New Global Research Makes One Thing Clear: Methane Cuts Are Our Fastest Shot at Cooling the Planet — and Landfills Are the Place to Start

Over the past several weeks, a wave of new research from climate scientists, international agencies, and zero-waste experts has converged on the same urgent message: if the world wants a real chance of slowing dangerous warming in the next decade, we have to act on methane — and we have to act now.

What’s striking across all of these reports is not just the level of alarm, but the level of optimism. Methane is the rare climate pollutant where the solutions are immediate, affordable, and already proven at scale. And nowhere is that more true than in the waste sector — especially landfills, a source of methane pollution that has been hiding in plain sight.

A new report aptly titled Methane: The Emergency Brake for Climate Heating lays out the stakes with refreshing clarity. Because methane traps far more heat than carbon dioxide in its first twenty years in the atmosphere, cutting it is the single most effective way to slow global warming right away. Scientists behind the report don’t mince words: reducing methane this decade is one of the only strategies still capable of keeping global temperature limits within reach.

That conclusion is echoed by Climate Analytics, whose latest analysis finds that fast, deep methane cuts could help “rescue” the 1.5°C goal, but only if governments move quickly and directly. Their message to policymakers is blunt: the fastest wins in climate policy are staring us in the face.

The United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Methane Status Report 2025 reinforces this urgency, showing that methane from waste — especially organic materials rotting in landfills — continues to rise. At the same time, UNEP highlights waste as one of the most solvable methane challenges. Modern monitoring, stronger landfill standards, and policies that keep food waste out of the trash can drive near-instant reductions. The report makes the case that acting on landfill methane isn’t just essential — it’s achievable.

And while capturing methane at existing landfills at the back end is critical, another new analysis from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) reminds us that the front end matters just as much. Their latest research on zero-waste business models shows that preventing waste, especially food waste, delivers climate benefits that ripple outward into public health, job creation, and community resilience. Cities that invest in composting, reuse, and repair are cutting emissions while boosting local economies. This is the “full circle” approach in action: stop pollution at the source and fix the leaks where they already exist.

These global findings align closely with what we’ve seen across the United States. Full Circle Future’s own modeling shows that stronger landfill methane rules, paired with policies to keep food out of landfills, can meaningfully slow warming in the near term. In fact, states that are already taking action — from California and Colorado to Maryland, Oregon, Washington, and beyond — are demonstrating just how quickly methane pollution can drop when policymakers raise the bar for landfill management and embrace 21st-century detection tools. Other states now have an opportunity to build on that momentum.

The solutions are right here. Require landfills to monitor with drones, satellites, and fixed sensors instead of outdated manual surveys. Install gas collection earlier, before methane escapes. Strengthen landfill cover requirements. Close loopholes that let high-emitting sites avoid oversight. Pair these fixes with composting, food rescue, and other programs that prevent organic waste from ever reaching a landfill in the first place.

Taken together, this new global research and the progress we’ve seen at the state level adds up to a powerful reminder: slowing climate change is still possible, and some of the most impactful strategies are sitting in our own backyards. Acting on landfill methane isn’t just a climate win. It’s also a public health win, an environmental justice win, and an economic win.