Composting Impact Calculator
Multiply food-waste mass by user-selected avoided-emissions and compost-yield factors.
Inputs and method
Avoided-emissions scenario = waste mass × entered emissions factor. Compost-yield scenario = waste mass × entered yield factor.
All empirical factors, rates, percentages, clearances, product yields, and model values shown as inputs are scenario values supplied by you. Their source or measurement basis appears beside the inputs and result. Units remain visible, calculations use unrounded values, and rounding occurs only for display or a whole-package ceiling.
Interpreting the result
No landfill, water, tree, or universal-benefit equivalent is supplied. Record factor method, geography, year, and uncertainty. For other household waste-scenario worksheets, see the Plastic Footprint Calculator and E-waste Impact Calculator; for the food’s transport leg, use the Food Miles Calculator.
Treat scenario ranges as sensitivity ranges, not confidence intervals. Check the factor’s version, geography, population or product, system boundary, and date before using the result. A finite arithmetic result does not establish code compliance, certification, safety, forecast accuracy, or model validity.
Validation and rounding
The calculator rejects blank required factors, invalid numeric, prohibited negatives, impossible relationships, and unsupported modes. No malformed value silently selects another branch. Continuous outputs use the precision displayed in the result; package quantities round up only after waste is applied.
Worked example
For 100 kg food waste, factors 0.20 kg CO₂e/kg and 0.50 kg/kg produce 20.0 kg CO₂e and 50.0 kg. Re-run the entered lower and upper factor endpoints as sensitivity cases.
Frequently asked question
Is the range a confidence interval? No. It is sensitivity to factors you enter; retain dataset method, geography, year, boundary, and uncertainty.
Sources
- U.S. EPA, “Reducing the Impact of Wasted Food by Feeding the Soil and Composting” — current web edition; composting overview, accessed 2026-07-09. Route-specific boundary: context and terminology only; it does not supply an entered coefficient, uncertainty, recommendation, or approval.
- U.S. EPA, “Basic Information about Landfill Gas” — current web edition; landfill-gas composition and formation sections, accessed 2026-07-09. Route-specific boundary: context and terminology only; it does not supply an entered coefficient, uncertainty, recommendation, or approval.
- USDA Forest Service, “Urban and Community Forestry” — current web edition; program overview, accessed 2026-07-09. Route-specific boundary: context and terminology only; it does not supply an entered coefficient, uncertainty, recommendation, or approval.