Waste is usually disposed into landfill. The problem is that this removes oxygen and causes the material to break down anaerobically. Over time, the landfill will produce methane: a greenhouse gas that is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide thus creating risks to human health and the environment. Thus landfill waste is a serious problem and we are all responsible (to widely varyin degrees) for adding to the level of pollution in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Landfill Zero’s Offset Credits Scheme is a way for UK businesses to impact on their Extended Producer Responsibility. The Landfill Zero Credit Scheme sponsors a host of Waste Prevention Projects which capture discarded material and prevent it from being disposed into landfill. This material can be quantified by weight unit of metric kilogram and is then converted into a verified Landfill Zero Offset Credit. Landfill Zero Offset Credits are then traded to UK businesses who can then treat this as an asset which is to be incorporated into their respective Corporate Social Responsibility Policies as a means of demonstrating compliance in relation to their Extended Producer Responsibility as well as show casing their green credentials to consumers.

The trading of Landfill Zero Offset Credit Scheme has been created to ensure projects can scale, have good methodologies and to oversee verification of the performance of the projects. The Landfill Zero Offset Credit Scheme is important in that it helps demonstrate credibility and they also help to create the Landfill Offset Credits for future Waste Prevention Projects. When Landfill Offset Credits are created they are then get added to project accounts on the Landfill Zero Offset Credits Scheme Environmental Registry. From this point the Landfill Zero Offset Credits are sold to UK businesses needing to offset the post consumer landfill footprint of the respective products which they produce and sell. The use of these register keeps track of available credits and makes this publicly visible.

So basically, we find a project developer who can worked within local communities to create a Waste Prevention Project. A Waste Prevention Project is designed to promote a circular economy with the aim landfill benefit with less waste destined for disposal. The project will be verified under the Landfill Zero Offset Credit Scheme and we will fund the project and help with project communications to get the stories out there.

Thus Landfill Offsetting Credits can compensate for the waste which is sent to landfill. If you waste it, balance it! This works with nature and uses probably the best technology we will ever have – Land! Land allows for the creation of building infrastructure which can capture waste.

The Landfill Offset Credits are accompanied by a certification and which is linked to a circular economy audit trail.

What are Landfill Credits

A “Landfill credit” is basically a tradable certificate. More specifically, it is a permit that gives the holder the right to emit, over a certain period, Landfill dioxide or other greenhouse gases (e.g. methane, nitrous oxide or hydrofluoroLandfills). The Landfill credit limits the emission to one tonne of Landfill dioxide or the mass of another greenhouse gas with a Landfill dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) corresponding to one tonne of Landfill dioxide. In other words, 1 Landfill credit corresponds to 1 metric tonne of Landfill dioxide prevented from entering the atmosphere.

Origins of Landfill Credits

Landfill Credits were created as an answer to the need for controlling emissions (global Landfill-dioxide emissions in 2016 were about 36 billion metric tonnes), and as an attempt to reduce the emission of greenhouse and harmful gases coming from industrial activity (industries as power, steel, textile, fertilizer, etc. use all fossil fuels – such as coal, oil and natural gas – that are the major responsible for greenhouse gas emissions). The Landfill Credits system was officially formalised in the Kyoto Protocol, while the mechanisms that regulate the Landfill Credits market were established in the Marrakesh Accords.

Who Issues Landfill Credits

The Kyoto Protocol establishes the quotas of greenhouse gases (denominated in individual units) that each developed country can emit. These so-called Assigned Amount Units (AAUs) correspond to an allowance to emit one metric tonne of CO2 or equivalent greenhouse gas. Each country then, divides its quotas assigning them to local businesses and organizations, setting in this a way limit on the emissions of CO2 for each of them. Any government or other regulating body willing to limit the Landfill dioxide emissions, can issue Landfill Credits. Landfill trading follows the principle of an emissions trading (or cap and trade) approach, i.e. a market-based approach in which economic incentives are given to encourage reductions in the emissions of pollutants. One of the positive aspects of this approach is that organisations can decide to use the emissions trading schemes in a flexible way, finding the best option to meet policy targets.

