SECTOR PROFILE
Waste
2.0 Gt CO₂e/yr · 3.1% of global tracked · ≈ 444 million cars/yr
The worst emitters in waste — countries and companies, side-by-side, from Climate TRACE open data.
- What is it? Landfills, incinerators and wastewater treatment plants.
- Why does it emit? Decomposing rubbish and sewage produce methane; incineration releases CO₂ from the carbon in waste.
- What's it equivalent to? That's about 444 million cars/yr a year.
About this sector
Waste accounts for 2 Gt CO₂e a year — about 3.1% of all tracked global emissions. The league tables below rank both the countries where this sector is largest and the companies whose biggest attributed sector is waste. Totals come from Climate TRACE’s open dataset and refresh whenever the pipeline runs.
2 GtAnnual total49Countries ranked0Companies ranked
Top countries in this sector
1China= 85.2M cars/yrWaste share392 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.2USA= 34.6M cars/yrWaste share159 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.3India= 34.1M cars/yrWaste share157 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.4Russia= 25.9M cars/yrWaste share119 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.5Brazil= 19.3M cars/yrWaste share88.7 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.6Mexico= 14.9M cars/yrWaste share68.4 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.7Turkey= 14.7M cars/yrWaste share67.5 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.8Indonesia= 9.3M cars/yrWaste share42.6 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.9Pakistan= 7.9M cars/yrWaste share36.5 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.10Nigeria= 7.7M cars/yrWaste share35.6 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.
Show all countries (49)
11Bangladesh= 5.7M cars/yrWaste share26.3 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.12Colombia= 5.1M cars/yrWaste share23.6 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.13France= 5.1M cars/yrWaste share23.5 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.14Australia= 5.1M cars/yrWaste share23.3 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.15South Africa= 4.9M cars/yrWaste share22.6 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.16Canada= 4.9M cars/yrWaste share22.5 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.17Spain= 4.5M cars/yrWaste share20.9 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.18Thailand= 4.3M cars/yrWaste share19.7 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.19Algeria= 4.2M cars/yrWaste share19.5 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.20Egypt= 4.2M cars/yrWaste share19.5 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.21Viet Nam= 4.1M cars/yrWaste share19 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.22Japan= 4.1M cars/yrWaste share18.8 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.23Saudi Arabia= 3.9M cars/yrWaste share17.8 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.24Philippines= 3.7M cars/yrWaste share17.2 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.25Iran= 3.6M cars/yrWaste share16.7 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.26Germany= 3.5M cars/yrWaste share16 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.27Italy= 3.4M cars/yrWaste share15.8 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.28South Korea= 3.3M cars/yrWaste share15.1 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.29UK= 3.1M cars/yrWaste share14.4 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.30Ukraine= 3.1M cars/yrWaste share14.3 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.31Argentina= 3.1M cars/yrWaste share14.1 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.32Iraq= 3.1M cars/yrWaste share14.1 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.33Ethiopia= 2.8M cars/yrWaste share13 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.34Malaysia= 2.5M cars/yrWaste share11.7 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.35Poland= 2.5M cars/yrWaste share11.5 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.36Uzbekistan= 2.4M cars/yrWaste share10.8 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.37Kuwait= 2.1M cars/yrWaste share9.6 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.38Sudan= 2M cars/yrWaste share9.4 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.39Tanzania= 1.7M cars/yrWaste share8 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.40Venezuela= 1.7M cars/yrWaste share7.8 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.41UAE= 1.5M cars/yrWaste share6.7 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.42Kazakhstan= 1.4M cars/yrWaste share6.7 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.43Taiwan= 1.4M cars/yrWaste share6.4 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.44Netherlands= 1.1M cars/yrWaste share4.9 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.45Libya= 624k cars/yrWaste share2.9 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.46Turkmenistan= 439k cars/yrWaste share2 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.47Oman= 406k cars/yrWaste share1.9 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.48Qatar= 386k cars/yrWaste share1.8 Mt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.49Mongolia= 192k cars/yrWaste share884.4 kt CO₂eClimate Damage Score: 0–100. Bigger means more greenhouse gas this year. Built only from measured emissions and trend.How this entity moved versus the previous monthly run. Up means worse; down means better.
Where this comes from
Climate TRACE · CC BY 4.0