Landfill gas capture in Brazil. Gas from buried rubbish, turned into electricity.

Why this landfill

When household rubbish is buried, it rots and gives off gas. That gas contains methane. Ecologi’s page says landfill sites for household waste are the third largest source of methane caused by people, and account for 11% of the world’s methane emissions.

The Macaúbas landfill is in Sabará, in the state of Minas Gerais. It is still in use, and Ecologi says it takes 40% of all the household waste produced in the state. That makes it one of the biggest single sources of escaping methane in the region.

How the project cuts emissions

Left alone, the gas seeps out of the landfill and into the air. The project stops that in two steps.

• It collects the gas. Wells are sunk into the waste, some upright and some lying flat. They are kept under suction, so the gas is drawn out before it can escape.
• It burns the gas safely. Some of the gas goes to an enclosed flare. Burning turns methane into carbon dioxide and water, which do far less to warm the planet than methane does.
• It makes electricity. Captured gas also fuels generators. The power goes into Brazil’s national grid, where it takes the place of electricity made by burning fossil fuels.

Who does the work

Ecologi’s page does not name the company that runs the project, so we will not guess. It does say what the project means for people nearby.

The project has created local jobs in building, running, maintaining, monitoring and guarding the plant. Workers are trained to operate the blowers, flares and generators. The project also pays taxes to the municipality, which brings money into the local area.

The project on record

This project is live, and Ecologi has funded it since 2021. The entries below are taken from the timeline on Ecologi’s page. Each figure belongs to the date and period shown beside it, and none of them is a running total.

Tonnages are given in CO2e, which means carbon dioxide equivalent. It is a way of counting different greenhouse gases, including methane, on one scale.

1. May 2011The environmental agency of Minas Gerais grants the landfill its licence to operate.
2. July 2013The project begins and gains its official registration under a scheme Ecologi calls the CDM. Its first seven-year crediting period begins on 31 July 2013.
3. June 2017The first two generators are authorised to send electricity to the grid.
4. July 2017Generators one to four are commissioned.
5. September 2017Active gas collection, flaring and the running of the whole plant begin on 11 September.
6. July 2018A fifth generator is commissioned and starts supplying power on 27 July.
7. March 2020The first monitoring period, which ran from 31 July 2013 to 2 March 2020, ends. It records 457,939 tonnes of CO2e avoided.
8. July 2020A second monitoring period of 150 days ends on 30 July and records 102,580 tonnes of CO2e avoided. A second crediting period begins, running to 30 July 2027, with an estimated average of 445,100 tonnes a year.
9. December 2020Ecologi records approved changes to the project design, including a target generating capacity of 9.982 megawatts.
10. April 2021RINA Services issues its verification and certification report for the second monitoring period, certifying 102,583 tonnes of CO2e.
11. September 2022Gaps in the plant’s monitoring data are resolved by using cautious figures for the electricity sent to the grid.

102,583tonnes of CO2e certified in April 2021, for the 150 days up to 30 July 2020. This is the most recent certified figure on Ecologi’s page.

How the project is checked

We do not choose or run the projects ourselves. They are selected by Ecologi, and this one carries its “Carbon Project Ecologi Approved” mark.

The project is also checked from outside. Ecologi lists it under the Verified Carbon Standard and links to its entry on the Verra registry, where it is project 3010. The page also lists the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard, which is managed by Verra. The timeline shows that RINA Services issued the verification and certification report for the second monitoring period.

What Printlogik has funded here

Ecologi keeps a public record of the projects each of its members has helped to fund. That record names this project among those Printlogik’s contributions have gone to, through the Print A Tree Project. Ecologi does not publish a figure for us project by project, so we cannot tell you how much of the work here was paid for by our orders, and we will not guess. Our total across all the carbon projects we have supported is shown on the Print A Tree page.

Ecologi lists this project as live, and it was open for funding when we wrote this. Every order we print makes a contribution through Ecologi, which decides which of its current projects the money goes to.

How your order gets here

1. You order printAny order, of any size. There is nothing to tick and nothing extra to pay.
2. We make a contributionEach invoice triggers a contribution from Printlogik to Ecologi.
3. Emissions are cutEcologi funds projects like this one, and records what we have funded in public.

The UN global goals it supports

The United Nations has set 17 Sustainable Development Goals for a fairer, healthier planet by 2030. Ecologi records this project as supporting 3 of them.

• 3Good health and well-being
• 7Affordable and clean energy
• 13Climate action

Where it is

Sabará, Minas Gerais, Brazil · 19.9°S, 43.9°W

Location	Sabará, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Type of project	Landfill gas capture
Status	Live. Ecologi has funded it since 2021 and it is open for funding
Full record	See it on Ecologi