Land & Materials Climate Initiatives

Global warming, driven predominantly by human activities, poses significant environmental challenges such as rising temperatures, changing weather patterns, and accelerated melting of polar ice caps. One of the major contributors to global warming is methane emissions, which can be effectively reduced through various methods including landfill methane capture, composting and anaerobic digestion, and other non-organic material recycling initiatives. These activities not only mitigate greenhouse gas emissions but also promote sustainable practices that are crucial for environmental preservation and combating climate change.

Diverting Waste from Landfills

Food is a valuable resource. Wasting edible and inedible food also wastes the water, energy, labor, pesticides, fertilizers, and land used to make and transport the food. Compostable materials such as food scraps and yard trimmings make up nearly 30% of all municipal solid waste generated in the United States. Instead of disposing of this material in landfills and incinerators, composting uses organic material to create a valuable product with environmental and economic benefits.

Recycling of some organic materials, such as yard trimmings and manure, is widespread in Maryland. One area of growing interest is food scraps diversion. Though only an estimated 24% of food scraps was recycled in Maryland in 2022, much of the remaining material could be prevented, used to feed humans or animals, or composted.

Our interactive food diversion mapping program can help you find the organic waste recycling facility nearest you.

Prince George’s County offers curbside composting services on Mondays. Non-food items like yard trim, uncoated paper products, and compostable cutlery, and food items like produce, cooked meats, bones, shells, dairy (no liquids), baked goods, tea,

coffee grounds, and other food scraps are accepted.

Methane Emissions at Landfills

Landfills are a significant source of methane emissions, primarily generated from the decomposition of organic waste in an anaerobic (oxygen-limited) environment. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a much higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Therefore, reducing methane emissions from landfills is crucial for mitigating climate change. Several landfills in Maryland have turbine or piston-driven electrical generators fueled by landfill gas.

The Millersville Landfill & Resource Recovery Facility in Anne Arundel County produces approximately 3.2 Megawatts of electricity that is sold to the local power grid. This is enough energy to meet the average electricity demands for nearly 2,000 households. The landfill is expected to produce gas in increasing amounts over the next few decades.

How Landfill Methane Capture Works

Waste Deposition: Organic waste, including food scraps and yard trimmings, is disposed of in landfills.
Anaerobic Decomposition: In the absence of oxygen, microorganisms break down any organic matter, releasing methane gas as a byproduct.
Methane Collection: Landfill gas collection systems, such as vertical wells or horizontal trenches, may be installed to capture methane before it escapes into the atmosphere.
Gas Treatment: Any collected landfill gas would need processing to remove contaminants such as hydrogen sulfide and moisture.
Utilization or Flaring: If methane is treated, it can be utilized as a renewable energy source (e.g., for generating electricity or heat). Gasses may also be flared (burned) to convert methane into carbon dioxide, which has a lower global warming potential.

Anaerobic Digestion

Anaerobic digestion is a biological process that converts organic waste into biogas (a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide) and digestate (a soil conditioner). This process not only reduces methane emissions from decomposing organic waste but also produces renewable energy and organic fertilizer, contributing to sustainable agriculture and energy security.

The Maryland Food Center campus in Jessup is the first anaerobic digester of its scale in the state.The facility is capable of recycling 110,000 tons of organics annually to produce approximately 312,000 MMBtu of renewable natural gas for energy and 16,575 tons of rich, fertile soil amendment for agricultural and other land use.

How Anaerobic Digestion Works

Feedstock Preparation: Organic waste materials, such as food scraps, animal manure, and crop residues, are collected and prepared for digestion.
Digestion Process: The organic matter is placed in a sealed, oxygen-free digester tank where anaerobic bacteria break down the waste material.
Biogas Production: As the organic matter decomposes, methane and carbon dioxide gasses are produced (biogas).
Gas Collection: Biogas is collected and can be used as a renewable energy source for electricity generation, heating, or vehicle fuel.
Digestate Utilization: The leftover material after digestion (digestate) is rich in nutrients and maybe used as organic fertilizer, promoting soil health and reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers.

Recycling

Recycling plays an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by conserving resources, reducing energy consumption, and minimizing the need for raw material extraction and manufacturing processes that emit greenhouse gases. Recycling efforts extend beyond traditional recycled materials like paper and metals to include electronic waste (e-waste), which contains hazardous materials that contribute to environmental pollution if improperly disposed of.

Maryland residents and businesses recycled 38.9 percent of their waste in 2022. Jurisdictions are experimenting with new ways to recycle, including single-stream and pay-as-you-throw programs to ensure that recycling continues to gain in popularity as a waste management option. Many states, including Maryland, are investigating new commodities to bring into the recycling stream, while continuing to promote the benefits of recycling. Services and accepted materials vary by jurisdiction, so please check the available services in your city or county.

How Recycling Helps Reduce Global Warming

Resource Conservation: Recycling reduces the demand for raw materials (e.g., timber, metals, minerals), conserving natural resources and reducing deforestation and habitat destruction associated with resource extraction.
Energy Savings: Manufacturing products from recycled materials typically requires less energy than producing them from virgin materials. This results in lower greenhouse gas emissions from energy-intensive manufacturing processes.
Waste Reduction: By diverting materials that have a downstream remanufacturing product from landfills and incinerators, recycling reduces methane emissions from decomposing organic waste and prevents the release of greenhouse gasses and other pollutants associated with waste disposal.
Promotion of Circular Economy: Recycling promotes a circular economy where materials are reused, remanufactured, or recycled to minimize waste generation and maximize resource efficiency.

Synergies and Co-benefits

The interplay between reducing methane emissions at landfills and recycling creates synergies that amplify their individual contributions to mitigating global warming:

Integrated Waste Management: Combining landfill methane capture with recycling of organics such as composting maximizes methane reduction or in combination with anaerobic digestion renewable energy production.
Closing Resource Loops: Incorporating recycled materials into manufacturing processes reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with extracting, processing, and transporting virgin materials.
Policy and Technology Innovation: Governments, businesses, and communities play critical roles in advancing policies and technologies that support methane reduction, source reduction and reuse programs and , and robust recycling programs.

Reducing global warming through methane emission reduction and reuse and recycling is not only feasible but imperative for sustainable development and climate resilience. These activities not only mitigate greenhouse gas emissions but also conserve resources, promote renewable energy, and foster a circular economy. By implementing these strategies at local, national, and global levels, we can significantly contribute to climate change mitigation efforts while promoting environmental stewardship and economic prosperity for current and future generations.