Landfills are a serious issue with global repercussions.
In a society producing millions of tons of waste each year, disposal is a pressing problem. Landfills, incineration, and recycling are all components that play a role in the solution. The amount of garbage we have, and the toxins it produces, create concern for waste disposal agencies in many different places. Landfills are a serious issue with global repercussions.
Land Use
Landfills use up what seems like an unimaginable amount of space. The Fresh Kills landfill, which is on Staten Island just outside of New York City, occupies 2,200 acres on its own! Societies produce so much garbage that the land needed for landfills is a concern. This is an especially pressing concern in heavily-populated places with high consumption rates like Japan. So much land is used for landfills that it becomes disturbing to the residents living there. To resolve this issue, it starts with recycling, less packaging, and lower consumption rates.
Toxins
Many items that get thrown into landfills have toxic substances in them that can affect soil and water, endangering all forms of life. It’s difficult to address this issue because these toxic substances often get mixed in with millions of tons of trash that is much less toxic.
Methane
Trash and garbage start to rot when placed in large piles. When the waste in landfills is rotting, it creates methane, a type of greenhouse gas which is far more potent than carbon dioxide. Methane leaves the landfill and goes into the atmosphere. This contributes to global warming. The best way to take on the problem is to harness the methane before it leaves landfills. If people harness methane, the gas can be burned and converted into electrical power.
Smell
It’s no secret that trash has a bad smell. People who live near landfills often have complaints about the foul odors they emit. Methane does get used for power, and this does lower the number of foul-smelling gasses that escape landfills. But this doesn’t completely solve the problem, and unfortunately, there is no solution discovered at the time to deal with the smells.
Oceans
Trash’s impact on oceans is becoming more recognized after publicity was given to what’s been known as the “garbage patch” found in the Pacific Ocean. A body of water larger than the continental United States is completely overrun with trash. What’s even more concerning is that, while this is the most dramatic example, there are other threats to oceans as a result of waste.
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WB Waste is a waste services holding company. Our focus is on delivering environmentally friendly waste solutions through our family of waste collection, recycling, processing, and transportation companies. Our clients are from all sectors, Government, Business, and Residential across all industries: hospitality, construction, education, transportation, and many more.
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