Free Landfill Waste calculator with clear step-by-step results.
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.
Landfilled mass
kg per year = weekly waste x 52.14 x (1 - recycled share - composted share)
Emissions
kgCO2e = landfilled tonnes x landfill emission factor
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.
Largely. Aerobic composting produces mostly carbon dioxide from biogenic carbon rather than methane, which is why diverting food waste has an outsized effect.