Environmental Performance of Solid Waste Disposal Sites with Different Levels of Control: A Life Cycle Assessment in Mexico

In developing countries, final disposal sites exhibit different levels of operational control, which influence their environmental performance. This study evaluated the environmental performance of four types of final disposal sites in Mexico: sanitary landfill with energy recovery (SLF+ER) and sanitary landfill with gas flaring (SLFGF), controlled site (CS), and open dump (OD), using life cycle assessment for 1 t of municipal solid waste. Biogas generation was estimated using the Mexican Biogas Model 2.0, and Ecoinvent processes were adapted to local conditions; six impact categories were assessed, and a sensitivity analysis was conducted. The SLF+ER scenario showed the lowest impact in global warming, followed by SLFGF and CS, while OD recorded the highest impact, mainly associated with biogas management. In contrast, scenarios with gas capture and treatment showed higher contributions in categories related to combustion processes. Normalized results indicated that freshwater eutrophication and human carcinogenic toxicity are the dominant impact categories. The sensitivity analysis confirmed the influence of the organic fraction on CH4 generation without altering the relative ranking among scenarios. Overall, increasing the level of environmental control reduces impacts from fugitive emissions but introduces trade-offs across other impact categories, highlighting the need for comprehensive assessments to support decision-making.