CAP Waste Management & Recycling 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A company wants to reduce its Scope 3 Category 5 footprint. Which action would achieve the greatest GHG reduction per tonne of waste?
- Switching from recycling to landfill
- Diverting food waste from landfill to anaerobic digestion with biogas capture (Correct answer)
- Switching from composting to incineration without energy recovery
- Increasing plastic packaging weight to improve durability
Correct answer: Diverting food waste from landfill to anaerobic digestion with biogas capture
Anaerobic digestion of food waste captures methane as biogas (an energy resource), preventing uncontrolled methane release to the atmosphere and substituting fossil fuels.
Question 2: What does the term 'biogenic carbon' refer to in the context of waste management emissions?
- Carbon from fossil fuel combustion
- Carbon stored in biological materials that is part of the short-term carbon cycle (Correct answer)
- Carbon captured by industrial carbon capture systems
- Carbon embedded in synthetic polymers
Correct answer: Carbon stored in biological materials that is part of the short-term carbon cycle
Biogenic carbon originates from biological sources (plants, food, wood) and is considered part of the natural carbon cycle, often treated separately from fossil-derived CO2 in GHG accounting.
Question 3: Which waste stream typically has the highest carbon emission factor per tonne when sent to landfill, according to the EPA WARM model?
- Glass
- Aluminum cans
- Food scraps (Correct answer)
- Concrete rubble
Correct answer: Food scraps
Food scraps have high organic content that decomposes to methane in landfills, giving them among the highest landfill emission factors in the EPA WARM model.
Question 4: In a carbon audit, 'recycling' a material generates a GHG credit primarily because:
- Recycling trucks use electric vehicles
- It avoids virgin material extraction and production emissions (Correct answer)
- Recycling facilities emit zero GHGs
- Recycled materials are lighter than virgin materials
Correct answer: It avoids virgin material extraction and production emissions
Recycling displaces the need to extract and process virgin raw materials, avoiding the significant GHG emissions associated with mining, refining, and manufacturing from scratch.
Question 5: Which ISO standard provides guidance specifically on the quantification and reporting of GHG emissions and removals at the organizational level, including waste?
- ISO 9001
- ISO 14001
- ISO 14064-1 (Correct answer)
- ISO 50001
Correct answer: ISO 14064-1
ISO 14064-1 specifies principles and requirements for quantifying and reporting GHG emissions and removals at the organizational level, covering all emission sources including waste.
Question 6: A manufacturing facility generates 500 tonnes of cardboard waste annually. Switching from landfill to recycling would typically result in:
- Higher Scope 1 emissions due to recycling truck fuel
- A net GHG benefit due to avoided landfill methane and virgin pulp production (Correct answer)
- No change in Scope 3 emissions since waste is outsourced
- Increased Scope 2 emissions from recycling facility electricity
Correct answer: A net GHG benefit due to avoided landfill methane and virgin pulp production
Recycling cardboard avoids both the methane from landfill decomposition and the emissions from producing virgin paper pulp, yielding a significant net GHG benefit.
Question 7: What is 'landfill gas-to-energy' (LFGTE) and how does it affect a landfill's carbon footprint?
- Burning trash directly reduces waste volume with no GHG impact
- Capturing and combusting landfill methane converts it to CO2, reducing net GWP impact (Correct answer)
- Pumping oxygen into landfills to accelerate decomposition
- Using solar panels on landfill surfaces to power operations
Correct answer: Capturing and combusting landfill methane converts it to CO2, reducing net GWP impact
LFGTE captures methane from decomposing waste and combusts it for energy; converting CH4 to CO2 reduces the climate impact since methane has ~25x the warming potential of CO2.
CAP Waste Management & Recycling 3
A company wants to reduce its Scope 3 Category 5 footprint.
Which action would achieve the greatest GHG reduction per tonne of waste?