The growing generation of Urban Solid Waste in the world and the consequent emission of
Greenhouse Gases - GHG originated from the final disposal activity has influenced waste
management and challenges municipal administrations to adopt waste management procedures
and methods that minimize the GHG emission in this activity. This study examines GHG
emissions resulting from the final disposal of urban solid waste in the state of Pará. The research
was qualitative-quantitative with exploratory and descriptive objectives, focusing on the solid
waste sector in the state of Pará. The activities were divided into four stages, verifying the
contribution of the solid waste sector to GHG emissions (Stage 1), observing the situation of
the final disposal of solid waste in the municipalities of the state (Stage 2), estimating the
generation of GHG emissions from the final disposal of solid waste (Stage 3), and analyzing
opportunities to reduce GHG emissions in the solid waste sector (Stage 4). The results of the
research show that Pará is the state with the highest GHG emissions in Brazil (447,927,368 tons
of CO2e). Although the solid waste sector accounts for only 1% of GHG emissions, it was
found that 138 out of 144 municipalities in Pará still send their solid waste to open dumps and
controlled landfills. Considering the total amount of solid waste collected in the municipalities
of Pará in 2021 (1,016,874.64 tons), the estimated GHG emissions were 952,901.86 tons of
CO2e, indicating an impact on the environment. The research showed the need for the
environmentally appropriate final disposal of solid waste as an alternative to reducing GHG
emissions in the state of Pará.
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