Materials
What counts as eligible municipal and commercial waste carbon?
MSW means municipal solid waste: everyday waste from homes, businesses, offices, schools, restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, campuses, venues, airports, and cities. MSW2CDR starts with material truth. A material is not CDR-ready because it is organic, compostable, recyclable, paper-based, or biogenic. It becomes relevant only when the carbon type, contamination risk, site route, processor acceptance, technology fit, and verification pathway are understood.
| Material family | Potential status | Possible route families | What must be checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food waste and plate waste | Biogenic / wet organic | AD + CO₂ storage, HTC, digestate stabilization, controlled compost-to-carbon routes | Source separation, contamination, moisture, mass tracking, processor fit. |
| Yard waste and clean green material | Biogenic biomass | Biochar, compost-biochar blends, biomass storage, BECCS, gasification + CCS | Cleanliness, woody fraction, soil vs non-soil destination, durability evidence. |
| Paper and paperboard | Biogenic fiber | Recycling first where appropriate; residuals to biochar, BECCS, gasification + CCS, carbon-storing products | Recyclability priority, coatings, food soil, inks, PFAS, local processor acceptance. |
| Greasy pizza boxes and food-soiled fiber | Biogenic fiber with contamination risk | Composting where accepted, HTC, AD preprocessing, selected thermal routes | Food residue, coatings, fiber quality, facility rules, contamination threshold. |
| Compostable packaging | Biogenic, mixed, or uncertain | Composting where accepted, AD only where accepted, carbon conversion where chemistry allows | Certification, material chemistry, PFAS/fluorine risk, coatings, processor acceptance. Compostable does not automatically mean CDR. |
| Untreated wood and clean biogenic C&D fraction | Biogenic dry biomass | Biochar, biomass storage, bio-oil, BECCS, gasification + CCS, carbon-storing materials | Treatment, paint, adhesives, construction contamination, chain of custody. |
| Compost outputs and screened overs | Processed organic residual | Compost-to-biochar, biochar-compost blends, non-soil carbon products, material testing | Carbon remaining, contaminants, heavy metals, process energy, additionality, end use. |
| Digestate and AD residuals | Wet or semi-solid organic residual | Digestate stabilization, pyrolysis, HTC, mineralization, nutrient recovery | Methane leakage, moisture, nutrient profile, contaminants, energy balance, storage durability. |
| Fossil plastics, rubber, metals, glass | Not atmospheric CDR feedstock | Reduction, reuse, recycling, separate waste management | Do not count as biogenic carbon removal feedstock under normal routes. |
| Treated wood, hazardous waste, medical waste, PFAS-treated materials | Excluded or high-risk | Specialized management only | Safety, regulation, contamination, and claim risk generally exclude these from MSW2CDR route claims. |
Material clarity
Compostable, recyclable, and CDR-route eligible are different questions.
A compostable item may still be unsuitable for a carbon-removal route if it contains problematic coatings, lacks processor acceptance, contaminates feedstock, or has no durable storage pathway. MSW2CDR reviews the route, not just the material label.