Methane emissions from the waste sector are rising across Asia, driven by rapid population growth, urbanization, and increasing consumption. As a result, the region generated an estimated 648.5 Mt CO2-e of methane emissions from waste in 2024, underscoring the urgency of enhancing mitigation efforts.

This report examines waste methane management across Indonesia, India, China, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan through a comparative analysis of five key dimensions: waste segregation and collection, landfill management, waste processing and recovery, wastewater treatment, and cross-cutting themes. The analysis identifies common challenges, highlights emerging good practices, and explores opportunities for regional collaboration to accelerate methane mitigation. 

Key findings

The analysis shows that waste methane outcomes are influenced by a combination of governance arrangements, financing capacity, infrastructure development, regulatory frameworks, and coordination between national and subnational governments. Despite differing approaches and levels of progress across the six countries, the findings suggest shared opportunities exist to strengthen implementation and scale effective measures.

The report outlines clear regional collaboration pathways to turn waste methane policies into measurable emission reductions and foster improved waste management systems across Asia.

  • Promote awareness and knowledge exchange. Building awareness among stakeholders and facilitating the exchange of experiences and data can help accelerate the adoption of proven mitigation practices across the region. 
    * Expand technical assistance and capacity building. Targeted support can help address technical gaps, particularly at the facility level, where methane reduction mitigations are ultimately implemented. 
  • Develop pilot projects and innovative financing mechanisms. Pilot projects can generate practical evidence under local conditions, while dedicated financing can support replication and scaling of successful approaches. 
  • Advance standardization and policy integration. Common methodologies and monitoring approaches can improve consistency and enable successful practices to be embedded within national waste management and climate strategies. 
  • Strengthen implementation and governance. The effectiveness of methane mitigation depends not only on policy commitments but also on clear institutional responsibilities, coordination mechanisms, and enforcement at all levels of government. 
  • Strengthening the monitoring, reporting, and verification system. Robust MRV frameworks are essential for tracking progress, improving accountability, and ensuring that methane reductions are measurable and credible.