Powering air travel with jet fuel derived from municipal solid waste

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is a promising decarbonization solution for aviation, but its adoption remains below 1% due to high cost. As municipal solid waste (MSW) continues to grow and sustainable disposal remains challenging, converting MSW into SAF offers an attractive pathway to align the goals of zero-waste cities and carbon-neutral aviation, given its reliable availability, low emissions, and low cost. This study evaluates MSW as feedstock for SAF production via industrial-scale gasification and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis data. The life cycle assessment indicates that MSW-SAF can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity by 80%–90% compared to conventional jet fuel, with gasification being the primary technical challenge. Incorporating green hydrogen further enhances mitigation, reducing emissions by up to 50% and enabling a reduction of over 170 kg CO₂/ton processed MSW. Globally, MSW-SAF production could exceed 50 Mt/yr (62.5 billion liters), offering a 16% reduction in aviation GHG emissions. In Europe, the estimated 5.4 Mt/year SAF capacity from this study exceeds the EU blending mandate and complies with its restriction to non-food/feed feedstocks. Economic analysis indicates that using SAF to meet Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) targets can lead to substantial cost savings, particularly when subsidies are available.