List of Publications Related to Landfill Gas and Waste Management

• LMOP Publications Related to LFG Energy
• Landfill Best Management Practices and Technologies
• Organic Waste Diversion
• Other EPA Publications

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LMOP Publications Related to LFG Energy

Considering Environmental Justice in Landfill Gas Energy Project Development (pdf) (491.75 KB) (April 2024) – Presents information about environmental justice in relation to landfill gas (LFG) energy project development, including specific actions that can be taken to effectively engage with communities that have potential concerns.

An Overview of Renewable Natural Gas from Biogas (pdf) (3.04 MB, 2024) (January 2024) – Provides key information about the creation of renewable natural gas (RNG) from biogas including the main feedstocks and sources, options for delivering and using RNG, benefits of these projects, counts of operational and potential projects by feedstock type, processes and technologies used in upgrading biogas to RNG, policies and incentives for as well as barriers to RNG project development, and example projects.

Landfill Gas to Vehicle Fuel (pdf) (718.03 KB) (June 2022) – Describes how LFG can be converted into fuel for natural gas vehicles (NGVs), the benefits of NGVs and financial incentives for this end use of LFG. This fact sheet also presents examples of a project creating vehicle fuel on site, one injecting RNG into a pipeline for compression to vehicle fuel down the line and a site that does both.

Landfill Methane Outreach Program and Landfill Gas Energy: Creating partnerships and renewable energy across the country (pdf) (261.36 KB) (April 2024) – Presents basic information about LMOP's resources and LFG energy in a brief, one-page format. This overview is particularly useful for introducing LFG energy concepts to an audience unfamiliar with this type of renewable energy.

LFG Energy Project Development Handbook (January 2024) – Provides an overview of LFG energy project development and presents technological, economic and regulatory considerations that can affect project feasibility and success. Landfill owners, energy service providers, end users, state and local agencies, community members and other interested stakeholders will benefit from this information as they work together to develop successful projects.

LMOP and LFG Energy in the United States (pdf) (3.83 MB) (May 2022) – Provides an overview of the current LFG energy industry including background information on why EPA formed LMOP, basic information about LFG energy project development and helpful links to more information.

LMOP Quick Reference Sheet: Regulations and Proposals Affecting Landfills and LFG Energy Projects (pdf) (170.67 KB)  (July 2021) – This reference sheet maintained by LMOP identifies several EPA rules that may affect landfills or LFG energy projects. It includes brief summaries of recently published and longer established rules, along with web addresses for readers interested in obtaining more detailed information. EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) developed most of these regulations and is the best source of information on those topics.

Adapting Boilers to Utilize Landfill Gas: An Environmentally and Economically Beneficial Opportunity (pdf) (2.19 MB)  (December 2009) – Discusses the retrofits needed to enable a boiler to operate efficiently using LFG, notes other factors that should be considered related to LFG use in boilers, and provides examples of successful LFG-fired boiler projects. Using LFG in place of conventional fuels in a boiler is a common practice that requires minor technical adjustments to the boiler. Virtually any commercial or industrial boiler can be retrofitted to fire LFG and the equipment for retrofitting a boiler to burn LFG is commercially available and proven.

Landfill Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Technologies

U.S. EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Sector Policies and Programs Division

• Available and Emerging Technologies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Municipal Solid Waste Landfills (GHG Control Measures White Paper - Landfills) (June 2011) – Summarizes information on available control techniques and measures to mitigate landfill GHG emissions.
• Landfill Surface Emissions Monitoring and Measurement Workshop (January 2021) – This EPA-hosted virtual workshop explored developments in air emissions monitoring and measurement technologies for municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills.

U.S. EPA Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery

• Best Practices for Solid Waste Management: A Guide for Decision-Makers in Developing Countries (October 2020) – Presents information and resources to improve solid waste management in medium and large urban centers in developing countries and possibly also rural or smaller jurisdictions.

California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)

• Technologies and Management Options for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Landfills (April 2008) – Provides landfill operators and regulators some recommended technologies and BMPs to reduce LFG emissions through improved landfill design, construction, operation, and closure.
• Best Management Practices for Landfill Gas Monitoring Well/Probe Construction (August 2018) – Provides practical guidance for effective design and construction of monitoring wells and probes.

US Army Corps of Engineers

• Landfill Gas Collection and Treatment Systems (pdf) (April 2013) – This engineering manual offers guidance related to the design, operation and maintenance of LFG collection and control systems

British Columbia Ministry of Environment

• Technologies and Best Management Practices for Reducing GHG Emissions from Landfills Guidelines (pdf) (June 2011) – Provides a description, potential GHG reductions, cost considerations, feasibility, and other benefits for several BMPs, and includes a BMP Decision Tool with recommendations and criteria for determining a set of BMPs most suitable and feasible at a particular site.
• Landfill Gas Management Facilities Design Guidelines (pdf) (March 2010) – Provides guidance for the design of LFG management facilities and BMPs at MSW landfills based on a review of LFG management regulations worldwide, and includes a simple diagnosis tool of common collection system and fuel recovery issues and solutions.

Organic Waste Diversion

U.S. EPA

• Downstream Management of Organic Waste in the United States: Strategies for Methane Mitigation (pdf) (2.64 MB)  (January 2022) – Keeping food and other organic waste out of landfills will help address climate change through lowered landfill methane emissions. This document provides an overview of downstream organic waste management, focusing on alternative options to landfilling such as composting and anaerobic digestion (AD).
• Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing Food Waste in the United States: Survey Results (Periodic) – EPA publishes reports based on annual surveys of three types of AD facilities that accept food waste: stand-alone food waste digesters, on-farm digesters that co-digest food waste and water resource recovery facility digesters that co-digest food waste. The reports provide information such as facility processing capacity, amount of food waste processed, feedstock types and sources, biogas cleaning systems, biogas production and use, and digestate use.

Environment and Climate Change Canada

• Technical Document on Municipal Solid Waste Organics Processing (2013) – Describes technical aspects and key considerations involved in processing organic wastes, covering a wide range of topics from the science and principles of composting and AD to proven processing technologies, biogas utilization, and facility design. Drawing on lessons learned and expert knowledge in the field of organics management across North America, this document presents valuable information for professionals including government officials, facility operators, waste management specialists and stakeholders.

Other EPA Publications

Office of Research and Development

• Evaluating the Air Quality, Climate & Economic Impacts of Biogas Management Technologies (pdf) (September 2016) – EPA presents the results of evaluating biogas management technology impacts, specifically the emissions and costs associated with using biogas in specific end-use applications.

Office of Land and Emergency Management, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery

• Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures Report (Periodic) – Includes information on MSW generation, recycling, and disposal in two formats: a full report and a shorter fact sheet. EPA has collected and reported data on the generation and disposal of waste in the United States for more than 30 years, and uses this information to measure the success of waste reduction and recycling programs across the country.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Resource Center

• Biomass CHP Catalog of Technologies (September 2007) – Reviews the technical and economic characterization of biomass resources, biomass preparation, energy conversion technologies, power production systems, and complete integrated CHP systems.
• Catalog of CHP Technologies (September 2017) – Provides an overview of how CHP systems work and the key concepts of efficiency and power-to-heat ratios. It also provides information and performance characteristics of five technologies.