Waste Not, Want Not: Recommendations from the New York State Waste Advisory Panel
You know how the saying goes: one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. But is it really? How can New York State turn the discarded materials of over 19 million people into something useful? Or, if not exactly useful, how can the greenhouse gas emissions from waste be minimized? The Waste Advisory Panel, tasked with forming recommendations for the New York Climate Action Council, explored this expansive topic.
A Brief Background on the CLCPA
The New York Climate Leadership and Community and Protection Act (CLCPA) was passed in 2019 to fight climate change, reduce emissions, and build more resilient communities. The CLCPA mandates at least an 85 percent reduction in carbon emissions below 1990 levels, as well as interval goals for reaching 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2040 and a commitment to climate justice and a just transition.
Advisory panels were created to explore the challenges and opportunities in various sectors and draft recommendations for the Climate Action Council to consider for their overall Scoping Plan that will help New York meet its climate goals. Previous blog articles reviewed the Energy Efficiency and Housing, Transportation, Power Generation, and Land Use and Local Government Advisory Panels.
Taking out the Trash
What happens after we kick the garbage to the curb? That “regular” garbage generated by everyday life, also known as Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) includes everything from non-industrial sources, such as paper, discarded food, and yard clippings. In 2018, approximately 40 percent of MSW ended up in landfills, while 27 percent was exported, 18 percent was recycled and composted, and 15 percent was used in combustion.
Methane leaks from landfills and anaerobic digesters, carbon dioxide from combustion and transportation, and fluorocarbon compound leaks from refrigerants are all potential sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the waste management system.
Wait, What’s Anaerobic Digestion?
Briefly mentioned above, anaerobic digestion is a process through which microorganisms break down organic materials, such as food scraps and biosolids, in an oxygen-less environment. Through the digestion process, the microorganisms release biogas and create a substance called digestate. The biogas is mostly methane and carbon dioxide. In landfills, there is no capture process, so this gas is released into the atmosphere. In dedicated anaerobic digesters, the gas is captured and can be treated and upgraded to become natural gas for heating and electrical generation purposes. The digestate is also useful as fertilizer, or, when properly processed, as livestock bedding. Anaerobic digesters can provide a safer and more sustainable disposal method for organic waste, speeding up and controlling the process that occurs naturally in landfills, and capturing methane to be used for energy generation.
Waste Management in New York City
Based on data from the 2017 New York City Residential, School, and NYCHA Waste Characterization Study, the total quantity of waste from NYC households declined over the 12 year period between 2005 to 2017, from 3.5 million tons per year to 3.1 million tons per year, despite the growing population.
Food waste and other organic material that is suitable for composting make up 34 percent of waste discarded by NYC residents. This category is still growing, and it represents the biggest opportunity to potentially divert waste from landfills. Due to budget concerns caused by COVID-19, the city composting program was suspended, which set back any progress made towards changing resident habits. In 2021, the NYC Compost Project was reactivated, so city residents have access to community composting site and curbside composting.
Trash Talk: Recommendations for the Climate Action Council
Landfills and Organics Diversion
Ensuring that waste materials are diverted to their next best use, instead of merely lumping them all into landfills, will help promote a circular economy and reduce methane and carbon dioxide emissions. Organic matter should be diverted from landfills to become compost or digestate for the agriculture sector and other markets. With that in mind, additional construction and upgrades need to be made to facilities that manage organic wastes. The energy recovered from anaerobic digesters could help communities be more climate resilient and needs to be managed properly. At the same time, methane leaks from existing landfills need to be identified, monitored, and reduced.
Water Resource Recovery Facilities
Drastically increasing the recycling of biosolids would reduce methane emissions from landfilling and increase the carbon sequestration in soils. Therefore, legislation needs to support this initiative, and financial support needs to be made available for municipalities to upgrade their biosolids treatment systems. Methane and nitrous oxide leaks from anaerobic digesters, poorly operated flares, and conveyance systems like sewers and pump stations are a concern, so the system needs to be upgraded and better monitored. An alternative use for digester gas besides flaring would also help reduce methane emissions.
Materials Management
Waste reduction education, local recycling programs, and local reuse systems, including local food scraps collection and composting programs, need to be funded and supported. Amending the Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law to apply to a broader range of food scraps generators, while also providing financial assistance for emergency food providers and establishing additional food waste recycling facilities, would help encourage food recycling further. More expansive Extended Producer Responsibility requirements to cover products with the greatest greenhouse gas impact would also help reduce methane and carbon dioxide emission from landfills and combustors.
Local-Scale Diversion and Climate Justice
Supporting recycling service providers in current low-recycling communities, establishing additional recycling facilities, and increasing e-waste and textile collection will help divert waste from landfills, thus reducing emissions. Multi-family buildings and disadvantaged communities in particular need to be the focus of robust local reuse and recycling systems.
Final Thoughts: Slimming Down the Waste
We need to trash talk more often. As uncomfortable or gross as it can be to discuss literal garbage, communities need to be made aware of their options when it comes to their waste disposal options. From there, action needs to be easy. Folks can change their behavior if it isn’t too far off from what they already do. For recycling and composting to become widespread, the curbside pickup programs need to also be widespread. At the end of the day, the overarching goal is to reduce methane and carbon dioxide emissions by diverting waste from landfills, and trash can potentially become treasure through processing and upgrading waste into something useful, such as turning food scraps into fertilizer or using captured methane for energy generation.
