Transatlantic Flight

CHRIS CARLSON

Through its membership in the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority (LCSWMA), located in Lancaster, Pa., has conducted the first transatlantic exchange of project-based greenhouse gas emission reduction credits. CCX is the world's first voluntary, legally binding multi-sector market for trading greenhouse gas emission reduction credits.

“With this transatlantic trade, our authority continues to establish precedents within our industry,” said Jim Warner, executive director of LCSWMA, in a press release. Since 2006, the authority has earned more than $174,000 from selling 43,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents.

The London-based Clean Planet Trust (PURE) will buy 7,500 emission reduction credits from LCSWMA for $31,875. PURE is a charity dedicated to carbon offsetting.

The purchase was requested by Addison Lee, a private chauffeur and coach company in London. “The authority's emission reduction credits are considered desirable by PURE and Addison Lee because of the uniqueness of the authority's integrated solid waste management and carbon emission reduction program, the U.S. EPA's recognition of their landfill gas system, and the importance and trustworthiness of a public authority providing reliable renewable energy services on behalf of its citizenry,” said Robert Rabinowitz, secretary of PURE, in a press release.

In October 2006, the LCSWMA became the first public environmental services organization in the United States to join the CCX. The authority's landfill gas-to-energy system has eliminated more than 65,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents since the plant opened in February 2006.