Methane Emission’s Impact on Climate Change

A new study from researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is potentially underestimating methane emissions produced from Municipal solid waste landfills (MSWL), and urban areas in the United States.

When it comes to climate change, methane emissions from landfills are perhaps an underappreciated contributor. One of the main contributors of methane emissions in a landfill is from organic waste, however, a fact that is less well known is that other materials such as plastic can also release the greenhouse gases methane and ethylene when discarded into landfills when the material is exposed to sunlight.

The report estimates that the true amount of methane concentrations released from MSW waste at landfills is 51% higher compared to the original EPA estimates. Currently, the EPA estimates that 119.8 million dolar metric tons of methane is released from US landfills into the atmosphere (in 2022) and this doesn’t cover the rest of the world.

As the EPA highlights, methane is 28 times more effective than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere over 100 years. So while much of the climate change focus has been on CO2 emissions, and is a very important task to tackle, methane emissions, whilst not completely ignored are less well known about.

Methane Emission’s Impact on Climate Change

When it comes to climate change, methane emissions from landfills are perhaps an underappreciated contributor. One of the main contributors of methane emissions in a landfill is from organic waste, however, a fact that is less well known is that other materials such as plastic can also release the greenhouse gases methane and ethylene when discarded into landfills when the material is exposed to sunlight.

When it comes to climate change, methane emissions from landfills are perhaps an underappreciated contributor. One of the main contributors of methane emissions in a landfill is from organic waste, however, a fact that is less well known is that other materials such as plastic can also release the greenhouse gases methane and ethylene when discarded into landfills when the material is exposed to sunlight.

Methane Emission’s Impact on Climate Change

The majority of methane released from landfills comes from food waste and organic material, but this type of waste isn’t the only source of methane. Another huge contributor is the plastic that is dumped in landfills. While many people actively fill their recycling bins with plastic waste each week, it might therefore be assumed that the majority of plastic materials that are discarded are recycled. Unfortunately, the truth is very far from the reality. So, while organic compounds are problematic and pose their own issues and problems so does plastic waste when it comes to landfill gas (LFG) releases.

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As mentioned in National Geographic, 91% of plastic isn’t recycled and out of that, 79% is deposited in landfills. What plastic isn’t recycled ends up in the environment and our oceans, which also contributes to methane pollution as the material decomposes.