A Summary of the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines
for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Background
This report summarises additions and revisions to the 1995 IPCC Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories (1995 IPCC Guidelines). It also describes efforts made by theIPCC to harmonise methods with others. The additions and revisions were accepted by theIPCC at its Twelfth Session held in Mexico City (11-13 September 1996) after acceptance by
Working Group I at its Sixth Session held in Mexico City (10 September 1996) in accordancewith IPCC procedures. They are called the Revised 1996 IPCC Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Within this report, a revision of an existing methodology ordefault data is referred to as a ‘revision’, ‘revised method’ or ‘revised data’. Additional
methods and default data are defined as ‘new’ methods or ‘new data’.

Waste
1.
The Chapter on Waste addresses various topics, including: improved waste disposal
data, evaluation of the methodologies for solid waste and wastewater, definitions of activities
and uncertainties of CH4 emission estimates. The main improvements to the methods anddefault data are as follows:2.

Solid Waste

Site classification. A new term - solid waste disposal site - has been proposed to refer to allsites and to replace the terminology in 1995 IPCC Guidelines for ‘landfills’ and ‘opendumps’. The new term was proposed because experience suggests that the existing categories
do not adequately include the entire range of waste disposal sites that exists in all countries.
Solid waste disposal sites include all sites where waste is deposited and is likely to generatesome methane. Sites are further classified according to the level of site management anddepth.
Methane correction factor. The new site classification is used to derive a methane correction
factor (MCF) to account for the methane generation potential of the site. The amount ofmethane produced depends in part upon the available oxygen and the level of compaction of
the waste. In general, waste in managed sites potentially generates more methane than waste
in unmanaged sites. Furthermore, the deeper the site, the greater the methane generation
potential. The methane correction factor for each type of site reflects these differences inmethane generation potential. The site classification recognises that some developing
countries, or countries with-economies-in-transition, may have a majority of less-wellmanaged or unmanaged sites, often with a lower methane-producing potential than wellmanaged sites.
Waste data. A wide range of revised and new default data on waste generation, compositionand disposal data in many additional developed and developing countries is provided. A
definition for Municipal Solid Waste and a method for calculating the Degradable Organic
Carbon content of various waste streams are now included in the revised Chapter.

Methodology. The default methodology was evaluated and retained. The methodology uses azero-order equation requiring data on population, waste landfills, and waste composition asproposed by Bingemar and Crutzen (1987).
3.

Wastewater

A revised method and default data for calculating emissions from wastewater and sludge isincluded. The amount of CH4 produced from these systems depends upon several factors,including the characteristics of the wastewater and the management system, and temperature.
These factors are highly dependent upon the waste treatment system used. The revised
methodology allows countries to tailor the estimation approaches more precisely to theirwastewater management systems. This is accomplished by the MCF that accounts for thediffering CH4 generating potential of different wastewater management systems. In addition,
the revised methodology uses data that is commonly available from most countries, or which
can be estimated by wastewater experts.
4.

Human sewage

A new methodology and default data are provided for the estimation of N2O nitrous oxide
emissions from human sewage disposed to land, and in subsequent run-off to rivers andestuaries. There is no such methodology in 1995 IPCC Guidelines.

References
Australian Methodology for the Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (1996).
Joint EMEP/CORINAIR Atmospheric Emission Inventory Guidebook (1996), 1st Edition,
European Environmental Agency.
1995 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Reporting Instructions(Volume 1); Workbook (Volume 2); Reference Manual (Volume 3).

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONSCO2CH4
N2O
SO2NOxCONH3
NMVOC

Carbon dioxide
MethaneNitrous oxide
Sulphur dioxide
Sum of nitrogen oxide and nitrogen dioxide
Carbon monoxideAmmonia
Non-methane volatile organic compounds

For further information, please contact:
Ms. Bo Lim
IPCC Support Unit for Emission Inventories
OECD, Environment Directorate
2, rue André Pascal
75775 Paris Cedex 16FranceTel: (+33 1) 45 24 78 94
Fax: (+33 1) 45 24 78 76
Email: Bo.Lim@oecd.org