1. The Greenhouse Gas Connection to Sustainable Resource Management

2. In This Lesson By the end of this lesson students will be able to:
(Knowledge) Identify the fundamental principles and practices relating to SRM greenhouse gas emissions and reductions
(Knowledge) Identify market impacts for recovered products and material and the associated GHG reduction impacts
(Comprehension) Explain why communities are adopting community greenhouse gas protocols including SRM
(Knowledge) Identify tools and metrics to measure and compare GHG impacts to sustainable management programs

3. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

4. Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming Potentials

6. GHG Emission Sources And Sinks

7. Lifecycle Assessment: Principles and Practice
USEPA, 2006

8. WASTE management vs. MATERIALS management
Disposal
Recovery
Product Lifecycle

9. RECYCLING AND MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
Disposal
Recycle
Recovery
Reuse
Repair

10. Waste Reduction Model (WARM)
WARM can quantify and communicate GHG Benefits
Metric tons of Carbon Equivalent (MTCE)
Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent
(MTCO2E)
Energy benefits – British Thermal Units (BTU)

11. WARM Background
WARM compares the emissions and offsets resulting from a material in a baseline and an alternative management pathway in order to provide decision-makers with comparative emission results.
WARM does not include emissions from the use phase of a product’s life, since use does not have an effect on the waste management emissions of a product.

12. WARM Formula
The general formula for net GHG emissions for each scenario modeled in WARM:
Net GHG emissions = Gross manufacturing GHG emissions - (Increase in carbon stocks + Avoided utility GHG emissions)

13. Materials Management Decisions Affecting GHG Reduction:
Energy consumption (specifically combustion of fossil fuels) and the resulting GHG emissions associated with material extraction, manufacturing, transporting, and end-of-life management of the material or product .
Non-energy-related manufacturing emissions, such as the carbon dioxide (CO2) released when limestone used in steel manufacturing is converted to lime, or the perfluorocarbons (PFCs) generated during the aluminum smelting process.

14. Materials Management Decisions Affecting GHG Reduction:
Methane (CH4) emissions from decomposition of organic materials in landfills.
CO2 and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from waste combustion.
Carbon sequestration and storage, which refer to natural or manmade processes that remove carbon from the atmosphere and store it for long periods or permanently.

15. Recycling and Composting Emissions Protocol: July 2013

16. Relationships to WARM Use WARM factors, EXCEPT
Carbon storage only in forests
0.75 landfill gas capture (consistent with community protocol)
Includes compost emission reduction for chemical fertilizer displacement

17. For Avoided Disposal, by Disposal Facility Type
Overall Reductions
From using recycled inputs instead of virgin inputs (mixed recyclables)
For Avoided Disposal, by Disposal Facility Type
Landfill with no gas collection
Landfill with gas collection but no energy recovery
Landfill with gas collection and energy recovery
Combustion facility
-2.8
-1.75
-0.47
-0.28
0.42
All reductions are shown as MTCO2E (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent

18. Calculating GHG Emissions
T = tons
EF = emission factor
MTCO2E = Metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent
T * EF = MTCO2E

19. http://www. arb. ca. gov/cc/protocols/localgov/pubs/recycling_method

20. Recycling Emission Reduction Factors (Table 11)
Material
Total Upstream Emission Reductions (a)
Remanufacture Transportation Emissions (b)
Forest Carbon Seq. (c)
Recycling Efficiency (d)
RERF (a-b+c) *d
Aluminum 14
0.07
0.93
12.9
Steel
1.7
0.16
0.98
1.5
Glass
0.2
0.02
0.88
HDPE
1.1
0.09
0.77
0.8
PET 2
0.15
1.4
Corrugated cardboard
1.3
0.1
4.2 5
Magazines/3rd class mail
0.5
0.67
0.3
Newspaper 1
2.9
0.89
3.4
Office paper
2.4
4.8
0.6
4.3
Telephone books
1.2
2.7
Dimensional lumber
N/A
0.21
Mixed Plastics
0.13

22. Compost Emission Factors (Table 8)
Emissions
Emission type
Emission (MTCO2E/ton of feedstock)
Transportation emissions (Te)
0.008
Process emissions (Pe)
Fugitive CH4 emissions (Fe)
0.078
Fugitive N2O emissions (Fe)
0.025
Total
0.119

23. Compost Emission Reduction Factors (Table 8)
Emission reductions
Emission reduction type
Emission reduction (MTCO2E/ton of compost)
Conversion factor
Final Emission reduction (MTCO2E/ton of feedstock)
Increased Soil Carbon Storage (Csb)
N/A
0.26
Decreased Water Use (Wb)
0.04
0.5
0.02
Decreased Soil Erosion (Eb)
0.25
0.13
Decreased Fertilizer Use (Fb)
Decreased Herbicide Use (Hb)
Total
0.54
Overall
0.42

24. California Legislation Connecting GHG Reduction and Recycling
Connections to AB 341
Connections to AB 32
AB % recycling by 2020 = reduced disposal & GHGs
22 million tons removed from disposal; equals 20 – 30 MMTCO2e reduction
Waste Management Sector Plan identifies activities to help achieve 75% recycling by 2020
Purpose: To reduce the level of statewide greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 to 1990 levels
AB Scoping Plan update includes a comprehensive and sustainable waste management system
Waste Management Sector Plan identifies activities to achieve significant GHG reductions

25. Waste Management Sector Plan – GHG and waste reduction goals
2020 Goal: Achieve the AB % recycling goal and associated 20 to 30 MMTCO2e reduction
2035 Goal: Achieve Net-Zero GHG emissions from the entire Waste Sector and associated GHG reductions
2050 Goal: Achieve a 25% reduction in direct GHG emissions from 2035 levels
Waste Management Sector Plan – GHG and waste reduction goals

28. Cap and trade investment plan
$50 million approved to CalRecycle through 2015/2016 with another $35 proposed in the 2015/2016 budget
New Grant & Loan Programs for Greenhouse Gas Reductions from Organics and Manufacturing with Recyclable Materials (Fibers, Plastic, and Glass)

29. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Waste Diversion
2 Grant Programs ($20 million)
Organic materials ($15 million)
Received over 50 applications requesting over $118 million
Fiber, Plastic, and Glass ($5 million)
Received 19 applications requesting over $35 million

30. As a class or individual activity complete Worksheet #14 to estimate GHG reductions and equivalent resource savings by a business that implements Zero Waste. Discuss Results.