[USCC] Compost vs. Landfilling

Thu Aug 30 18:54:17 CDT 2007

Dear Mr. Osborne-

One cannot fairly compare composting versus landfilling. It's not an  
either/or proposition. For the foreseeable future it's a both/and  
situation. Though I have a strong belief that we will see a lot more  
composting in the next ten years, not less.  I'm a huge advocate of  
composting at landfills, but that's another subject altogether.

I don't think you need a study to see that there are numerous  
benefits from diverting organic materials (grass, leaves, brush, food  
scraps, liquid wastes, etc) from landfill disposal and into a  
composting program:

1. Landfill Capacity. Diverting organics clearly preserves landfill  
capacity. Landfills are increasingly difficult to expand or replace.  
A cubic yard of landfill capacity not filled with organics today is  
worth more in the future. Twenty three states currently ban or  
otherwise restrict the disposal of yard trimmings/leaves, etc., from  
landfill disposal, these efforts were largely undertaken to preserve  
landfill capacity.

2. Decreased "landfill gas".  Landfill gas is generated when organic  
materials decompose under anaerobic conditions.  Methane - the main  
component of "landfill gas" is equivalent to 23 times the same volume  
of CO2 from a climate change/greenhouse gas perspective. I am under  
the impression that accurately modeling the production of landfill  
gas is fraught with problems; landfills can often tell you how much  
gas they collect, but few can tell you with any reasonable certainty  
how much they generate. However, it stands to reason that if you  
reduce the volume of organics going into a landfill, there will be a  
reduction in landfill gas production.

3. Less leachate? Not sure about this one. Yes, organics in landfills  
generate some free liquids which end up as leachate. I have never  
seen a study showing that reducing the input of say, food scraps,  
would have an impact on leachate volume. I'm reasonably certain that  
climate, rainfall, and groundwater play a significant role in  
leachate production, but again, if you put less moisture in (via  
organic materials) you would end up with less leachate in the end. It  
would also be interesting to see if reducing organics, like food,  
would also improve the quality of the landfill leachate (decomposing  
food can be very acidic).

4. Less waste to cover. Organic materials comprise at least 30 and in  
some cases more than 50 percent of the waste stream (depending on  
where you are and what you count as "organic"). Many waste  
composition studies in areas with significant recycling (like CA and  
parts of New York) report that organics, especially food, is still  
one of the largest components in the waste stream. The less you bury,  
the less you have to cover.

I'm sure I'm missing some other benefits of not landfilling organic  
materials. I haven't even talked about the fact that by diverting  
organic materials from landfill you can return those nutrients and  
organic matter back into the soil - via compost. Compost has numerous  
benefits as a soil amendment, all of which are lost when organic  
materials are landfilled (I think there is still a huge misconception  
among the public that organic materials in landfills somehow  
biodegrades back into the soil. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Hope this is useful.

Matthew Cotton
Integrated Waste Management Consulting, LLC
19375 Lake City Road
Nevada City, CA  95959
(530) 265-4560
Fax (530) 265-4547
matt at mattcotton.com
www.mattcotton.com

Join us at the US Composting Council's 16th Annual Conference & Trade  
Show, February 9 - 12th, 2008 at the Oakland Marriott City Center,  
Oakland, California.  Check it out at www.compostingcouncil.org

On Aug 30, 2007, at 10:42 AM, Osborne, Ted wrote:

> Are there any recent study's on composting versus landfilling for:
> A: Leachate production and collection
> B: Gas production, collection, use.	
>
> Theodore W. Osborne
> Project Coordinator - Rural Solid Waste
> County of Erie
> Environment & Planning
> Edward A. Rath County Office BLDG.
> 95 Franklin Street, Room 1077
> Buffalo, NY 14202
> Ph. 716-858-8077
> Fax 716-858-7713
>
> osbornet at erie.gov
>
> www.erie.gov/environment/compliance/index.asp
>
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