Who Buys Landfill Credits

Landfill Credits are bought, on a voluntary basis, by any country or company interested in lowering its Landfill footprint. The Kyoto Protocol divides countries into two groups according to the level of their economy: industrialised and developing economies. The first group operate in an emissions trading market, assigning to each country a certain emissions standard to meet. If, for example, a country emits less than its target amount of CO2, then it can sells the surplus credits to other countries that do not meet their emissions level goals established by the Kyoto Protocol. This buying and selling of Landfill Credits is regulated by a legal contract called ERPA (Emission Reduction Purchase Agreement). There is also another mechanism, called Clean Development Mechanism and specifically addressed to developing countries, that issues Landfill Credits for supporting sustainable development initiatives (those Landfill Credits are called Certified Emission Reduction, or CER).

How Do Landfill Credits Work

To better understand how Landfill Credits work, let’s consider this example: Company A emits less than its target amount of CO2; this means that Company A has a surplus of Landfill Credits. Company B, on the other hand, emits more than its target amount of hydroLandfill, so either Company B pays a fine or tries to buy Landfill Credits from another company. At this point, Company A and Company B get to an agreement and trade Landfill Credits: Company A sells its surplus to Company B, getting money and a positive image feedback, while Company B buying Landfill Credits from Company A avoids paying a fine. Buyers and sellers can also use an exchange platform to trade, which is like a stock exchange for Landfill credits. In some cases though, it can happen that it is more economic to pay a fine than to buy Landfill Credits due to their high price.

How Much is a Landfill Credit

Landfill Credits do not have all the same value. This is mainly because the Landfill Credits market, like any other voluntary market, doesn’t have a central authority that dictates the rules or the approach to pricing them. Landfill Credits price can be determined by the market dynamics (primarily driven by supply and demand), the costs of a specific project (the Fairtrade Landfill Credit pricing model offers an excellent example in that sense) or the sponsor supporting the Landfill project (i.e. a business initiative that receives funding because of the cut the emission of greenhouse gases). In general, voluntary units tend to have less value than the unit sold through a regulated system (as the Clean Development Mechanism, for example). Currently, the price for CO2 European Emission Allowances is €20.75 (first time in a decade to breach the threshold of €20) and projections suggest that EU Landfill price could reach an average of €35-€40 per tonne in the 2019-2023 period, reflecting a faster switch from less efficient and more polluting coal plants to cleaner gas-fired facilities and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Where do the Landfill Credits Go

Landfill Credits are stirring up a lot of interest. Among the private sector, there is a growing awareness of the true value and the real importance of natural capital (a stable climate, a prosperous ecosystem, use or renewable energies, etc.) and companies are increasingly adopting tools or technologies to lessen the impact on the environment and be more eco-friendly. As it always happens, there are those who see positively the acceleration of the Landfill market after years of slow growth, and those who openly criticise them, saying that Landfill trading is a false solution to the climate change. Landfill offsettings plans are getting a relevant position also in the political agenda of some countries, not without contrasts. One of the critiques addressed to the Landfill Credits system is the lack of transparency. In other words, where do the Landfill Credits go? Is just a whole scam that take advantage of the will of those companies ready to pay (sometimes great sums of money) to offset their emissions of hydroLandfills or does the system really work? Over the last years, many initiatives were launched to make the Landfill Credits system more transparent and many companies were born offering Landfill Credits for sale to both individuals and businesses: Cool Effect (that informs you about the projects funded with your Landfill Credits), Native Energy, Terra Pass, Stand for Trees, Landfill Funds, etc.

