Landfill Waste

Free Landfill Waste calculator with clear step-by-step results.

About Landfill Waste

Whatever is not recycled or composted goes to landfill, where organic fractions decompose anaerobically and generate methane. Annualising weekly waste and applying the residual share gives the tonnage, the gate fee it costs and the emissions it causes.

Formulas

Landfilled mass

kg per year = weekly waste x 52.14 x (1 - recycled share - composted share)

Emissions

kgCO2e = landfilled tonnes x landfill emission factor

Worked example

With the default values below, Landfill Waste returns Waste sent to landfill each year of 1,433.9. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Waste generatedminimum 0 kg/week: 55 kg/week
Share recycledaccepts 0–100 %: 35 %
Share compostedaccepts 0–100 %: 15 %
Landfill gate feeminimum 0 $/t: 110 $/t
Landfill emission factoraccepts 0–2,000 kgCO2e/t: 450 kgCO2e/t

Results

Waste sent to landfill each year: 1,433.9 kg
Diversion rate achieved: 50.0% %
Annual landfill gate cost: $157.73
Emissions from landfilled waste: 645.3 kgCO2e

Step by step

1Values used
2Landfilled mass
3Emissions
4Waste sent to landfill each year= 1,433.9 kg
5Diversion rate achieved= 50.0 %
6Annual landfill gate cost= $157.73
7Emissions from landfilled waste= 645.3 kgCO2e

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 5 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the emission factor so high?

Methane has roughly 28 times the hundred-year warming effect of carbon dioxide, and food waste in an unmanaged landfill generates a lot of it. Sites with gas capture have much lower factors.

Does composting eliminate the emissions?

Largely. Aerobic composting produces mostly carbon dioxide from biogenic carbon rather than methane, which is why diverting food waste has an outsized effect.