Role of Sustainable Waste Management

in Reducing GHG EmissionsClean Air Council

February 2019

Sustainable Materials Management

The EPA and the EU have ranked the most environmentally sound strategies for

municipal solid waste. Source reduction (including reuse) is the most preferred

method, followed by recycling, energy recovery, and, lastly, treatment and

disposal.

http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/hierarchy.htm http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/index.htm

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The United States gets a Failing Grade...

Spittelau Waste-to-Energy Facility, Vienna, AustriaNew facility being built in Copenhagen, Denmark

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New Jersey’s Waste Disposal

• Total MSW generation of 9.6 million tons

• 42% recycling rate or 4.0 million tons

• 5.6 million tons remain after recycling

▪ 1.5 million tons to in-state EfW

▪ balance to NJ landfills and exported out of state, mostly to

landfills

▪ NJ’s MSW landfills accepted 3.2 millions tons in 2015

• 4.1 million tons being landfilled or ~75% of

waste after recycling

▪ Renewable material & energy resource going to waste

Sources: Solid Waste and Recycling Page 1- Updated 8/2017 Environmental Trends Report,

U.S. EPA GHG Reporting Data (flight, https://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp) 4

GHG Benefits of Energy from Waste

U.S. EPA

“[EfW] generates a renewable energy

source and reduces carbon emissions by

offsetting the need for energy from fossil

sources and reduces methane generation

from landfills.”https://www.epa.gov/smm/energy-recovery-combustion-

municipal-solid-waste-msw

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Lifecycle GHG Comparison: Major Electricity Sources

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Determining the Biogenic Fraction: Radiocarbon Analysis

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(a) EPA GHG Reporting Rule

(b) Proposed AP 42 identifies 171 characteristic air pollutants from landfills including 42 Title III

hazardous air pollutants.

EfW Landfill

Regulation 40 CFR 60 Subparts Eb

and Cb

40 CFR 60 Subparts

WWW, AAA and Cc

Annual Test 10 Pollutants – PM, HCl,

Pb, Cd, Hg, Dioxin,

Fugitive PM, SO2, CO,

NOx

1 Pollutant - NMOC (b)

Monitoring Continuous: 4 Pollutants

- Opacity, SO2, NOx, CO

Quarterly: 1 Pollutant -

Surface methane

GHG Yes – CEMs + Biogenic

Testing

No

Comparison of Regulatory Approaches

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Landfills are the 3rd largest global source of CH4

Source: Global Methane Initiative https://www.globalmethane.org/documents/analysis_fs_en.pdf

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Source Year GWPTime Horizon

(years)

IPCC 2nd Assessment 1995 21 100

IPCC 3rd Assessment 2001 23 100

IPCC 4th Assessment 2007 25 100

Shindell et al. 2009 34 100

IPCC 5th Assessment 2013 28 / 34 100

IPCC 5th Assessment 2013 84 / 86 20

Many still refer to outdated methane GWPs of 21 or 25.

Increasing Trend in Methane GWP

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LFG Collection: Lifetime v. Instantaneous

Instantaneous

• Applies to a point in time:

of the gas generated right now,

how much is collected?

• EPA longstanding default = 75%,

industry asserts much higher.

• Does NOT account for changes

in efficiency over time OR

periods of no collection fully

allowed by current regulations.

Lifetime Efficiency

• Answers the question: of the methane generated over the life of waste in a

landfill, how much is collected?

• Necessary for life cycle analysis & waste management comparisons,

although instantaneous values (i.e. the 75% default) are often misused

(including in a current EPA tool)

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Basis Flux Chambers1st Order Decay

ModelDirect Plume

measurement from air1st Order Decay Model

% of LF Measured <0.02%, Total N/A 100% N/A

Gas Collection Efficiency Calculated: 95.8% Assumed: 86% Calculated: 76% Assumed 75%

• Puente Hills landfill

subject to CARB

requirements, far stricter

than current NSPS.

• Actual NOAA

measurements found

emissions significantly

higher than those

calculated using EPA

GHG reporting

methodology

Sources: Peischl et al. 2013, Shan et al. 2012, EPA flight database

Uncertainty in Landfill Methane Emissions

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Most Recent Data: L.A. Basin CH4 Mapping

• Four major

landfills coincident

with CH4 hotspots

• “Top-down”

inventory

consistent with

earlier studies

• Greater than CH4

emissions in

CARB “bottom-up”

inventory

Puente Hills

Savage Canyon

Olinda Alpha

Scholl Canyon

Source: Wong et al. (2015) Mapping CH4:CO2 ratios in Los Angeles with CLARS-FTS from

Mount Wilson, California, Atmos. Chem. Phys.,15, 241-252,2015.

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Peischl et al. L.A. Basin Study:

Flight Path & Measurement Details

• NOAA aircraft flew directly downwind

of landfills

• Upstream sources insignificant

relative to landfill emissions

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Orange County Voice [N.C.] Press Release on

Study:

• “For landfills/landfill sections with final

cover/caps as proscribed by USEPA regulation,

the report found ‘the data collected does not

support [emphasis added] the use of [methane]

collection efficiency values of 90% or greater as

has been published in other studies.’ "

• “The landfill sites studied with temporary covers

showed that methane capture ranged from 40-

80% with the average being 62%, versus

industry claims of 75%.”

