Resource Center
Republic Services Takes Action at Landfills
While outdated notions of landfills litter pop culture, Republic Services’ modern landfills are engineered to reduce emissions by capturing biogas and converting it into sources of renewable energy.Byline: BTB Editor
February 2, 2023 / Time to read: 5 minAt Republic Services, our commitment to creating a more sustainable world is at the forefront of everything we do. We know that our customers depend on us for recycling, waste and environmental services in their businesses and communities, but our environmentally conscious practices don’t stop at collection services. We’re also emphasizing sustainability by implementing innovative solutions at our landfills.
While outdated notions of landfills litter pop culture, Republic Services’ modern landfills are engineered to reduce emissions by capturing biogas and converting it into sources of renewable energy.
As a sustainability leader, we’re involved with 65 landfill gas-to-energy projects. An additional 43 RNG projects across 21 states are planned as part of our joint venture with Archaea Energy, now part of bp. When fully operational, these projects are expected to generate at least 12.5 million MMBtu of RNG annually. This venture is the nation’s largest RNG portfolio build-out to date, offering both environmental and economic sustainability.
Biogas is a naturally occurring byproduct of the decomposition of organic waste in landfills. It is made up of approximately 50% methane, which is a greenhouse gas, or GHG. Through the use of collection systems and wells, we’re able to capture this gas and utilize it as a renewable energy source.
One of our climate goals is to increase beneficial reuse of biogas by 50% by 2030.
Reaching Our Science-Based Targets
We’re continually introducing systematic improvements to reduce emissions and curb climate change, which is why we’re proud to be leading the way with the industry’s first greenhouse gas reduction goal approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Landfill emissions make up more than 85% of the Scope 1 and 2 emissions addressed by our Science Based Target goal.
To manage these emissions, we need to be able to effectively measure them. We’re currently testing several emissions measurement and detection systems, including innovative drone, plane and satellite technologies. While the landfill emissions direct measurement technologies evolve, we continue to improve on the modeling techniques. We’ve recently employed a more representative modeling methodology which considers a landfill’s gas collection effectiveness and efficiency as well as its cover system, allowing us to recognize the effectiveness of the investments we’ve made to reduce emissions.
We’ve designated 87% of our acreage for gas collection systems. By maximizing the collection of biogas, we’re minimizing the amount of gas escaping as fugitive emissions which help bring us closer to reaching our climate goals.
As a leader in the environmental services industry, we’re committed to building a more sustainable future.
