Title: Climate Change and Composting: Lessons Learned from The Alameda County Climate Action Project
1Climate Change and Composting Lessons Learned
from The Alameda County Climate Action Project
Debra Kaufman StopWaste.Org March 27, 2007
2Composting vs Landfilling
- Landfilling gets credit for sequestering carbon
in wood and yard debris - Recycling Composting dont get credit for their
contribution to GHG reduction.
3Alameda Co.Climate Action Project with ICLEI
- Develop Baseline GHG Inventories
- Draft Action Plan
- Assist with Target Setting
4Agencys Motivation
- Raise profile of recycling/composting
- Quantify the emission reduction potential
- Demonstrate GHG reductions from composting and
recycling.
5Top Greenhouse Gases
- Carbon Dioxide, CO2
- Methane, CH4
- Nitrous Oxide, N20
6Alameda Co. GHGs by Sector
7Traditional View
Borrowed from the California Air Resources Board
presentation, January 2007
8Emissions Reduction Strategies Our View
9Whats Left in the Waste stream?
- Organics 50 (or 20 million tons/yr) Buried
- Food 14 5.0 MT
- Contaminated Paper 9 3.6 MT
- Wood 9 3.8 MT
- Recyclable Paper 6 2.3 MT
- Cardboard 6 2.3 MT
- Yard debris 7 2.8 MT
10How does Composting Reduce GHGs
- Reduces landfill methane generation
- Reduces use of N20 fertilizers and energy
intensive pesticides. - Sequesters carbon in soil.
- Improves soil health, mitigates damage to soil
caused by climate change.
11Composting Yields Lower Emissions than Landfilling
- There are no plausible scenarios in which
landfilling minimizes GHG emissions from waste
management. For yard waste, GHG emissions are
roughly comparable from landfilling and
composting for food waste, composting yields
significantly lower emissions than landfilling.
For paper waste, landfilling causes higher GHG
emissions than either recycling or incineration
with energy recovery (US EPA, 2000)
12Sequester Carbon with Composting instead of
Landfilling
- Compost reduces more GHGs than landfills.
- Landfill methane recovery rates could be
overestimated. - Landfills are a long term environmental
liability. - Compost is a value-added product.
13What Counts is Important!
- Landfilling organics gets sequestration credit.
- Methodology gives carbon credit for landfilling.
- Methodology shows no net emissions for landfills
with methane recovery. - Composting and recycling doesnt get carbon
sequestration credits.
14Emissions Reduction Findings
- Divert 1 Ton of food scraps from landfill ¼T
eCO2 - Every acre of Bay-Friendly Landscape 4T eCO2
- Reuse 1 Ton of cardboard boxes 1.8T eCO2
- Recycle 1 Ton of plastic film 2.5T eCO2
- Recycle 1 ton of mixed paper 1 T eCO2
15Summary
- GHG Inventory methodology incentivizes
landfilling. - Composting organics reduces more GHG than
landfilling. - Recycling/composting contributes more than
methane avoidance energy transportation
avoidance.
16What You Can Do
- Provide input on the development of the inventory
- Quantify composting/recycling GHG reduction
benefits (which go beyond avoiding methane) - Increase residential and commercial organics
collection
17What You Can Do (cont)
- Insert yourselves into the climate action
planning process - Find out the methane recovery rate at your
landfill - Urge CIWMB to phase out diversion credit for ADC
- Support market development/use more compost.
18Good Resources
- www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/waste/tools
- www.recycledorganics.com/publications/reports/gree
nhouse/index.htm - www.iclei.org
- www.climatechange.ca.gov
- dkaufman_at_stopwaste.org