Why is composting better than landfill

It is a question that comes up time and again — why is composting better than landfilling organics? JDL: Good question because this is the crux of the issue: methane versus carbon dioxide.

You see, different greenhouse gases have more heat holding capability in the atmosphere. Methane CH4 can hold 25 times more heat than carbon dioxide CO2. Side note, nitrous oxide N2O is almost times worse than CO2 — think about that the next time you visit the dentist.

This process can be as simple as a pile in your backyard, flipped occasionally via pitchfork. Or a writhing worm farm. Or fancy tumbling compost bin contraption. Industrial systems are massive compost facilities that take in all the leaves, twigs, bones, grass clippings, leftover Indian takeout, carrot greens, soiled napkins, week-old casserole, compostable packaging , and whatnots accumulated in households all over a metropolitan area.

The most common way that we humans have dealt with things we no longer want, a landfill is a far-flung site where we toss and bury our garbage to break down over thousands of years.

Our propensity to create so much waste has necessitated compactors at landfills that make it all as small as possible before we throw dirt over it all and hope to forget it exists. But, it remains. Landfills encourage the anaerobic decomposition of waste over whatever timeline the waste can be expected to decompose , which releases a greater amount of the much more harmful greenhouse gas, methane, into the atmosphere.

CO2 is also released in this process. These greenhouse gas emissions contribute to the dangerous warming of our atmosphere. Beyond the off-gassing of methane, landfills can also contaminate groundwater via the resulting terrible liquid called leachate from the rainwater trickling through garbage.

Liners are required to ensure contamination does not occur. Modern landfills also known as sanitary landfills attempt to stem the negative effects of traditional waste disposal. Improvements include: locations that will have the least environmental impact, improved control of leachate leakage, installation of gas collection and destruction systems, and the ability to reuse the land once finished.

Methane has a remarkable capacity for absorbing heat, which makes it much more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide.

Following its release into the atmosphere, it can stick around for a couple of decades before transforming into CO2 , during which time it is 86 times more potent than CO2. You might even recognize that methane is produced whether you compost or send your waste to the landfill.

So, you shrug, feel powerless, and nothing changes in our routines and the way we treat waste. Because choosing between compost vs. And the numbers are staggering. But the devil is in the details. Methane CH4 , when compared to carbon dioxide CO2 , is times more negatively impactful to our environment. CH4 produced lasts about a decade, while CO2 can last for thousands of years. But CH4 absorbs and holds so much more energy namely, heat. It has a shorter lifespan, but the damage it does is exponential compared to carbon dioxide.

So, all this anaerobic composting A. Will compostable items break down in landfills? The nice, simple answer is yes. The ugly, complicated truth is — at a great cost. When you compost, you participate in what we call aerobic composting. This means you involve oxygen in the process. As airflow works its magic, you achieve higher CO2 levels instead of these staggering amounts of CH4.