By deploying proven best practices and cost-effective technologies, municipal landfills can improve local air quality, protect public health, and create economic opportunity.
Originally published June 27, 2025 by Rocky Mountain Institute, Written By Ellie Garland, Olivia Alves, Yuchen Wu
Across the United States, there are more than 2,500 municipal solid waste landfills. As buried food scraps, yard clippings, and cardboard decompose in these landfills, they generate methane: a powerful greenhouse gas with more than 80 times the near-term warming potential of carbon dioxide. Beyond the significant warming impacts, landfills release hazardous air pollutants, pungent odors, and ozone precursors, which can harm the health and quality of life of neighboring communities. More than 36 million Americans live within three miles of a landfill.
For these communities, reducing landfill pollution is one of the most impactful and cost-effective ways to slow near-term warming while also improving air quality, protecting public health, and boosting the local economy. Local governments are well positioned to implement solutions. Many counties own and operate their local landfills and thereby have direct control over landfill design and management decisions, while others can advance best management practices through contracts with the private sector. In this article, we describe the top five opportunities to cut landfill methane pollution and the benefits of acting today.
While solid waste and air regulations set minimum standards for landfill pollution control, there is a substantial opportunity to improve landfill design, operations, and monitoring beyond regulatory requirements to better control methane, odors, and other health-harming pollutants. This article does not provide a comprehensive list of all methane control strategies, but rather highlights five high-impact and cost-effective measures that local government could consider, in consultation with professional engineers. These strategies have already been embraced by leading operators across the country.
Click HERE to read entire article & LEARN MORE about these 5 strategies:
- 1. Install the gas collection and control system (GCCS) early
- 2. Boost GCCS efficiency
- 3. Use effective landfill cover materials
- 4. Conduct comprehensive emissions monitoring
- 5. Divert organic waste
