The Greenhouse Gas Connection to
Sustainable Resource Management
In This Lesson
By the end of this lesson students will be able to:
• (Knowledge) Identify the fundamental principles and
practices relating to SRM greenhouse gas emissions and
reductions
• (Knowledge) Identify market impacts for recovered
products and material and the associated GHG reduction
impacts
• (Comprehension) Explain why communities are adopting
community greenhouse gas protocols including SRM
• (Knowledge) Identify tools and metrics to measure and
compare GHG impacts to sustainable management
programs
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Greenhouse Gases and Global
Warming Potentials
GHG Emission Sources And Sinks
Lifecycle Assessment: Principles and Practice
USEPA, 2006
WASTE management vs. MATERIALS management
Product Lifecycle
http://www.epa.gov/smm/
vision.htm
RECYCLING AND MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
Repair
Waste Reduction Model (WARM)
• WARM can quantify and
communicate GHG Benefits
– Metric tons of Carbon
Equivalent (MTCE)
– Metric Tons of Carbon
Dioxide Equivalent
– (MTCO2E)
– Energy benefits – British
Thermal Units (BTU)
www.epa.gov/warm
WARM Background
• WARM compares the emissions and offsets resulting from a
material in a baseline and an alternative management
pathway in order to provide decision-makers with
comparative emission results.
• WARM does not include emissions from the use phase of a
product’s life, since use does not have an effect on the
waste management emissions of a product.
WARM Formula
• The general formula for net GHG emissions for each scenario
modeled in WARM:
-
Net GHG emissions = Gross manufacturing GHG emissions (Increase in
carbon stocks + Avoided utility GHG emissions)
Materials Management Decisions
Affecting GHG Reduction:
• Energy consumption (specifically combustion of fossil
fuels) and the resulting GHG emissions associated
with material extraction, manufacturing, transporting,
and end-of-life management of the material or
product .
• Non-energy-related manufacturing emissions, such as
the carbon dioxide (CO2) released when limestone
used in steel manufacturing is converted to lime, or
the perfluorocarbons (PFCs) generated during the
aluminum smelting process.
Materials Management Decisions
Affecting GHG Reduction:
• Methane (CH4) emissions from decomposition of
organic materials in landfills.
• CO2 and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from waste
combustion.
• Carbon sequestration and storage, which refer to
natural or manmade processes that remove carbon
from the atmosphere and store it for long periods or
permanently.
Recycling and Composting Emissions
Protocol: July 2013
http://www.icleiusa.org/tools/ghg-protocol/recycling-and-composting-emissions-protocol
Relationships to WARM
• Use WARM factors, EXCEPT
 Carbon storage only in forests
 0.75 landfill gas capture (consistent
with community protocol)
 Includes compost emission reduction
for chemical fertilizer displacement
Overall Reductions
For Avoided Disposal, by Disposal Facility Type
From using
Landfill with
Landfill with Landfill with Combustion
recycled
gas collection gas
facility
inputs instead no gas
collection
but no energy collection
of virgin
recovery
and energy
inputs (mixed
recovery
recyclables)
-2.8
-1.75
-0.47
-0.28
0.42
All reductions are shown as MTCO2E (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent
Calculating GHG Emissions
• T = tons
• EF = emission factor
• MTCO2E = Metric tons carbon dioxide
equivalent
• T * EF = MTCO2E
http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/protocols/localgov/pubs/recycling_method.pdf
Recycling Emission Reduction
Factors (Table 11)
Material
Total Upstream Remanufacture
Emission
Transportation
Reductions (a) Emissions (b)
Recycling
Forest Carbon Efficiency
Seq. (c)
(d)
RERF
(a-b+c) *d
Aluminum
14
0.07
0
0.93
12.9
Steel
1.7
0.16
0
0.98
1.5
Glass
0.2
0.02
0
0.88
0.2
HDPE
1.1
0.09
0
0.77
0.8
2
0.15
0
0.77
1.4
Corrugated cardboard
1.3
0.1
4.2
0.93
5
Magazines/3rd class mail
0.1
0.1
0.5
0.67
0.3
1
0.1
2.9
0.89
3.4
Office paper
2.4
0.1
4.8
0.6
4.3
Telephone books
1.2
0.1
2.9
0.67
2.7
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
0.21
1.7
0.13
0
0.77
1.2
PET
Newspaper
Dimensional lumber
Mixed Plastics
http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/protocols/localgov/pubs/compost_method.pdf
Compost Emission Factors (Table
8)
Emissions
Emission type
Emission (MTCO2E/ton of
feedstock)
Transportation emissions (Te)
0.008
Process emissions (Pe)
0.008
Fugitive CH4 emissions (Fe)
0.078
Fugitive N2O emissions (Fe)
Total
0.025
0.119
Compost Emission Reduction
Factors (Table 8)
Emission reductions
Emission reduction type
Increased Soil Carbon Storage
(Csb)
Decreased Water Use (Wb)
Decreased Soil Erosion (Eb)
Decreased Fertilizer Use (Fb)
Decreased Herbicide Use (Hb)
Emission
reduction
(MTCO2E/ton of Conversion
compost)
factor
N/A
0.04
0.25
0.26
0
N/A
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
Total
Overall
Final Emission
reduction
(MTCO2E/ton
of feedstock)
0.26
0.02
0.13
0.13
0
0.54
0.42
California Legislation Connecting GHG
Reduction and Recycling
Connections to AB 341
AB 341 75% recycling by 2020 =
reduced disposal & GHGs
22 million tons removed from
disposal; equals 20 – 30
MMTCO2e reduction
Waste Management Sector
Plan identifies activities to help
achieve 75% recycling by 2020
Connections to AB 32
Purpose: To reduce the level of
statewide greenhouse gas
emissions in 2020 to 1990
levels
AB Scoping Plan update
includes a comprehensive and
sustainable waste
management system
Waste Management Sector
Plan identifies activities to
achieve significant GHG
reductions
2020 Goal: Achieve the AB 341 75% recycling goal and
associated 20 to 30 MMTCO2e reduction
2035 Goal: Achieve Net-Zero GHG emissions from the
entire Waste Sector and associated GHG reductions
2050 Goal: Achieve a 25% reduction in direct GHG
emissions from 2035 levels
Waste Management Sector Plan –
GHG and waste reduction goals
http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/scopingplan/document/updatedscopingplan2013.htm
Cap and trade investment plan
$50 million approved to CalRecycle
through 2015/2016 with another $35
proposed in the 2015/2016 budget
New Grant & Loan Programs for
Greenhouse Gas Reductions from Organics
and Manufacturing with Recyclable
Materials (Fibers, Plastic, and Glass)
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
Waste Diversion
• 2 Grant Programs ($20 million)
– Organic materials ($15 million)
– Received over 50 applications requesting over
$118 million
– Fiber, Plastic, and Glass ($5 million)
– Received 19 applications requesting over $35
million
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Climate/GrantsLoans/default.htm
29
As a class or
individual activity
complete Worksheet
#14 to estimate GHG
reductions and
equivalent resource
savings by a business
that implements Zero
Waste. Discuss
Results.