Landfills throughout North America are undergoing a significant transition period. Organic waste diversion goals have become a priority across North America. Today, we’re seeing a transition of organic waste streams being increasingly diverted from landfills and recovered as an energy resource through various processes. How this transition should be implemented exactly is debatable, however, it is clear for the time being that government regulation and incentives are driving forces for diverting organic waste toward technologies that produce RNG. The introduction of RIN’s and LCFS credits has boosted the development of anaerobic digestion facilities. These incentives have positioned anaerobic digestion as an appealing option for waste treatment. This has led to the development of complementing technologies to optimize AD performance and maximize RNG yields. The efficient separation of organics from residuals and inerts in MSW continues to be a challenge. As a solution to fully utilizing organics found in MSW, thermal hydrolysis is proposed. Thermal hydrolysis has long been an effective way of treating biosolids at wastewater treatment plants. This concept can also be applied to high solid organic waste streams found at landfills and MRF’s. Thermal hydrolysis utilizes heat, pressure, and steam to create a homogenous organic feedstock that is ideal for anaerobic digestion. Achieving 90%+ recovery rates of organic material from MSW and MRF fines will be demonstrated by utilizing both thermal hydrolysis and mechanical separation technologies. The presentation will demonstrate solutions for optimizing anaerobic digestion performance, while maximizing biogas and RNG yields. The audience will be able to evaluate emerging technologies that can improve their existing and planned anaerobic digestion projects. Lastly, the audience will gain an understanding of the trends in organics management and be provided with solutions to meet waste diversion regulations.