Abstract
This dissertation develops a data-driven framework to improve understanding of California’s waste and recycling system and its environmental impacts. Using statewide administrative data, it identifies how waste facilities actually function based on material flows, revealing important differences from regulatory classifications. The research further models inter-facility transportation, equipment activity, and emissions associated with waste handling, recycling, and disposal. By integrating facility classification, transportation modeling, and landfill gas estimation, the work provides a system-level approach for evaluating greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and waste management policy.
