Organic Waste Raising Methane Emissions From Landfills

In an article for Governing, Carl Smith calls attention to the high levels of methane gas produced by organic waste in landfills. “In 38 states, landfills are the largest source of methane emissions. Reducing atmospheric concentrations of this powerful greenhouse gas is a top priority for climate action.”

According to Smith, the lack of accurate data makes it difficult to assess the scale of the problem. “Estimates for emissions from landfills have been largely based on extrapolation from what is known about organic waste decay and tonnage sent to landfills. Some data comes from methane detectors that workers carry across the surface of landfills, a hit-or-miss approach limited further by the fact that some areas are unsafe to walk over.” New data reveals that prior emissions estimates could be much lower than the real numbers.

Smith describes California’s ambitious organic waste diversion goals, which the state is not on track to meet. “A tracker from ReFED, a nonprofit that aggregates food waste data from public and proprietary data sets, shows that over 300,000 more tons of food waste went to California landfills in 2022 than in the year SB 1383 was enacted.” However, the state is making progress on launching composting programs and distributing organic waste bins. “It is an open question of how quickly governments and their partners can help them connect this threat to what goes in their trash bins, and convince them to change their habits.”