Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates holds a $29 billion stake in a landfill company that has been repeatedly cited for excessive releases of planet-warming methane, despite his claims of supporting clean energy breakthroughs.
Here's what to know
Gates has received $2.6 billion in dividends from Republic Services, according to a ProPublica investigation. He owns 38% of the company, America's second-largest landfill operator.
The company also has a history of opposing policies to reduce landfill pollution, including measures to divert organic waste from landfills.
America throws away vast amounts of expired food, unfinished takeout, and half-eaten meals. All those scraps could be used instead for fertilizer, animal feed, or biofuel.
Since 2020, Environmental Protection Agency inspectors have examined around 39 of Republic's approximately 200 landfill sites. At those locations, they documented more than 1,400 areas releasing methane above federal limits, with some concentrations reaching 100 to 300 times the limit and creating explosion hazards.
"We employ hundreds of environmental managers and engineers. … If issues are identified, we work to resolve them," Republic spokesperson Rob Litt told ProPublica.
TCD Picks » Quince Spotlight
💡These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all
Gates did not respond to the outlet's multiple inquiries about his landfill investments.
More background
Organic waste produces methane as it decomposes underground without oxygen. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, methane's near-term heat-trapping power can be 80 times that of carbon dioxide.
People living near landfills have reported foul odors, burning eyes and throats, headaches, and nausea.
Republic reported a 20% reduction in its landfill emissions since 2017, relying on estimates extrapolated from collected gas and facility characteristics.
The real-world numbers appear to be different from the reported ones, however. For example, research led by Hannah Nesser of Georgetown University found that Indiana's National Serv-All Landfill emitted 13 times the methane reported to the EPA, ProPublica reported.
Those findings put Republic's "Sustainability in action" slogan under scrutiny. For customers assessing such environmental promises, being aware of greenwashing can help them look beyond branding to inspection records and measured results.
What's being done?
In 2019, Republic committed to cutting emissions 35% by 2030 through the Science Based Targets Initiative. It has not, however, adopted the initiative's stronger target introduced in 2021, which competitor Waste Management embraced, ProPublica reported.
"We are reviewing our goals," Litt said.
When corporations put profit over environmental health and safety, the government can step in.
California leads the way in organic waste disposal. It requires the collection of food scraps and yard trimmings for composting or other uses. State regulators determined that benefits to health, the economy, and the climate would exceed the costs, ProPublica reported.
Germany, meanwhile, began phasing out biodegradable waste disposal in landfills in 1993. Its landfill methane emissions have since fallen more than 90%.
Still, Republic opposed a federal organics-diversion proposal floated by the EPA in 2024, favoring state-level decisions. The National Waste and Recycling Association and Solid Waste Association of North America, whose boards both include Republic executives, also pushed to keep new methane-monitoring technologies largely voluntary, according to a joint statement.
Riley Duren, a former NASA engineer and the founder of emissions-monitoring organization Carbon Mapper, said that managing waste already buried in landfills must go hand in hand with preventing future pollution.
"In parallel," he said, "reduce food waste. Full stop. Then divert organic waste away from landfills to prevent future emissions."
Where can I learn more?
The concerns surrounding billionaires' investment reach beyond Gates and Republic.
• Billionaires build island bunkers while 71% of their investments back high emitters, Oxfam says.
• In Florida, years of rotten-egg odors prompted litigation against a landfill operator and state regulators.
• In California, residents sued an Avenal landfill, saying toxic gases made their lives unbearable.
• In Maine, residents challenge a landfill expansion over concerns about wetlands, PFAS, and leachate trucks.
• A former landfill monitor says fossil fuel methane leaks are far worse than reported.
Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
