ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-10-1899-2010 The municipal solid waste landfill as a source of ozone-depleting substances in the United States and United Kingdom Hodson E. L. 1 3 Martin D. 2 4 Prinn R. G. 1 Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK now at: Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zuercherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland now at: Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies, Environmental Change Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland 19 02 2010 10 4 1899 1910 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/1899/2010/acp-10-1899-2010.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/1899/2010/acp-10-1899-2010.pdf

This study provides observation-based national estimates of CFC-11, CFC-12, CFC-113, and 1,1,1-trichloroethane emissions for the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. The scarcity of national estimates has lead to the assumption that a significant fraction of the lingering ozone-depleting substance (ODS) emissions, which have been detected in industrialized countries, could be emitted from landfills. Spatial coverage was achieved through sampling at seven landfills in Massachusetts and through data provided by nine UK landfills. Linear least square regressions of recovered ODS vs. CH<sub>4</sub> were used in combination with national estimates of landfill CH<sub>4</sub> emissions to estimate 2006 national US and UK ODS landfill emissions. The ODS landfill emission estimates were then compared to recent estimates of total US and UK ODS emissions. US ODS landfill emissions are 0.4%–1% (0.006–0.09 Gg/year) of total US emissions. UK ODS landfill emission estimates are 1% (0.008 Gg/year) and 6% (0.03 Gg/year) of total UK CFC-11 and CFC-12 emissions, respectively. This indicates that landfills are only a minor source of lingering ODS emissions in the US, but may be more significant for CFC-12 emissions in the UK. The implication is that the majority of current ODS emissions in industrialized countries is likely coming from equipment still in use.

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