Priority Climate Action Plan Guide: Organic Waste & Landfill Methane Strategies

This guide by RMI provides recommendations for recipients of the US EPA's Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) planning grants to incorporate organic waste and landfill methane strategies into their Priority Climate Action Plans (PCAPs). It emphasizes the use of 20-year global warming potentials to highlight the urgency of methane reduction and suggests a combination of upstream waste prevention and downstream landfill control measures to achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions and community benefits.

• The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is administering the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program in two phases: $250 million in formula grants for developing climate action plans and $4.6 billion in competitive grants for implementation. Planning grant recipients must submit a Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) by March 1, 2024 (for states and metropolitan areas) or April 1, 2024 (for tribes, tribal consortia, and territories) to be eligible for implementation funding.
• Municipal landfills are a major source of methane, contributing more than 14 percent of US methane emissions, which equals approximately 295 million metric tons of CO2e annually based on a twenty-year global warming potential (GWP). The document notes that landfill emissions are likely understated by at least a factor of two according to EPA research staff.
• To accurately reflect the impact of methane, planning grant recipients are advised to use a 20-year GWP in their GHG inventories rather than a 100-year GWP, as the latter understates the potency of methane and the benefits of near-term action. The guide suggests improving accuracy through waste characterization studies and collecting landfill-specific leakage data.
• Effective GHG reduction requires both upstream and downstream strategies. Upstream measures focus on waste prevention, food donation, and organics recycling to prevent methane generation; for instance, preventing food waste can avoid about four tons of emissions along the supply chain. Downstream measures involve strengthening landfill gas capture and using technologies like automated well tuning and biocovers to reduce emissions from waste-in-place by 25-50%.
• High-priority regulatory measures for PCAPs include instituting organic waste bans and updating state landfill emissions regulations. Examples of existing policies include California's mandate for a 75% reduction in organic waste disposal by 2025 and the landfill air regulations in Maryland, Oregon, and California.
• Advanced monitoring technology, such as satellites and aircraft surveys, can identify 'super-emitters' to prompt leak repairs. In Pennsylvania, overflights conducted with remote sensing providers resulted in a 37% reduction in detected emissions from landfills identified as super-emitters.
• Waste sector strategies provide significant co-benefits for low-income and disadvantaged communities (LIDAC), who are disproportionately affected by landfills and incinerators. Benefits include addressing food insecurity, creating circular economy jobs (composting can support up to six times as many jobs as landfilling), and reducing hazardous air pollutants like benzene and toluene.
• Several federal funding sources can complement CPRG implementation, including the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), the $275 million Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) Grant Program, and the $550 million Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program.

APA

Garland, E., Blauvelt, K., & Alves, O. (2023). Priority Climate Action Plan Guide: Organic Waste & Landfill Methane Strategies. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/10/landfill_monitoring_memo_3.pdf

Chicago

Garland, Ellie, Katherine Blauvelt, and Olivia Alves. Priority Climate Action Plan Guide: Organic Waste & Landfill Methane Strategies. RMI, 2023. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/10/landfill_monitoring_memo_3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Garland |first1=Ellie |last2=Blauvelt |first2=Katherine |last3=Alves |first3=Olivia |title=Priority Climate Action Plan Guide: Organic Waste & Landfill Methane Strategies |publisher=RMI |date=6 October 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/10/landfill_monitoring_memo_3.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{garland2023priority, author = {Garland, Ellie and Blauvelt, Katherine and Alves, Olivia}, title = {{Priority Climate Action Plan Guide: Organic Waste \& Landfill Methane Strategies}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = oct, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/dlm_uploads/2023/10/landfill_monitoring_memo_3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }