Landfills and Garbage Incinerators

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Recommended: Advantages and disadvantages of waste management

It is seven of the clock. Do I hear a truck? I need to get the garbage outside! A weekly regimen for all but no one usually thinks about what happens to our trash. Once it is in a plastic bag most people pretend that it does not exist. They tend to believe that waste disposal is an issue for the government and private contractors. While this is true, these people have to decide how to dispose of everyone’s’ garbage. And they have to ask, what impact will this refuse have on the environment and community after it is out of sight and mind?

There are three basic ways that trash is disposed of recycling, landfills and incineration. Each with their own perks and flaws. Recycling has been and will continue to be the worldwide favorite however this method cannot process all waste. The leftover refuse winds up in landfills and incinerators. Which of these two methods of disposal is the lesser evil?

Landfills seem pretty self-explanatory, a hole full of garbage. However it goes much deeper than that, no pun intended. Current landfills do begin with a hole in ground but that hole is lined with layers of dense plastic this process makes sure that no contaminants escape into the soil. These contaminants are called leachates and are caused by water seeping through the landfill. The leachates must be removed every so often, processed and disposed of. Landfills also produce an extraordinary amount of methane. Some, not all landfills collect this methane and either burn it or process it in order to sell the methane as fuel. (Mckinney and Michael 536-37)

Contrary to popular belief, incinerators are not the pollution powerhouses previously thought. There are essentially two types of waste to energy facilities: refuse-derived fu...

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...the environment incinerators perform the much-needed duty of consolidating trash. Therefore making landfills fill up much later. This is only a temporary solution eventually scientist must think of another way to dispose of, or utilize our garbage.

Works Cited

Barkman, H.W. “Health Problems Not Linked to Incinerator Emissions.” Hazardous Waste Consultant Volume 21. Issue 6 2003 Page 1.7

Dijkgraaf, Elbert and Vollebergh, Herman Burn or bury? Volume 50. Issues 3-4. 1 October 2004 Pages 238-9

McKinney, Michael and Schoch, Robert “Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions” Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Inc. Sudbury, Mass. 1998. 530-537. Print.

Moy, Pearl et al. “Options for management of municipal solid waste in New York City: A preliminary comparison of health risks and policy implications.” Journal of Enviromental Management Volume 87 2008 Pages 73-77

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