Methane from landfills

When the garbage truck picks up your household trash, the trash generally ends up at a municipal solid waste landfill.  As the waste decomposes in the landfill, it produces many air pollutants, including volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, and methane.  Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential more than 25 times that of carbon dioxide. According to a recent EPA news release, municipal solid waste landfills are the second-largest industrial source of methane emissions in the United States, accounting for 20 percent of methane emissions in 2014. Much of the methane is produced from decomposing organic material, which includes food, paper, cardboard, wood, and other products made from plants or animals. 

Many of the newer landfills have methane-recovery systems to reduce (but not eliminate) the amount of methane that reaches the atmosphere. While some of the recovery systems use the methane to generate power, in many cases the methane is simply burned off.  

The best way to reduce the amount of methane produced in landfills is to reduce the amount of organic material deposited in the landfill.  Ways for individuals to help with this include:

• Recycle paper and cardboard instead of throwing it in the trash
• Plan your food purchases so that you eat the food you bring home
• Reduce your use of paper plates and cups
• Reduce your use of paper towels
• Investigate alternate methods of disposing of food scraps.  Composting is not for everyone, and an improperly managed compost pile can still generate methane rather than carbon dioxide, but a small outdoor composting setup may work for some people.  Worm composting is also becoming popular. I will investigate composting and provide information in a later post.