Canada's Clean Fuel Regulation is a huge step towards understanding the benefits of landfill diversion and reality of landfill emissions from organic waste. Read more on this initiative from our VP of Strategic Growth, Alex, below!
Canada gets it right on organics landfill diversion carbon accounting!! Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulation (CFR) is a newly implemented binding requirement for reducing the carbon intensity of transportation fuels nationally (ala California’s LCFS). Environment & Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has developed and released dozens of fuel pathways using the OpenLCA calculation platform. Renewable Gas from Organic Waste is one of these pathways, and the calculation methodology has been in the works for several years. On June 28th, 2024, ECCC finally issued the methodology, and it is an excellent result for biogas industry to potentially access N. America’s highest value CO2 Compliance Market. 1) Definition of Food Waste includes Post-consumer AND Grocery waste. 2) Food industry and manufacturing CAN be considered as landfill diverted if proven individually ("Other Solid Organic Waste") 3) Baseline levels of food waste disposal DO NOT consider regional landfill diversion mandates, rather consider ACTUAL final disposition of organics for Canada as a whole. Current ACTUAL disposal rates of food waste to landfill in Canada is 77% vs. 23% composting/other. This was a make-or-break provision. 4) Perhaps most importantly; the Landfill methane capture rate is ACTUAL as scientifically proven: 36% (vs. 75% used by California Tier 1). Landfills are leaking 64% of the methane! True story. 77% of Canada's food waste goes to landfill and 64% of the resulting landfill methane emissions escape. Congratulations to ECCC for using the REAL numbers - best we've seen from a regulatory body in North America. For a project operating on 100% food waste as defined by ECCC, a CI score of -150 gCO2e/MJ would be expected. Validation of the environmental benefits enabled by LF diversion!