WASHINGTON, March 28 (Reuters) - Over half of U.S. landfills observed by aerial surveys are super-emitting sources of methane, according to a new study in the journal Science published on Thursday. The study is the largest assessment to date of methane from landfills, the third-largest source of U.S. methane emissions, and suggests an opportunity to tackle climate change by targeting a prevalent and potent greenhouse gas. It was led by research group Carbon Mapper, with researchers from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Scientific Aviation, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Mill Seat Landfill is owned by Monroe County and operated by Waste Management of New York, LLC. The facility is located on the western edge of Monroe County in the Town of Riga. Mill Seat Landfill was permitted in 1991 and began operation in 1993. In 2002, Monroe County partnered with Waste Management to operate the site. Waste Management is proud to partner with the towns of Riga and Bergen, the villages of Churchville and Bergen, as well as Monroe County.
Notable is how much of this landfill is surrounded by regulated wetlands, as shown in green and yellow on this map.
LEFT - Circa 1995, a few years after opening
RIGHT - Circa 2020, a contemporary aerial photo
Surprisingly the totals for Messer Deprivation were similar for landfills as Title V emitters. I am thinking though the issue is different here, as there are many small, rural landfills, not all of them are in the poorest communities in the state.
With all this talk of plastic in the news, the other day I was thinking what a large part of my trash is plastic milk bottles, as I drink around 2 gallons of milk a week, usually purchased at my local Stewart’s. They have not had a milk bottle program for a long time, instead switching to light-weight plastic milk bottles that you buy, take home, drink the milk in and throw away.
Now, I generally either recycle or burn them when camping in the woods, so none of them ever goes directly to the landfill. But I often think what a waste. Recycling is great, but usually plastic milk bottles and other HDPE products are shipped to China, and turned into some low value use like floor tiles or plastic lumber. I guess it’s better then using virgin materials for those needed purposes, but melting down all those discarded milk bottles for low value commercial products still seems a waste.
I guess I could get milk delivered in glass bottles. Meadow Brook Farms still does milk deliveries locally. That would be a more sustainable option, with less trash to dispose of. But milk in plastic from Stewart’s is more affordable, which is a big thing when you like drinking milk as much as I do. Plus, plastic milk bottles are convenient — you just throw them in the recycling trash can or I can burn them up at camp. You don’t need to return them.
But alas, I guess that is the dilemma known as modern disposable plastics. You like what comes in the package, then you throw it away. Although I do think I could put it to better use when I own my own land.
I can envision find more uses for all the milk bottles I’d otherwise be throwing away in the commercial recycling stream. HDPE is a really good plastic for molding, it can be carefully heated and remolded for various projects around the house. HDPE is a relatively non toxic plastic to burn, if the fire is hot, maybe I could use it heat water, although I wouldn’t want to do that inside where it could cause a chimney fire. Or storage of water or ice, although lately I’ve discovered plastic coffee cans are better for that purpose. Feed scoops and planters are other possible uses, although sometimes heavier plastic like what windshield washer fluid comes it would better.
I just hate seeing all those bottles in the trash and having to take them to the transfer station for recycling.
