Some people don’t realize that solid waste reduction and recycling help address global climate change. How?

The manufacture, distribution and use of consumer products, as well as management of the resulting waste, all result in greenhouse gas emissions. Waste prevention and recycling reduce greenhouse gases associated with these activities by reducing methane emissions, saving energy and increasing forest carbon sequestration.

What is the link between solid waste and greenhouse gas emissions?

The disposal of solid waste produces greenhouse gas emissions in a number of ways. First, the anaerobic decomposition of waste in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Second, the incineration of waste produces carbon dioxide as a byproduct.

In addition, the transportation of waste to disposal sites produces greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of the fuel used in the equipment.

Finally, the disposal of materials indicates they are being replaced by new products. This production often requires the use of fossil fuels to obtain raw materials and manufacture the items.

How can certain waste management strategies reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Waste prevention and recycling, jointly referred to as waste reduction, help us better manage the solid waste we generate. But preventing waste and recycling also are important strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Together, waste prevention and recycling:

. Reduce methane emissions from landfills. Waste prevention and recycling – including composting – divert organic wastes from landfills, thereby reducing the methane released when these materials decompose.

. Reduce emissions from incinerators. Recycling and waste prevention allow some materials to be diverted from incinerators and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the combustion of waste.

. Reduce emissions from energy consumption. Recycling saves energy. Manufacturing goods from recycled materials typically requires less energy than producing goods from virgin materials. Waste prevention is even more effective at saving energy. When people reuse things or when products are made with less material, less energy is needed to extract, transport and process raw materials, and to manufacture products. The payoff? When energy demand decreases, fewer fossil fuels are burned and less carbon dioxide is emitted to the atmosphere.

. Increase storage of carbon in trees. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in wood in a process called carbon sequestration. Waste prevention and the recycling of paper products allow more trees to remain standing in the forest, where they can continue to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Energy efficiencies are realized in most consumer product manufacturing when recycled feedstock is used rather than virgin feedstock.

Greenhouse gases, after all, are a byproduct of the energy manufacturers use to convert feedstock to product. We’ve heard and seen the savings before. They are real and they do matter. What else can we do as simple and painless as recycling that will make a measurable impact on global warming?

. For container glass, a 10-percent increase in recycled glass cullet reduces particulates by 8 percent, nitrogen oxide by 4 percent and sulfur oxides by 10 percent. And, for every six tons of recycled container glass used, one ton of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is reduced. Recycling a single glass container saves enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.

. Recycling paper reduces energy consumption an estimated 40 percent to 64 percent. Recycling one ton of paper saves 4,000 kilowatt hours of electricity and results in as much as 35 percent less water pollution and 74 percent less air pollution.

. Every pound of steel recycled saves enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for 24 hours.

. A single aluminum can recycled saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours. Some 51.9 billion aluminum cans were recycled in the United States in 2006. The energy savings is equivalent to taking nearly 5 million cars off the road for an entire year.