Looking for climate and economic impact data on yard waste bans

[Megan Jackson]

Hi all,

I'm looking for data on the economic and environmental benefits of composting yard waste and organics versus landfilling the material and recovering methane gas to produce either electricity or pipeline quality gas.

I'm interested in this because a recent report commissioned by the City of Lincoln (Nebraska) reveals that the City can earn significantly more revenue by cleaning the landfill gas a little more and then selling it to Black Hills Energy instead of their current practice of selling it to LES to produce electricity. 

Here are my concerns related to this:

·      In the event the City does sell the landfill gas to Black Hills Energy, there will be a desire that the City discontinue the yard waste composting program to generate more revenue from the sale of landfill gas. (Eliminating access to compost to amend soils, sequester carbon and improve soil health)

·      Organic wastes represent roughly one-third of the waste sent to the Bluff Road Landfill.  There will be no effort by the City to collect and compost any of this material.

·      The City and local haulers will argue that GHG emissions will be reduced if private haulers convert their garbage trucks to burn natural gas.

Any data or guidance you all have on this topic is much appreciated! It can be forwarded to me at mjac...@nrcne.org.

Thanks,

Megan 

--

Megan Jackson

Program Director

TRUE Advisor

Nebraska Recycling Council

3800 VerMaas Place, Suite 102

Lincoln, NE 68502

Cell: 402-309-9096

Office: 402-436-2384 x 1004   

mjac...@nrcne.org

www.nrcne.org

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