LANDFILL

1. LANDFILL dumpbin.aryansms.in

2. What is a Landfill? Modern landfills are well-engineered and managed facilities for the disposal of solid waste. Landfills are located, designed, operated and monitored to ensure compliance with federal regulations. They are also designed to protect the environment from contaminants, which may be present in the waste stream. Landfills cannot be built in environmentally-sensitive areas, and they are placed using on-site environmental monitoring systems. These monitoring systems check for any sign of groundwater contamination and for landfill gas, as well as provide additional safeguards. Today’s landfills must meet stringent design, operation and closure requirements established under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Disposing waste in landfills is one part of an integrated waste management system. EPA encourages communities to consider the waste management hierarchy - favoring source reduction to reduce both the volume and toxicity of waste and to increase the useful life of manufactured products - when designing waste management systems.

4. Environmental Impact of landfills • The most significant environmental concern with landfills is the discharge of methane gas. Methane gas is produced as organic matter decomposes in landfills. Methane absorbs 84 times more heat from the sun than carbon dioxide, making it one of the most potent greenhouse gases and a major contributor to climate change. • In addition to methane, landfills emit carbon dioxide and water vapour, as well as trace amounts of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and non-methane chemical molecules. If these gases are not managed, they can contribute to climate change and cause smog. • Typically, the construction of landfills involves the destruction of natural wildlife habitats. The average landfill size is 600 acres. With over 3,000 operational landfills in the United States, up to 1,800,000 acres of habitat could be lost.

5. Social Impact of landfills • Landfill emissions endanger the health of persons who live and work near landfills. A research in New York discovered that children born to families who lived within a mile of a hazardous waste disposal site have a 12% greater risk of congenital abnormalities. • Large dumps reduce the value of nearby land by 12.9% on average. Smaller landfills have a smaller influence on land values, with a 2.5% decline, but they still have an impact. • Landfills pose risks such as odour, smoke, noise, pests, and contamination of water supplies. • Landfills and hazardous waste dumps are more likely to be found in minority and low-income neighbourhoods. These areas have fewer resources to fight the installation of these facilities. This qualifies them.

6. How to avoid landfills • Recycle! Every year the amount of waste that avoids the landfill increases due to recycling. Continuing to recycle will keep plastic and other materials out of the biosphere and put them to further use! • Avoid single-use plastics. Check out this article on single-use plastics and how to avoid them from the CU Zero Waste team here. • Compost! Landfills lack the oxygen that compostable items need to fully decompose. By putting biodegradable items into the compost instead of the trash, huge amounts of waste can avoid the landfill.

7. Landfills help keep our cities clean, but they also endanger the health of our environment. Working towards a zero-waste lifestyle will minimise our dependency on landfills, their environmental effect, and their influence on human health and well-being.