It is great to have my garbage picked up every week and “disappear”. Yet, I wonder how responsible it is on my part to toss trash week after week without a second thought?
The EPA estimates that in 2006, there were 1754 landfills in use in the United States.
Most landfills are highly regulated pieces of land. Usually the governing of a landfill accepting municipal waste is left to state, tribal and local governments with national standards set in place by the EPA in order for the landfill to remain in business. According to an article I found on howstuffworks.com by Craig C. Freudenrich, PhD., “a landfill is a carefully designed structure built into or on top of the ground in which trash is isolated from the surrounding environment (groundwater, air, rain). This isolation is accomplished with a bottom liner and daily covering of soil.” This is different from our idea of a “dump” which is basically a hole in the ground where trash is put and is available for perusal by vermin.
The most common way of disposing municipal waste is landfills (55%).
According to information I found on the Environmental Literacy Council’s website as well as the EPA, modern landfills are constructed with many safeguards. Government standards require:
- location restrictions
- use of composite liners
- leachate collection and removal systems
- operating practices outline compacting and covering of waste
- groundwater monitoring
- closure and post-closure requirements
- corrective actions provisions
- financial assurance that post-closure care will be funded
Although governmental standards make modern landfills seem safe, often there are problems. The liners that are now required are made of clay or a plastic membrane or both together. Some studies question the reliability of these liners (see zerowasteamerica’s website for more info). Many landfills are allowed to accept hazardous waste. Non-hazardous waste (like vinegar and butter) as well a many toxins in hazardous waste can decompose or pass through clay and cause the plastic used for the liners to change and become less effective. Other questionable safeguards for landfill safety are leachate detection systems (many landfills leak less than a gallon to 10 gallons of leachate per day), methane capturing systems (you’ll often hear waste companies referring to themselves as “green” because they convert this captured methane into energy), waste is stored in cells (smaller areas that are tightly compacted and covered each night with dirt or paper layers) and finally a cover over the landfill that won’t allow water to penetrate the waste cells. Although landfills aren’t supposed to be built near water, they often are and it is quite difficult to determine leachate leaks near water, especially with double-bottom landfills and if the leachate detection wells aren’t placed exactly downstream of the leak.
Landfills can also be linked to Global Warming and Climate Change.
- Methane is produced when organic materials in landfills rot; it is more potent than carbon dioxide.
- Incineration of waste also creates carbon dioxide
- The transportation of waste to a dump.
- The fact that in the very definition of disposal it also means that something new is taking the place of something old, hence more greenhouse gases created and fossil fuels used in the manufacture of these new products.
I always thought that my trash was hauled off each week to a landfill where it would decompose. So wrong!
By nature of the way they are built, landfills discourage decomposition of the trash they hold. Think about it. If you are at all familiar with a compost pile, organic matter is set in a pile and turned daily, mixing air into the matter to encourage the growth of organisms that will help to break it down. By using plastic or clay liners, compacting the trash tightly and covering each day’s trash with paper or dirt coverings and keeping out air and water, a landfill discourages decomposition. In the absence of air, bacteria are what break down trash in a landfill. This creates methane and carbon dioxide – two greenhouse gases (By the way, methane is more potent than CO2). Some landfills are capturing and using the methane as a source of energy, though it must be captured anyway to prevent explosions. There’s a really great diagram of a landfill and an interesting article accompanying.
As I was driving down an especially pretty road near my hometown last weekend, I was savoring the beauty of the countryside. It is a beautiful farming area with a river running through it. I was lost in thoughts of how wonderful it would be someday to own a ranch or farm in the area. Then I passed a canyon and all the signs indicating that it is a local landfill. It occurred to me that this landfill is located in a canyon and knowing that water runs downhill, I began to question if this really was a good place to live and farm. I wouldn’t want to risk my family’s health. What is to say that the groundwater isn’t being contaminated by undetected leach streams or runoff? What about 50 years from now? How will the clay and plastic liners hold up over time? My idyllic drive through the countryside suddenly became overwhelmed with nasty thoughts regarding landfill safety.
It is so important to not only educate yourself on waste prevention, recycling and hazardous waste, but to begin to practice smarter habits regarding waste.
