Top 100 Companies by Methane (CH4) Emissions
Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 28-36 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year horizon. This ranking aggregates reported facility-level CH4 emissions from EPA GHGRP, attributed to parent companies via the facilities → companies join. Data is rendered live at SSR time from the emissions table; values cannot drift from current ingested DB state.Source: EPA GHGRP — https://www.epa.gov/ghgrp
Top 10 corporate methane emitters
| Rank | Company | Cumulative CH4 (MT) | Facilities | Industry | Latest Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WASTE MANAGEMENT | 11.48M | 225 | Waste | 2023 |
| 2 | REPUBLIC SERVICES | 10.71M | 177 | Waste | 2023 |
| 3 | CONSOL ENERGY | 6.48M | 4 | Other | 2023 |
| 4 | AMERICAN CONSOLIDATED NATURAL RESOURCES | 6.22M | 6 | Other | 2023 |
| 5 | WASTE CONNECTIONS US | 3.93M | 43 | Waste | 2023 |
| 6 | ARCH RESOURCES | 2.82M | 5 | Other | 2023 |
| 7 | GFL ENVIRONMENTAL HOLDINGS (US) | 2.45M | 30 | Waste | 2023 |
| 8 | ALLIANCE HOLDINGS GP | 2.26M | 5 | Other | 2023 |
| 9 | RUMPKE CONSOLIDATED COS | 1.69M | 9 | Waste | 2023 |
| 10 | ENERGY TRANSFER | 1.65M | 142 | Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems | 2023 |
Top 100 ranking (full list)
Show all 100 companies (rendered live from current DB)
Methodology
Cumulative CH4 emissions are computed at SSR time as SUM(emissions.ch4) grouped by parent company across all reporting years for facilities under the EPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. The aggregation is implemented in getTopMethaneEmitters() in src/lib/db.ts, which runs db.prepare(...) against the emissions JOIN facilities JOIN companies tables. Parent attribution comes from the facilities → companies join in the PlainCarbon ETL. Totals reflect direct CH4 reports in metric tons, not CO2e conversions.
Caveats and Limitations
GHGRP captures only facilities emitting over 25,000 metric tons CO2e annually, under-representing small operators and potentially missing 30-50% of total U.S. CH4 per independent studies. Parent attribution involves estimation for subsidiaries and may double-count where mergers create overlapping ownership. Data lags one year. Biogenic CH4 from landfills may overestimate climate impact if captured. Scope 3 emissions excluded.