Waste to landfill emission factor NZ 2026 (MfE, kg CO2e per kg)

Waste to landfill emission factors in the 2026 guide

CO2, CH4 and N2O are each gas's share of the total, in kg CO2e; a dash means the guide gives no figure for that gas. Every figure is from the 2026 guide; it is the only edition we hold, so there is no year-on-year column.

The Ministry's notes on these figures

• Unknown Composition: General waste: N2O and CO2 are excluded.
• Unknown Composition: Office waste: N2O and CO2 are excluded.
• Known Composition: Waste - Food: N2O and CO2 are excluded.
• Known Composition: Waste - Garden: N2O and CO2 are excluded.
• Known Composition: Waste - Paper: N2O and CO2 are excluded.
• Known Composition: Waste - Textile: N2O and CO2 are excluded.
• Known Composition: Waste - Wood (combined): N2O and CO2 are excluded.
• Known Composition: Waste - Nappies: N2O and CO2 are excluded.
• Known Composition: Waste - Sludge: N2O and CO2 are excluded.
• Known Composition: Waste - Other (Inert): N2O and CO2 are excluded.
• Uncertainty: 40%.

Worked example

Take an office sending 12 tonnes (12,000 kg) of general waste to landfill a year. 12,000 kg × 0.6353 kg CO2e = 7.62 tonnes CO2e, reported as Scope 3 (waste).

How to use it

Weigh, or get your contractor to weigh, what goes to landfill. Use the composition rows (food, paper, garden and so on) if you know them, the office waste row for a typical office mix, and the general waste row otherwise. Factors are per kg, so multiply tonnes by 1,000.

Landfills that capture the gas and burn or use it release less methane. Ask your contractor which landfill takes your waste and whether it has gas recovery; if they cannot tell you, the figure without gas recovery is the cautious choice.

The guide's landfill factors count methane only; it leaves out carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide from landfill. Waste is Scope 3 (category 5). Recycling and composting are not counted as landfill.

Which rules apply in New Zealand

The Ministry's guide is voluntary guidance for organisations measuring their greenhouse gas emissions, and follows the GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-1. Climate reporting entities under New Zealand's climate-related disclosures regime report under the External Reporting Board's Aotearoa New Zealand Climate Standards, and can use these factors for their Scope 1, 2 and 3 figures. Businesses of any size answering a customer's or a bank's request for emissions data can use them in the same way. Cite the guide and its year next to every figure.

UK companies with sites or staff in New Zealand should use these factors for that activity and the UK government factors for UK activity. In Carbon Recycling, set a site's country to New Zealand and its electricity is reported with the Ministry's factor. See reporting overseas sites for how the rest fits together.

Where to find your own figure

Your waste contractor's invoices or monthly reports often give weights. If they only show bin lifts, ask them for typical weights per lift for your bin size.

Related emission factors

• Water and wastewater (New Zealand): 0.03776 kg CO2e per m3
• Electricity (New Zealand): 0.07866 kg CO2e per kWh
• Natural gas (New Zealand): 0.1954 kg CO2e per kWh
• All New Zealand emission factors
• New Zealand grid electricity (Ember's estimate, every year since 2000)
• UK emission factors and other countries

Source: Ministry for the Environment. 2026. Measuring emissions: A guide for organisations: 2026 emission factors (version 2). Crown copyright, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Carbon Recycling is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Ministry; the sums on this page are ours.