The decay of wood in landfills in contrasting climates in Australia
Abstract
Wood products in landfill are commonly assumed to decay within several decades, returning the carbon contained therein to the atmosphere, with about half the carbon released as methane. However, the rate and extent of decay is not well known, as very few studies have examined the decay of wood products in landfills. This study reports on the findings from landfill excavations conducted in the Australian cities of Sydney and Cairns located in temperate and tropical environments, respectively. The objective of this study was to determine whether burial of the wood in warmer, more tropical conditions in Cairns would result in greater levels of decay than occurs in the temperate environment of Sydney. Wood samples recovered after 16-44years in landfill were examined through physical, chemical and microscopic analyses, and compared with control samples to determine the carbon loss. There was typically little or no decay in the wood samples analysed from the landfill in Sydney. Although there was significant decay in rainforest wood species excavated from Cairns, decay levels for wood types that were common to both Cairns and Sydney landfills were similar. The current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2006) default decay factor for organic materials in landfills is 50%. In contrast, the carbon loss determined for Pinus radiata recovered from Sydney and Cairns landfills was 7.9% and 4.4%, respectively, and 0% for Agathis sp. This suggests that climate did not influenc…
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When wood is landfilled, anaerobic decomposition releases a significant amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) (such as carbon and CH4) into the environment.
“When landfilled, an anaerobic decomposition occurs in the soil, which releases a significant amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) (such as carbon and CH 4 ) into the environment [23].”
From Circular Economy of Construction and Demolition Wood Waste—A Theoretical Framework Approach (2022) · cites this paper as [23]
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- Authors
- Ximenes, F., Björdal, C., Cowie, A., & Barlaz, M.
- Affiliations
- New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (AU)
- University of Gothenburg (SE)
- North Carolina State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ximenes, Fabiano
- Venue
- Waste Management
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-07
- Volume
- 41
- Pages
- 101-110
- ISSN
- 0956-053X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2070405500
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 6.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Waste Management (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- EPubDev Repository (submittedVersion)
- RUNE (Research UNE) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- CRC for Greenhouse Accounting
- Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)
- Forests and Wood Products Australia (FWPA)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Landfill Environmental Impact Studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Composting and Vermicomposting Techniques
- Keywords
- wood decay, carbon loss, methane emissions, decay factor, Pinus radiata, Agathis, Sydney, Cairns
- MeSH terms
- Climate, Environmental Monitoring, New South Wales, Queensland, Time Factors, Wood, Solid Waste, Waste Disposal Facilities
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