India’s two largest landfills – Jawahar Nagar Landfill in Hyderabad and Kanjurmarg Landfill in Mumbai – are among the world’s top 25 most-polluting methane emitting waste disposal sites, shows a new study from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).The study ranked 25 waste facilities in 18 countries that were responsible for the highest methane emission rates, with 3.6 to 7.6 tons of methane per hour detected from space by major satellites in 2025.To put this in perspective, UCLA’s Stop Methane Project reports that a source emitting 5 tons of methane (5,000 kg) per hour would contribute about as much to global warming as one million SUVs.Methane is a powerful heat-trapping gas, 86 times more deadly than CO2 and responsible for more than 45% of recent global warming.The study ranked Hyderabad’s Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management Project at the Jawahar Nagar Landfill at fourth place, emitting 5.9 tonnes/hour, and Mumbai’s project, which emitted 4.9 tonnes/hour, at 12th place in the suspect list of 25, which also included the landfill in Campo de Mayo, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, at 7.6 tonnes per hour. With emissions figures on top.These landfills are found in developed and developing countries of all income levels and in all regions of the world, including three sites each in Brazil and Chile; two each in India, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye; and one each in Algeria, Argentina, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States.“We have already seen how making reliable data available to large audiences and increasing visibility can be an effective way to inspire action,” said Juan Pablo Escudero, UCLA’s Stop Methane project partner and professor at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez School of Law in Santiago, Chile.“This data provides an excellent opportunity for responsible operators and national governments to take the lead in cleaning up their waste sectors,” he said.“Researchers from UCLA’s Stop Methane Project analyzed data showing nearly 3,000 plumes from more than 700 waste sites around the world to identify the top 25 sites globally,” the report said.