Mitigation Of Landfill Gas By Donating Edible Food Waste To Charity
School Name
Center For Advanced Technical Studies
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Environmental Science
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
The objective of this study is to determine if diverting edible the food waste of grocery stores from landfills have a significant impact on the amount of methane gas produced by landfills. Currently, 14% of American households are food insecure while 40% of all the food produced within the United States is sent to the landfills. The large amount organic material in landfills results in large amounts of methane gas entering the atmosphere, which has 25 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide. / Five landfill profiles were constructed with respective retail food amounts of 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and 0%. The profiles are contained in flasks connected with tubing to inverted graduated cylinders filled with water so that as the gas enters, it pushes the water down and the gas can be measured by subtraction. Each trial will run for about a month and there will be at least 3 trials. The data will be collected every other day and will be recorded and reported as change-over time. It is anticipated that in each trial, that amount of produced will be less for profiles with smaller amounts of food inside. The tests will be done at the Center for Advanced Technical Studies in Chapin. /
Recommended Citation
Bryant, Camille, "Mitigation Of Landfill Gas By Donating Edible Food Waste To Charity" (2016). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 149.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2016/all/149
Location
Owens 208
Start Date
4-16-2016 12:00 PM
Mitigation Of Landfill Gas By Donating Edible Food Waste To Charity
Owens 208
The objective of this study is to determine if diverting edible the food waste of grocery stores from landfills have a significant impact on the amount of methane gas produced by landfills. Currently, 14% of American households are food insecure while 40% of all the food produced within the United States is sent to the landfills. The large amount organic material in landfills results in large amounts of methane gas entering the atmosphere, which has 25 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide. / Five landfill profiles were constructed with respective retail food amounts of 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and 0%. The profiles are contained in flasks connected with tubing to inverted graduated cylinders filled with water so that as the gas enters, it pushes the water down and the gas can be measured by subtraction. Each trial will run for about a month and there will be at least 3 trials. The data will be collected every other day and will be recorded and reported as change-over time. It is anticipated that in each trial, that amount of produced will be less for profiles with smaller amounts of food inside. The tests will be done at the Center for Advanced Technical Studies in Chapin. /
