The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated a Climate and Waste Program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from waste management. The Climate and Waste Program utilizes a three pronged approach: (1) research and technical assistance, (2) program implementation, and (3) outreach and education. Research and technical assistance provide the scientific underpinning for the Climate and Waste Program. Waste management affects most of the major categories of GHG emissions and sinks, including energy, forestry, industrial processes, and landfill methane, with many important effects occurring upstream of the point of disposal. EPA combined a life cycle analysis framework with the emission accounting guidelines established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to estimate GHG emissions from materials in waste management practices. EPA’s program implementation efforts have included three programs: WasteWise, Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT), and Waste Reduction Demonstration Projects. The WasteWise program encourages organizations to take cost-effective actions to reduce solid waste, and to quantify progress toward goals. EPA’s PAYT team distributes information, provides training, and offers technical assistance to waste managers and to local planners across the US. EPA also supports over 30 state and local demonstration projects that emphasize innovative approaches to waste reduction and climate protection. EPA conducts an outreach and education program to communicate the link between climate change and waste management. This program produces educational materials, maintains a website, prepares papers, and makes presentations to stakeholders. The Climate and Waste Program is on track to meet its emission reduction goal of 5 million metric tons of carbon equivalent (MMTCE) by 2000, which puts the program on par with several other major U.S. initiatives to reduce GHGs. Much of the experience gained in the US is transferable to other nations interested in broadening their climate mitigation portfolios to include waste management.