Greenhouse gas reporting data improves understanding of regional climate impact on landfill methane production and collection

A critical examination of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (US EPA’s) Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) database provided an opportunity for the largest evaluation to date of landfilled waste decomposition kinetics with respect to different US climate regimes. In this paper, 5–8 years of annual methane collection data from 114 closed landfills located in 29 states were used to estimate site-specific waste decay rates (k) and methane collection potentials (L(c)). These sites account for approximately 9% of all landfills required to report GHG emissions to the US EPA annually. The mean methane collection potential (L(c)) for the sites located in regions with less than 635 mm (25 in) annual rainfall was significantly (p<0.002) lower than the mean methane collection potential of the sites located in regions with more than 635 mm (25 in) annual precipitation (49 and 73 m(3) methane Mg(-1) waste, respectively). This finding suggests that a fraction of the in-place biodegradable waste may not be decomposing, potentially due to a lack of adequate moisture content of landfills located in arid regions. The results of this evaluation offer insight that challenges assumptions of the traditional landfill methane estimation approach, especially in arid climates, that all methane corresponding to the total methane generation potential of the buried solid waste will be produced. Decay rates showed a significant correlation with annual precipitation, with an average k of 0.043 year(-1) for arid regions (< 508 mm (20 in) year(-1)), 0.074 year(-1) for regions with 508–1,016 mm (20–40 in) annual precipitation, and 0.09 year(-1) in wet regions (> 1,016 mm (40 in) year(-1)). The data suggest that waste is decaying faster than the model default values, which in turn suggests that a larger fraction of methane is produced during a landfill’s operating life (relative to post-closure).