EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Report is an update of the 2011 Earth Engineering Center (EEC) Report to the American Chemistry Council (ACC) which was based on U.S. 2008 data and quantified the energy and economic value of municipal solid wastes (MSW) and non-recycled plastics (NRP). The study presented in this Report is based on 2011 data, compiled in the EEC 2013 Survey of Waste Management in the U.S. and on MSW characterization studies conducted by several states. The 2013 EEC Survey reported that in 2011 the U.S. generated 389 million tons of MSW, of which 87.8 million tons were recycled, 24.6 million tons were composted, 29.5 million tons were used as fuel in WTE plants, and 247 million tons were landfilled. Between 2008 and 2011, the recycling rate of plastics increased by 21% to 2.66 million tons, due to higher recovery of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and highdensity polyethylene (HDPE) bottles, other HDPE and polypropylene (PP) rigid plastics, and HDPE and low density polyethylene (LDPE) films, bags, and wraps. However, despite the growth in both access to and types of plastics collected for recycling, some plastics cannot be economically recycled. For these non-recycled plastics (NRP), conversion to energy is preferred over landfilling, in accord with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) waste management hierarchy. The main objective of this study was to determine the quantities of non-recycled MSW and plastics that are available for converting to energy or fuel, nationally and state-by-state. In addition to MSW, the 2014 update study also included NRP contained in other waste streams that are disposed in MSW landfills.
This Report is an update of the 2011 Earth Engineering Center (EEC) Report to the American Chemistry Council (ACC) which was based on U.S. 2008 data and quantified the energy and economic value of municipal solid wastes (MSW) and non-recycled plastics (NRP). The study presented in this Report is based on 2011 data, compiled in the EEC 2013 Survey of Waste Management in the U.S. and on MSW characterization studies conducted by several states.

Key findings:

• Between 2008 and 2011, recycling of all materials in the U.S. MSW stream increased by 18.5 million tons while landfilling decreased by about 23 million tons.
• Plastics represented nearly 11% (39.3 million tons) of the total MSW stream. Of this amount, 2.66 million tons (6.8%) were recycled, 3.9 million tons (9.9%) were converted to energy in waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, 0.27 million tons (0.7%) were used as alternative fuel in cement production, and 32.5 million tons (82.7%) were mixed in the MSW disposed in landfills. The rate of recycling plus energy recovery of plastics increased from 14.3% in 2008 to 17.3% in 2011. An additional source of about 1.9 million tons of NRP is in the form of automotive shredder residue (ASR).
• If all the MSW that was landfilled in 2011 were to be diverted to WTE power plants, it could generate enough electricity to supply 13.8 million households, i.e., 12% of the U.S. total. In addition, if the steam turbine exhaust of the WTE plants were to be used for district heating, as is done in Denmark and some other northern European countries, the “waste” steam could provide district heating for 9.8 million homes.
• Every ton of MSW combusted in recently built WTE power plants replaces an estimated 0.4 tons of coal. Therefore, diversion of MSW from landfills to new WTE plants could reduce coal mining in the U.S. by about 100 million tons per year (10% of U.S. 2012 coal production).
• If MSW were to be used as a fuel in WTE power plants, it could replace all the coal imported by states such as New York, California, Idaho, New Jersey and Maine. Use of MSW fuel in place of coal could reduce the U.S. state-to-state transportation of coal by 22%.
• Diversion of all MSW from landfills to WTE plants could also result in reducing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of managing the U.S. waste by at least 123 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (2.1% of U.S. total greenhouse gas emissions), comparable to the annual emissions of over 23 million cars.
• The current annual landfilling of MSW in the U.S. is estimated to require a land surface of about 6,100 acres, equivalent to nearly 4,600 U.S. football fields, or seven New York City Central Parks; diversion of MSW to new energy recovery facilities would reduce the amount of land converted from green space to landfills every year.
• The average lower heating value of non-recycled plastics (NRP) was estimated at 30.7 million Btu/ton (35.7 MJ/kg). The NRP contained in the MSW disposed to landfills in 2011 contained a chemical energy content equivalent to:
  – 48 million tons of coal, or
  – 180 million barrels of oil, or
  – 1 trillion standard cubic feet of natural gas
• Source-separation and conversion of the non-recycled plastics to synthetic oil, by means of pyrolysis, could produce 136 million barrels of oil per year, or 5.7 billion gallons of gasoline, enough to fuel an estimated 8.9 million cars.
• Alternatively, if the NRP were to be source-separated and used as fuel in dedicated power plants, these plants could generate 61.9 million MWh of electricity, enough to supply an estimated 5.7 million households.
• Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Hampshire, in that 4 order, are closest to attaining sustainable waste management, by combining high rates of recycling with high WTE.
• There are economic and environmental advantages in increasing the current use (about 0.3 million tons) of NRP in the form of engineered fuel for cement production. Also, source-separated NRP and (ASR) can be used as fuel in dedicated power plants or transformed to synthetic fuel by means of pyrolysis.