Organic waste upsurges with rapid urbanization and incessant population growth. To restrain this trend and lessen environmental impacts, sustainable management of food waste imposes an ambitious target of resource recovery and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This study quantifies environmental impacts and socio-economic benefits of municipal solid waste (MSW) management as a proof-of-concept case study for the Lima, Peru. Economic feasibility and life cycle assessment studies were used to compare the efficiency of segregated organic waste for scenarios such as landfilling and composting. Resource recovery, GHG emissions, and revenues are assessed to decide the environmental contour and downstream strategies. It was found that composting has less environmental impact in 11 out of 12 life cycle impact categories (ReCiPe method) during collection, processing, and distribution of 1 ton of waste as functional unit. Composting resulted in 40% less climate impact with global warming potential (GWP) of 476.20 kg CO2eq whereas landfilling showed 785.81 kg CO2eq GWP. Additionally, organic waste to compost conversion rate of 13%, can bring positive upshots to economy and society. This study is instrumental in MSW management, decision-making, and mitigate climate change in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) for sustainable society. © 2025 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
