Landfill methane is a big climate problem. Here are…

One of the key changes modeled in the report is expanding how many landfills are required to install gas-capture systems to include smaller landfills that, despite their size, can still release large amounts of methane. Rather than basing gas-control requirements on how much trash the facility is designed to hold, Industrious Labs suggests basing these requirements on how much waste a landfill actually has and setting the threshold at 200,000 pounds of trash.

The report also suggests requiring gas-collection systems to be installed on new sections of landfills within one year. Current regulations allow landfill operators five years to add gas-collection systems to areas where they have begun dumping trash, but organic waste releases a major portion of methane within three years.

“Having those wells in very early on is really allowing us to maximize the amount of gas that we’re collecting,” said Kim Finlay, author of the report and a senior analyst at Industrious Labs.

The report also looks at the potential benefits of measures that make gas-collection systems more efficient — for example, the use of horizontal pipes and establishing standards for landfill cover, a layer of soil placed on top of trash that helps oxidize methane.

Some states, such as Washington and Maryland, have policies like these in effect now. In these states, Blauvelt said, landfill emissions are already projected to decrease. 

“This is a matter of regulations catching up with reality,” Blauvelt said.

According to the report, adopting these policies around gas-collection systems and landfill-cover practices nationwide would reduce methane emissions by 41 million metric tons by 2035, an amount that is almost as significant as the anticipated reductions from the Biden administration’s 2023 methane rule, which aims for a 58 million metric ton reduction in emissions from the oil and gas sector by 2038.

While oil and gas methane reduction targets remain a contentious issue, Finlay said, implementing changes to how landfills run is, by contrast, a relatively ​“easy, achievable solution that we can ask landfill operators to do.”