managed regardless of our views about climate science. The risk to business is not necessarily a changing climate, but the changing regulatory and social structures that result from government's and society's perception that climate is changing. • While some risk is associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from waste management practices, for the most part modern waste management practices present significant opportunities for GHG emission reductions and offset trading. • Carbon-based energy usage and GHG emissions are linked. The value of energy and GHG emission reductions should both be part of project feasibility evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]