Note: Disposal includes total landfill in state and total exported tons reported at the time but does not include transformation.
Data Source: CalRecycle, Landfill Tonnage Reports and California Air Resources Board, California Greenhouse Gas Inventory - by Sector and Activity.
Analysis by CEC Economics
Challenges
- Californians have been disposing an increasing amount of waste in landfills since 2012. Californians exported or sent 41.8 million tons of waste to landfills in 2023, up 2.3 million tons (+5.9%) from 39.5 million tons in 2022 and up 12.5 million tons (+42.7%) compared to the 29.3 million tons in 2012.13
- After trending down in 2021 and 2022, in 2023, landfill emissions (as part of the included emissions) were up 5.5% (8.2 MMTCO2e) and landfill emissions from biogenic materials were up similarly by 5.3% (5.9 MMTCO2e compared to 2022.14 After years of relatively little changes in landfill emissions, the combined emissions from included emissions and from biogenic materials exceeded 14 MMTCO2e for the first time in 2023.
13 CalRecycle had not published its State of Disposal and Recycling and Exports in California for 2023. Its latest report was for 2022, State of Disposal and Recycling and Exports in California for Calendar Year 2022. February 2024. The recycling rate was 41% in 2022, similar to 2021 (42%) and 2020 (40%), but has been falling since 2014, when the recycling rate peaked at 50%. This represents just little over half of the 75% recycling rate goal defined by AB 341. CalRecycle’s State of Disposal and Recycling in California webpage is available at: https://calrecycle.ca.gov/stateofreport/
14 Biogenic materials, which are organic in nature, can produce methane gas as they decompose in landfills.
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