Municipal solid waste (MSW) refers to waste collected by or on behalf of municipalities; this mainly originates from households but waste from commerce and trade, offices, institutions and small businesses is also included.

According to the EU legislation (Directive 2001/77/EC) energy produced from the biodegradable fraction of MSW is considered as renewable and therefore organic waste, waste paper and cardboard and textiles are a source of biomass. Due to lack of data regarding the share of the biodegradable part to the total quantities of MSW in BiH, the biodegradable fraction of 50% found in neighboring Serbia was employed. Furthermore, a lower heating value of 7,2 GJ/t for the biodegradable part was assumed [5].

Landfill gas. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) production expected to reach 0,5 t/person/year (the EU 15 average). It is disposed and methane is captured and used to generate power. This assumes that, due to the location of the landfills, there are no local uses for heat. The theoretical biogas potential estimated in this study is 4,28 PJ.

In 2008, 1.367.097 t MSW was generated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 86% of which (1.181.887 t) was collected [1,2]. This is equivalent to 308 kg of collected waste per capita per year. Other sources report a higher value of waste generation at around 500 kg/ per capita/ per year [4]. Nevertheless, it was decided to accept the number reported by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, since it is in good agreement with waste generation rates found in other Western Balkan countries.

Table 3 shows estimated total MSW and household waste (HHW) amounts, in accordance with the methodology recommended in the SWMS, and population statistic [1,2,9].

Taking the above into account the theoretical potential of biomass from MSW can be estimated according to the following equation [5]:

Emsw = PpCoHo (F.5)

P population,

p per capita waste generation [t/yr],

Co biodegradable waste fraction in MSW [%],

Ho biodegradable waste lower heating value [GJ/t].

The estimated theoretical potential amounts to 4,28 PJ or 1,9% of the country’s total primary energy supply in 2008.

Currently, the main option for disposal of municipal waste is still landfilling, while most of the landfills are not sanitary. Furthermore, it is estimated that there are more than 2.000 open dumps, many located near to small municipalities in rural areas.

Implementation of SWMS commenced with WB/IDA credit for Project "Solid Waste Management Project" (Ex. Environmental Infrastructure Protection Project) in 2002. An analysis of the current situation in this sector has shown that the objectives concerning the construction of regional sanitary landfills defined in the SWSM are unrealistic. The plan is to have 16 regional landfills by December 2009, but until now, only 2 landfills have been constructed. Two regional sanitary landfills are anticipated in FBiH for 2010: "Smiljevac"- Sarajevo and "Moscanica" — Zenica, where 10% and 8% of the total MSW collected in the FBiH would be disposed respectively. For RS, one regional sanitary landfill for MSW disposal "Ramici"- Banja Luka, is anticipated, where 16,7% of the total MSW collected in RS would be disposed. At the sanitary landfill in Sarajevo, the collected landfill gas is used for electricity generation, while at the Zenica landfill a flare system for the combustion of landfill gas has been constructed. The combustion of landfill gas by flare is also envisaged at the future sanitary landfill in Banja Luka.

In addition to landfills, according to the initial national communication of BiH under the UN framework convention on climate change (UNFCC), incineration of 20% of MSW with energy recovery is anticipated by 2030 [4]. It is further foreseen that recycling rates will be 10% of the total household waste (HHW) in 2020 and 20% for 2030. Moreover, 50% of the recycled HHW is foreseen to be biodegradable waste.[5].