Long Term Effects Of Waste Management

There are different ways Americans can dispose of the 200 million tons of garbage they generate each year. In the 1930’s people started to use landfills, as opposed to open dumps, which drew insects and vermin, causing disease. Landfills are made by digging holes in the in the ground and filling it with waste products and then capped. The government safeguards landfills, and each landfill is exclusive to the kind of waste it has. This method is controlled and monitored, as is the method of incineration. Incineration is the burning of solid waste products at a temperature of 850 degrees. There are pros and cons to each method.

Landfills can be used in many ways. In fact, the gases in a landfill, like methane, can be used to heat our homes, or gives us electricity, but these gases can be minor. To produce this methane gas and others, H2O and oxygen go into the dirt covered pack. Once this happens, the gases go out doing their evil mission: hurting the atmosphere. In a sanitary landfill, operators have to control the H2O and oxygen. If operators cover the pack too early, the pack will go down and pollute for a long time. Lastly, the gases produce the odor of the landfill.

For example, what are the consequences of using the system and why do these problems exist? Also, how efficient is recycling as an environmentally-friendly mode of waste disposal? Although the process of recycling is stunted by human error and ignorance, the method is not only effective at reducing refuse worldwide; it is also the best waste-management option available.

Municipal solid wastes are leftovers made by the population such as food, plastic bottles, household wares and many more. These items referred by most as “the garage” or “trash”. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2015) In the early 1900’s, incinerators were used to burn waste however by the Mid-20th century, lawmakers enacted the first government regulations in an attempt to address increasing concerns about the environmental impact of unregulated waste management practices. With the first waste management legislation being passed in 1965, brought along the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, thus bringing us into a new world of waste management.(Vault, n.d.)

In addition, there exist some environmental risks related to producing landfill. Even though the Australian Federal Government is not offering incentives to repurpose waste, some communities and State and Local governments are offering incentives for this practice. The main purpose of this is to avoid the disposing of waste in landfills, due to the fact that it requires so much time, energy and space, injuring our planet's health (McCabe,

Currently, landfills are responsible for 15 million tonnes of C02 in our atmosphere each year. When garbage decomposes, it creates methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This contributes to greenhouse gasses and damages the ozone layer. Landfills take up space, as well as being dangerous and toxic. Rubbish that ends up in our oceans can cause harm to our marine life and poison our water.

Landfills are waste that are packed closely in mounds which are sealed beneath rubber and clay barrier, which is then over a liner that keeps liquids from bursting out. Waste is constantly added to than landfill until it reaches it maximum capacity. Once that happens it is then coved with clay and another plastic cover. Finally, that cover is piled on with numerous feet of

Landfills are mostly composed of non-biodegradable waste which takes a long time to decompose. Recycling old and waste products into new products will reduce the amount of waste that enters landfills across the nation. Doing so helps in reducing water and land pollution as landfills are a major source in contributing to destruction of natural environment. Recycling programs keeps enormous amounts of waste from being deposited into landfills every year allowing for unused land to be preserved for other uses rather than another waste site. Also, if we don’t recycle, more and more garbage will enter the landfills until they are all used up. When that happens, where will the new waste be placed and would you like to have a landfill as a backyard? According to the Bear Spring Blossom (BSB), “Landfills are a ticking time bombs-producing unknown gases and chemicals” (“Recycling”). Also, it goes on to state, “Recycling helps to reduce landfill space and disposal costs” (“Recycling”). Even though reducing the size of landfills is a notable benefit, there are other things that benefit from

Landfills are getting bigger and are becoming more of a problem in the U.S because they are hazardous to our health and our environment, but there is a way to stop the villain known as a landfill.

To begin waste disposal, is removing and destroying or storing damaged unwanted domestic. Disposal includes burning, burial at landfill sites, and recycling. Trash cans, can affect groundwater quality, especially if you dispose of it improperly. Roadside dumps as well

Landfills have many drawbacks to them. Landfills are not the best way to get rid of the waste that the world puts out. Three major harms of landfills are: they can harm the environment and living organisms around that specific, landfills take up space that people could use to make businesses, homes or parks for the kids in the neighborhood, and people throw things away that can easily be recycled.

The breakdown of food waste in landfill releases nutrients, which can migrate out of landfilled waste and into the surrounding environment. Groundwater and waterways will be polluted because of too many nutrients release in landfills. When it is raining, the landfills may leak and the leaking landfills can pollute the underground water by bringing the polluted rain water into the underground.

Waste is any substance or material that no longer serves a specific purpose, and is therefore disposed of after its first use. It is currently a significant issue for Australia; Australia is currently one of the highest waste producing countries in the world, and has recently been ranked in the top five waste producing nations. Australia as a whole produces over 18 million tonnes of waste per year, equivalent to three million garbage trucks full of compacted rubbish. This is likely to have resulted from an increase in Australia’s overall population.

The slow release from the landfill entails a dilution in time, which is hazardous. Landfills are disposal sites for waste which cannot be reused, recycled and recovered. “Waste is typically burnt at factories, but the waste which cannot be reused is taken to landfills where it is dumped”, (Spokas and Bogner, 2006: 516). Waste is taken to landfills to prevent pest infections, odour and litter. Once the waste is dumped and the landfill is to its full capacity, trained engineers build a cap out of clay and other solid materials. This is then covered with soil and other materials so that the site can be used for other things in the future such as nature conservation and agricultures. This is repeated for all sites.” Accordingly landfills are the most common form of waste disposal. “Landfills, being relatively cheaper than other treatment/disposal alternatives, are used not only by developing but also by industrialized countries, such as US, Australia, UK and Finland (Laner et al., 2012, cited in Diamantis et al., 2013:

My main concern about waste disposal is toward poverty. In every society, for it to work effectively the waste disposal has to be handled properly. The lack of proper waste disposal can contribute for the underdevelopment of the community. For instance, in poorer community that does not have resources to dispose of the trash properly create a series of problems. For example, when there are a lot of trashes in a community, it will prevent investors to invest in a community, the housing market, schools and stores will decline, in consequence the houses will loose its value. This will create a ripple effect because people will start immigrating toward a better place where it is much cleaner. Families will try to move to a better place where their kids can have a better future. I ask myself who wants to live in a dirty environment? I hope nobody. That’s why I believe that the government should help the poorest communities about the ways to handle waste disposal, and better educate them about recycling.