Current Research
Expanded Hierarchy of Waste Management
SUR has proposed the expansion of the current hierarchy of waste management by dividing landfilling into three types, ranging from the most beneficial that capture methane and use it to generate energy, to the traditional dumps that regrettably are the norm throughout most of the world.
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of composting various organic wastes
The California Waste Management Board (CIWMB) and other local and state regulatory bodies are currently addressing organic waste management practices, including food, yard, paper, and lumber that are currently being disposed in landfills. There is mounting pressure to divert these materials to "higher and better use", using Climate Change and decreased greenhouse gas emissions benefits as one major reason for diversion. It is very important to have the best possible and objective information available to decision-makers, in order to compare the Climate Change benefits of alternative practices for managing organic wastes. SUR conducts on various and waste management options for organic wastes, including aerobic composting (AC), anaerobic digestion (AD), and the of source-separated green wastes as Alternative Daily Cover (ADC), using the LCA methodology that has been used at Columbia University in prior industrial ecology studies of alternative processes and products.
Quantification of the benefits of recycling
The potential for greenhouse gas reduction credits within the waste management field is most often associated with increased recycling. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed the WARM model to estimate the general benefit of recycling as compared to other waste management practices. However, the U.S. EPA has stated that this model should not be used to calculate "credits". The question remains as to how credits will be determined for the diversion of recyclable commodities. SUR proposes to develop methods by which such credits may be calculated and accounted for, in regulatory schemes.
Energy recovery from post-recycling wastes
Because of its close association with WTERT, SUR is well positioned to research waste-to-energy, including controlled combustion or gasification of solid wastes (WTE) and capture and conversion of landfill gas to energy (LFGTE). Specifically, SUR research is directed as to how energy derived from waste can be used to offset fossil fuel energy sources and what credits may be available for the production of energy from waste. Such analysis includes comparison of criteria pollutant emissions associated with various WTE, LFGTE, and other biomass utilization technologies.
Training of future leaders for industry and government
An important role of the academic partners of SUR and WTERT is to train future leaders of the U.S. waste management industry. Also, SUR recognizes that the problems of waste management are most acute in the developing nations where rapid economic development and inadequate infrastructure have led to massive generation of wastes that pollute and disfigure land and water, and add considerably to the greenhouse effect.
Landfill gas generation, collection, and utilization
On a global scale, most landfills are not equipped to capture the biogas generated. Only 20% of the methane generated in landfills is captured at the present time, most of it at U.S. landfills. SUR reviews all available data to determine best practice and average landfill gas collection efficiencies and promoting high LFG capture in the U.S. and globally.
