Which option for managing municipal solid waste has lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: a landfill, or a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant? A case study life-cycle GHG analyses using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Waste Reduction Model (WARM) was conducted to calculate GHG emissions and answer this question. WARM was created by EPA to help solid waste planners and organizations track and voluntarily report greenhouse gas emissions reductions from several different waste management practices. WARM evaluates the GHG emissions associated with materials management based on analysis of three main factors: (1) GHG emissions throughout the life cycle of the material (including the chosen end-of-life management option); (2) the degree to which carbon sinks are affected by disposing of the material; and (3) the level to which the management option recovers energy that can be used to replace electric utility energy, thus reducing electric utility emissions. This presentation will present the results from this study and discuss the various assumptions in WARM that led to the results of the case study. Also, the presentation discusses some of the limitations of the WARM model how WARM results were adjusted to address the latest science and urgency of climate change. Results of this study will help solid waste planners make more informed decisions about their waste disposal strategies.
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