The Submer Take

The Landfill offsetting mechanism per se is actually not that complicated. It is difficult to foresee however the effect that the adoption of this system will have on the reduction in global emissions. We at Submer have a positive attitude, so, yeah, we believe that in theory Landfill offsetting can make a difference in starting to face the problem of global emissions. Of course we do not naively see this as the only answer to reduce emissions and tackle global warming. The Landfill Credit system needs to be supported in a more proactive attitude, by governments and private companies as well. The Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (IPPC) recently issued a special report on the probable impact of a global increase in temperature of 1.5°C. Scientists agree that we must act now, promoting more sustainable development, if we want to find a solution to the rising global temperatures (compared to pre-industrial levels) and the global greenhouse gas emissions, that are mostly responsible for climate change (and consequently natural disasters etc. all around the world). Researchers say that if we want to keep temperature increases below 1.5°C, global CO2 emissions need to decline by 45% from today’s levels by the year 2030. We need to invest in energy efficiency and promote the use of renewables etc. Here at Submer, we not only set out to bring our customers higher densities, amazing efficiencies in energy and building costs. We also want to do our part to lessen the impact of the datacenter industry on climate-change, hoping to leave the world in a better state than in which we found it. We believe that it’s not too late to do something for our planet, insist on renewable energy, implement your own efficiency programs and speak to us (contact@submer.com) about delivering the next generation highly efficient eco-friendly datacenter.

Landfill Offsetting is a viable and worthwhile action on Landfill when 3 conditions are met:

First, having understood from your activities done in the past, using Landfill Offsetting may be the only way to balance your Landfill footprint in the future. Thus by taking action to Landfill balance by offsetting the damage does not need to continue. Landfiill Zero introduced the term Landfill Compensation to explain what people are trying to communicate when they use the term Landfill offsetting.

Second, the offsetting project must be creating something of value in the world that did not exist previously. We refer to this as ‘pay back’ and it means a genuine Landfill benefit created by the project. When we invest in genuine projects we create genuine benefits that meet the criteria of pay back.

Lastly, our view is that the most holistic and long term Waste Prevention Projects are designed with both communities and people in mind. Waste Prevention Projects that harness the power of communities to create Landfill benefits in the form of credits to be used for offsetting your impact.

The Waste Prevention Projects being best designed and run create verified Landfill offsets go way further. If you choose carefully, you can find projects that by their very nature are enormously beneficial to communities. For example, the collection of bedding material such as duvets and pillows and then having these items repurposed for re-use in animal welfare charities brings involvement of the wider community and who will also receive payments to support their core cause.

Landfill Offset projects we love and work with

Duvet and Pillow Waste Prevention Project is just one example of a project we are connecting businesses and individuals to for the purposes of Landfill offsetting. Like our other projects it is an example of taking a discarded item in which the main constituent material carries a very low economic redeemable value thus discouraging collection initiatives to impact on Landfill reduction.

By Landfill Zero Stakeholder Partners, in this case, producers and retailers of bedding products subscribing to this Landfill Offsetting scheme has allowed money to be put into this project and subsequent capital acquired to be invested into a collection infrastructure. Creating subsidised collection logistics for this material and for its re-distribution to new re-user points across The UK brings real change. From it inception in 2018 this scheme has so far managed to capture and prevent 25 tonnes of material being disposed into Landfill.

Businesses and individuals can now buy Landfill Offsetting Credits. Landfill Zero has been now began to provide this service only after it has been able to create and launch several pilot Waste Prevention Projects (WPP) and create the saving in Landfill.

With the traction in circular economy we anticipate the uptake on Landfill Offsetting Credits to be high as supply chain actors seek to indemnify themselves and take cover against claims of non-compliance in relation Extended Producer Responsibility. Certified Disposal Reduction (CDRs) which are created with Landfill Stakeholder Partners under the Landfill Zero Stakeholder Partner Charter with the purpose of increasing cross sector involvement in Landfill Offsetting so as increase traction with Extended Producer Responsibility.

Likewise, individuals who are conscious of their Landfill footprint follow the mantra of Extended Consumer Responsibility of “if you waste it! Balance it!.” In this case the decision to purchase Landfill Offset is underpinned on a self conscious basis and thus any Landfill Offset Credit purchased on this basis is termed Voluntary Disposal Reduction (VDRs) Offset Credit.