We Need to Pull the Emergency Brake on Global Warming

Landfills are a major source of methane—a potent greenhouse gas—generated when organic waste like food scraps and yard debris breaks down without oxygen. This invisible pollutant leaks into our atmosphere, driving global warming at an alarming rate.

Tackling landfill methane emissions is one of the quickest, most effective ways to slow near-term warming and reduce climate pollution. The Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (CDPHE) has already started the rulemaking process to reduce landfill methane, and Eco-Cycle and our allies are building a statewide awareness and action campaign to encourage the state of Colorado and the Air Quality Control Commission to adopt the strongest possible update to the state’s landfill methane control requirements. Together, we can set a precedent for the nation. 

Our climate can’t wait! 

Dozens of organizations have joined our coalition and signed our letter to the CDPHE urging the state to adopt the strongest possible landfill methane control requirements. Want to support strong landfill methane rulemaking in Colorado?

Read our sign-on letter to CDPHE

Organizations Supporting This Campaign

The Problem

Methane traps heat in the atmosphere about 80 times more effectively than carbon dioxide in the short term. In the US, landfill methane emissions are equivalent to the pollution from 24 million passenger vehicles or 74 coal plants. Landfills also release harmful air pollutants that disproportionately impact low-income and communities of color nationwide.

Our Solution

We are advocating for an updated rule to:

  1. Close loopholes that allow landfills to slip through the cracks. Lower the installation thresholds for gas collection systems to cover all MSW landfills with 200,000 metric tons of waste in place, reduce lag time in installation to less than a year, and require other measures that boost the performance of gas collection and control systems.
  2. Raise the bar for landfill operators. Establish standards to minimize the size of landfills’ active working faces; ensure cover integrity; reduce lag times between daily, intermediate, and final cover; and use materials like biocover that can more effectively oxidize methane.
  3. Make long-overdue technology upgrades. Deploy more effective monitoring approaches, such as drones and satellites, for prompt detection and mitigation of leaks. Despite broad availability and cost-effectiveness of methane-monitoring tools like drones, landfills are relying on outdated, manual monitoring practices that let untold amounts of methane go undetected. State standards should require the use of the most effective monitoring technology that makes the invisible visible. 
  4. Encourage the diversion of organic waste from landfills to avoid new methane generation. Promote food waste prevention, edible food recovery, and increase access to compost programs. Use finished compost on agricultural and urban landscapes to sequester carbon and improve soil health. 

Watch the Webinar

Watch the coalition’s webinar, “Slashing Colorado’s Landfill Methane Emissions,” featuring Gina McCarthy, the first White House National Climate Advisor and 13th US EPA Administrator.

Colorado Can Lead on Methane Reductions

The state of Colorado has already made landfill methane reduction a priority: Colorado’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap 2.0 calls for methane reduction from landfills, and Colorado was recently awarded a federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grant to deploy monitoring tech to find methane leaks across Colorado. The state’s 2024 Organics Management Plan also highlights the need to reduce methane by keeping organic waste out of landfills.

Learn more about composting, reducing food waste, and the importance of keeping organic material out of landfills here.

Related Pages

Statewide Legislative Campaigns

Community Legislative Campaigns

Eco-Cycle’s Legislative Victories