====== Air ======

**Locals - Air - CH₄ & CO₂ - landfill gas - solid waste & pollutant - La Doña Juana Landfill**

The [[09|La Doña Juana Landfill]] is emitting high levels of CH₄, which escapes into the atmosphere, altering the local air composition and having a significant impact on global warming (Greenpeace Colombia, 2024).

Waste within [[09|landfills]] gradually decomposes as it accumulates. In the absence of proper [[37|management]], the physical and chemical conditions within [[09|landfills]] promote anaerobic decomposition, leading to CH₄ emissions. The release of methane into the [[01|air]] accelerates the process of climate change (De et al., 2024). CH₄ released during the decomposition of [[27|solid waste]] sector currently accounts for over 20 per cent of Colombia's total CH₄ emissions (CATF, 2024).

The environmental risks of [[09|landfills]] extend beyond CH₄ emissions. As [[27|waste]] decomposes, [[09|landfills]] also emit CO₂, which is another greenhouse gas contributing significantly to both [[14|local]] and global climate change as CH₄ (De et al., 2024).


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//Based on the degradation characteristics of municipal solid waste at the Donia Juana landfill in 2023, a spatio-temporal distribution model for methane generation during the period 2024–2075 has been developed.(Greenpeace Colombia. Agosto,2024)//


**Air - CH₄**

CH₄ is a greenhouse gas whose global warming potential is 80 times than that of CO₂ over the first 20 years after release. CH₄ itself does not typically pose a direct health hazard, but at high concentrations it may limit O₂ availability.
Furthermore, as a precursor, CH₄ is a reactive gas that promotes the formation of tropospheric ozone, which is a hazardous atmospheric [[19|pollutant]] with potentially lethal effects on human health and public wellbeing (De et al., 2024).

**Locals - La Doña Juana Landfill**

Policies frequently locate such [[19|pollution]] sources in impoverished communities such as Usme and Ciudad Bolívar, where [[14|locals]] are unfortunate enough to live near the [[09|La Doña Juana Landfill]] (Camargo, 2019).


__Bibliography:__

CATF (2024). Colombian Waste Sector Methane Analysis. [online] Clean Air Task Force. Available at: https://www.catf.us/resource/colombian-waste-sector-methane-analysis/.

Greenpeace Colombia. (2024). Greenpeace Colombia. [online] Available at: https://www.greenpeace.org/colombia/noticia/campanas/contaminacion/relleno-sanitario-dona-juana-una-bomba-de-tiempo-para-las-comunidades-y-el-ambiente/ [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].

De, E., Generación, L., Captura, Y., Emisiones, D., Metano, D., Relleno, S., De Doña, J. and Bogotá, C. (2024). Available at: https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-colombia-stateless/2024/09/aa3dab3b-reportemetano-colombia.pdf.

Camargo, M. (2019). Biblat. Historia crítica (Bogotá), [online] (74). Available at: https://biblat.unam.mx/es/revista/historia-critica-bogota/articulo/el-relleno-sanitario-dona-juana-en-bogota-la-produccion-politica-de-un-paisaje-toxico-1988-2019 [Accessed 2 Dec. 2025].