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disposed in each year. Therefore if the amount of waste sent to a landfill is significantly reduced in a future year, the year's emissions profile will reflect those reductions. As some types of waste (e.g. paper, plant debris, food scraps, etc.) generate methane within the anaerobic environment of a landfill and others do not (e.g. metal, glass, etc.), it is important to characterize the various components of the waste stream. Alameda County is unique among California counties in that it conducted its own waste characterization study in the year 2000. ICLEI utilized this study to determine the average composition of the waste stream for all Alameda municipalities. The specific characterization of ADC tonnage was provided by the C[WMB via the Disposal Reporting System (DRS). Most landfills in the Bay Area capture methane emissions either for energy generation or for flaringx. The US EPA estimates that 60%-80%9 of total methane emissions are recovered at the landfills to which the City sends its waste. Following the recommendation of the Alameda County Waste Management Authority, and keeping with the general guidelines from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to err towards conservative estimation, ICLEI has adopted 60% as the methane recovery factor used in these calculations. The waste methodology of the emissions inventory only accounts for the tonnage and composition of waste land filled and does not directly reflect the tonnage of waste diverted by recycling or composting. The impact of recycling and composting programs, however, will be reflected in future inventories as a reduction in the total tonnage of waste going to the landfill, which reduces the amount of methane produced at that landfill. As Pleasanton continues to increase the amount of waste recycled or composted, a reduction in the per capita waste tonnage will occur and will be reduce methane emissions frotn landtilled waste. The CACP model also does not capture the emissions reductions in "upstream" energy ttse from recycling (or any other emissions reduction practice). However, it should be noted that recycling and composting programs can hove signiftcant additional impact on UHG emissions beyond a reduction in the tonnage landfilled waste. This is because manufacturing products with recycled materials avoid emissions from the energy that would have been used during extraction, transporting and processing of virgin materials. Stopwaste.org is pursuing a method of quantifying these impacts, and this may be reflected in future inventories. Table 3 - Canmunity Waste Composition and Emissions by Waste Type"' Waste Type Paper Products Food Waste Plant Debris Wood/ Textiles All Other Waste TOTAL COze (metric ~7 329 X4,322 2,178 6,990 0 40,819 tons Percent of Total 67.0% 10.6% 5.3% 17.1% 0.0% 100% COze Percent of Total Tonnage Dis osed 29.1% 8.1% 7.2% 26.3% 29.2% 100% ~ As the emissions reductions associated with decreasing the amount of waste being landtilled are real and there are usually few external variables that change those emissions levels later, this front-loading is considered to be an accurate practice for counting and reporting emissions that will be generated over time. a Methane flaring is the combustion of methane, which converts it into COz, thereby reducing it's global warming potential. AP 42, section 2.4 Municipal Solid Waste, 2.4-6, http //w~~n.e a. Gov/ttn/chief%ap32/inde~,html 10 Was[e characterization study conducted by Stopwaste.org for the year 2000. `Phis total does not include AllC. 2005 c~eenhot.lse c~ Emissions In~erltory, Cityaf Fl~sarlton 9