• “Measurements of uncontrolled toxic mercury

emissions were 3 - 9 times greater than

estimated an earlier 2008 EPA landfill study.”

Measuring Landfill Emissions: U.S. EPA Study

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GHG Benefits of EfW: International Recognition

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GHG Benefits of EfW: International Recognition

• U.S. EPA Clean Power Plan

• U.S. EPA Scientists: “If the goal is greenhouse gas reduction, then

WTE should be considered an option…”

• European Environment Agency: “As recycling and incineration with

energy recovery are increasingly used, net greenhouse gas emissions

from municipal waste management are expected to drop considerably by

2020”

• IPCC: WTE recognized as a “key GHG mitigation technology”

• Rio UN Conference: “We therefore commit to further reduce, reuse and

recycle waste (3Rs), and to increase energy recovery from waste”

• Davos World Economic Forum: WTE included in the list of 10 low-

carbon energy technologies

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EU: Translating Sustainable Waste Management into GHG Success

EEA Briefing, “Better management of municipal waste will reduce greenhouse gas emissions”

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Carbon Offsets

• Clean Development Mechanism– Over 40 EfW projects registered

– Combined annual GHG reduction of 5 million

metric tons of CO2e per year

• Voluntary Market (VCS)

Lee County, FL

– First EfW facility in North America to generate

carbon offset credits

– Validated & 1st verification - 2009

Hillsborough County, FL

– Validated & 1st verification – 2011

H-Power (Honolulu)

– Validated – 2014

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EfW under the EPA Clean Power Plan

• Excluded from Regulation

– Stack CO2 emissions do not count against state

mass goals

– EfW facilities do not have an emission rate requirement

• Eligible to generate Emission Rate Credits (ERCs)

– New capacity added after 2012 can generate ERCs for

states with rate-based plans

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Energy Recovery Comparison of Waste Management Options

Source: U.S. EPA (2016) Waste Reduction Model, Version 14

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Putting the Benefits into Perspective

Background

• 2004 Drs. Pacala and Socolow (Princeton)

introduced the stabilization triangle

• 7 gigaton of carbon per year (7 GtC/yr)

reduction needed by 2054 versus BAU

• Seven wedges together would stabilize

world-wide greenhouse gas emissions at

today’s emission rate

Global Results – the “Waste Wedge”

• 1 billion metric tonnes of carbon.

Equivalent to: ✓Closing 1000 large coal-fired power plants

✓Building 2 million 1MW wind machines

✓Doubling our nuclear power plant capacityS. Pacala et al., Science 305, 968 -972

(2004)

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•GHG Savings

3.3 million tons CO2e

≈ pulling 640,000 cars off the road

or replacing over 100 million

incandescent light bulbs with LEDs

• Energy Savings

equivalent of 1,600 GWh of electricity

≈ the energy in 16,000 tanker trucks of

fuel oil

* Does not sum to 100% due to rounding

Business as

Usual*

Sustainability

Scenario

Recycling 41.7% 65%

EfW 15.6% 25%

Landfill 42.7% 10%

What if New Jersey more closely followed the Waste Hierarchy?

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EfW: Compatible With Recycling

• In the EU, recycling and

Energy Recovery have

grown together because of

policies that minimize

landfills.

• The European Environment

Agency says “there is no

evidence to support” the

argument that “incineration

of waste with energy

recovery hinders the

development of recycling.”

• In the U.S., many Covanta

communities recycle well

over 50%.

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Circular Economy: Covanta / Recycled paper mill collaboration

• Waste from NYC is delivered via the sealed rail

cars to Covanta’s WTE facility in Niagara Falls,

NY, a combined heat & power (CHP) plant.

• Greenpac Mill manufactures lightweight

linerboard for corrugated boxes, made with 100

percent recycled fibers.

• Rejects and waste from Greenpac Mill

are sent to Covanta for energy recovery.

• Steam generated during the combustion

process is returned to the mill, which

uses it for drying the paper it produces.

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Advanced Metals Recovery

Annually, we recover 600,000 tons of metal for recycling, including ferrous metal equivalent to 6 Golden Gate bridges.

And we’re working to advance recovery:

Boosting recoveryOver the past four years, we’ve increased our metals recovery by nearly 20 percent.

Recovering stainless steelWe’ve installed a new air sorter, the first of its kind, to remove stainless steel from the ash at our Hempstead facility.

Improving qualityA new Metals Processing Facility in Fairless Hills, PA, processes metals from multiple plants into purer commodity streams.

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NJ Legislative Action targeted toward methane & organics

A4606, Assemblyman Zwicker

S3215, Senator Greenstein

SYNOPSIS: Requires State to use 20-year time horizon and most recent

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment Report when calculating

global warming potential to measure global warming impact of greenhouse gases.

A4867, Assemblywoman Pinkin

S3274, Senator Smith

SYNOPSIS: Establishes Statewide targets to reduce disposal of organic waste in

landfills; requires DEP to adopt regulations to achieve targets.

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