Basic Information about the Waste Reduction Model

On this page:

• What is the Waste Reduction Model?
• Who Should Use the Waste Reduction Model?
• What Materials Are in the Waste Reduction Model?

What is the Waste Reduction Model?

The Waste Reduction Model is a tool that provides high-level comparative estimates of the potential GHG emissions, energy savings, and economic impacts of materials managed in baseline and alternative materials management practices, including source reduction, recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion, combustion, and landfilling. The model estimates emissions, energy units and economic factors across a wide range of material types commonly found in municipal solid waste and construction and demolition debris in the following categories:

• Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E),
• Energy units (million British Thermal Unit - BTU),
• Labor hours,
• Wages ($), and
• Taxes ($).

The Waste Reduction Model is currently available as a downloadable Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Potential GHG savings are calculated by comparing the estimated emissions associated with managing materials under an alternative scenario with the estimated emissions associated with the user’s baseline scenario (i.e., current practices), as opposed to simply multiplying the quantity of materials managed by an emission factor. For example, the GHG savings of recycling one (1) short ton (standard U.S. ton) of aluminum cans instead of landfilling them would be calculated as follows:

(1 short ton × -9.13 MTCO2E/short ton) - (1 short ton × 0.02 MTCO2E/short ton) = -9.15 MTCO2E

Waste Reduction Model is periodically updated as new information becomes available and new material types are added. Users may refer to the model history to better understand the differences among various versions of Waste Reduction Model. The Waste Reduction Model was last updated in December 2023. The Waste Reduction Model was not developed for and should not be used for final site-specific materials management decisions, when other human health and environmental impacts of the different management methods may need to be considered (such as air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, etc.). The Waste Reduction Model is a comparative tool rather than a comprehensive measurement tool. It also should not be used for developing GHG inventories, which need to establish a baseline and measure reductions over time on an annual basis for an entity.

Who Should Use Waste Reduction Model?

The Waste Reduction Model provides screening-level comparisons of potential greenhouse gas emissions reductions, energy savings, and economic impacts when considering different materials management practices. Materials management practices include source reduction, recycling, composting, anaerobic digestion, combustion, and landfilling. The Waste Reduction Model can be used by individuals and organizations ranging from state and local governments, students, small businesses, and other organizations interested in the comparative potential GHG, energy and economic impacts from materials management scenarios. The Waste Reduction Model was not developed for and should not be used for final site-specific materials management decisions, when other human health and environmental impacts of the different management methods may need to be considered (such as air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, etc.). The Waste Reduction Model is a comparative tool rather than a comprehensive measurement tool. It also should not be used for developing GHG inventories, which need to establish a baseline and measure reductions over time on an annual basis for an entity.

What Materials Are in Waste Reduction Model?

The Waste Reduction Model now recognizes 61 material types, which are presented in the table below. Their emission, energy and economic factors are available for viewing in units of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E), million BTU, labor hours, wage dollars and tax dollars.