Documentation for the Waste Reduction Model

Documentation for the Waste Reduction Model includes user guides, detailed chapters on the development of the greenhouse gas, energy and economic factors used in the model as well as several background supporting documents.

On this page:

• Documentation for GHG, Energy and Economic Factors Used
• Additional Resources - User Guidance and Landfilling Factors

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Documentation for GHG Emission, Energy and Economic Factors Used in the Waste Reduction Model

The Waste Reduction Model documentation explains the calculation of emission factors by material type, or group of materials, arranged into individual chapters. EPA also provides chapters addressing each specific materials management practice that is available in the model, along with a background and overview chapter, a list of definitions and acronyms, user’s guides for the different versions, a summary of recent updates, and additional chapters on special topics like forest carbon sequestration, energy factors and economic impacts.

The Waste Reduction Model documentation chapters are grouped into several files based on the following chapter topics:

• User's Guide WARM version 16 provides an overview for users who may be new to the tool or need some basic knowledge about downloading and modeling scenarios in the Waste Reduction Model version 16.

• User’s Guide WARM version 16 Excel provides an overview for users of the Excel-based tool for the Waste Reduction Model version 16. This guide is the same as the guide found on the first sheet of the Waste Reduction Model Excel tool.

• Background includes chapters covering:

  • WARM Background and Overview.
  • Definitions and Acronyms.
  • Recent Updates in WARM.
  • Forest Carbon Storage.

• Management Practices includes chapters covering:

  • Source Reduction.
  • Recycling.
  • Anaerobic Digestion.
  • Composting.
  • Combustion.
  • Landfilling.
  • Energy Impacts.
  • Economic Impacts.

• Containers, Packaging and Non-Durable Goods Materials includes chapters covering:

  • Glass.
  • Metals.
  • Paper Products.
  • Plastics.
  • Polylactide (PLA) Biopolymer.

• Organic Materials includes chapters covering:

  • Food Waste.
  • Yard Trimmings.

• Electronics chapter.

• Tires chapter.

• Construction Materials includes chapters covering:
  • Asphalt Concrete
  • Asphalt Shingles
  • Carpet
  • Clay Bricks
  • Concrete
  • Drywall
  • Fiberglass Insulation
  • Fly Ash
  • Vinyl Flooring
  • Wood Flooring
  • Wood Products

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Additional Resources for the Waste Reduction Model - User Guidance and Landfilling Factors

In addition to the Waste Reduction Model documentation chapters, EPA has compiled several documents that provide additional information on using the Waste Reduction Model and the emission, energy and economic factors applied in the model. These additional documents are grouped by topic, including:

• User Guidance on How to Use Materials and Management Pathways Not Found in WARM: This user guidance provides information on ways to use materials or management pathways not found in the Waste Reduction Model, including the emission, energy and economic factors; modeling food donation benefits; modeling increased product lifetime; modeling reuse; and the differences between the Waste Reduction Model’s life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting approach and GHG emission inventories.

• Landfilling and Landfill Carbon Storage: This document provides more detailed information on how landfilling and landfill carbon storage are modeled in the Waste Reduction Model.