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Reports, Papers, and Presentations
The following reports and presentations discuss different aspects of the link between climate change and municipal solid waste.
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Solid
Waste Management and Greenhouse Gases: A Life-Cycle Assessment of Emissions
and Sinks
This report is the third edition of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Management
of Selected Materials in Municipal Solid Waste. The report explores the
linkages between waste management, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and energy
and quantifies the emissions and energy use associated with source reducing,
recycling, composting, incinerating, and landfilling a variety of materials
and mixed material waste streams (Updated October 2006).
EPA is continuously improving its emission factors and occasionally publishes new or updated factors. When new or updated emission factors are available, EPA will publish various documents providing background information on these factors, although any new emission factors will not be included in the main report. Both the main report and the background documents provide solid explanations regarding the methodology used to develop these factors; however, users should refer to the updated emission factors, which can be viewed in units of metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE) or metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2Eq), when conducting calculations. Note that the emission factors represent the GHG emissions associated with managing 1 short ton of MSW in the manner indicated. GHG savings should be calculated by comparing the emissions associated with the alternative scenario with the emissions associated with the baseline scenario, as opposed to simply multiplying the quantity by an emission factor.
WARM Landfill Analysis Overview (PDF, 17 pp., 277 kb)
This presentation, which was given at an EPA Organics workshop in May 14, 2008, provides an overview of the existing landfill emission factor in WARM, the description of the methodology and key assumptions, and discusses some of the modeling limitations.
WARM Compost Analysis Overview (PDF, 26 pp., 257 kb)
This presentation, which was given at an EPA Organics workshop in May 13, 2008, describes the methods and data underlying current compost emission factors in WARM, discusses gaps in the analytic framework of and potential improvements to the compost analysis.
Background on WARM Emission Factors (PDF, 10 pp., 456 kb)
This presentation, which was given at an EPA Organics workshop in May 13, 2008, provides the latest background and motivation for on EPA's WAste Reduction Model (WARM), including its intended audience and scope, purpose, life-cycle methodology, and important caveats for its use. It also provides two sample scenario emissions results using WARM's online version.
Estimating
GHG Reductions from State Actions (PDF, 10 pp., 171 kb)
This is a helpful reference document for states planning to incorporate municipal
solid waste management actions into statewide GHG mitigation action plans.
It includes a sample plan for waste management mitigation actions. See
the State
Actions section for other examples of state mitigation plans.
This paper investigates the average material content of construction and demolition (C&D) debris. It reports on the percentage composition of concrete, wood, drywall, metal, and other materials in the C&D waste stream and lays the foundation for estimating the waste reduction potential through reuse and recycling efforts.
The
Bottomline on Buying Recycled (PDF, 2 pp., 135 kb)
Using specific business examples, this article explains how companies can improve
their bottomline by using recycled inputs in the materials they buy or produce,
since recycled-content materials often cost less to purchase or manufacture.
Other benefits include better rates from insurance companies and banks, and
meeting goals of federal, state, or local GHG reporting programs.
PSEG – Devoting
Energy to Waste Reduction (PDF, 4 pp., 213 kb)
Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) has demonstrated its ability to meet
the needs of customers while reducing its waste and GHG production – and
saving money. PSEG's waste reduction efforts have reduced its waste disposal
by 500,000 tons and the associated life-cycle GHG emissions. This case study
describes the initiatives PSEG undertook to meet its waste reduction goals.
General Motors – Reducing
Its Environmental Footprint (PDF, 4 pp., 256 kb)
General Motors (GM) has established itself as an industry leader in tackling
its waste-related GHG emissions by reducing its generation of targeted wastes
by 35 percent between 1998 to 2002. This case study describes the actions GM
took to achieve these reductions.