Preview

Essay On Landfill

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1139 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On Landfill
As urbanization progresses, the disposal of trash has become an enormous problem to America and the world. Although there has been progress in decreasing the amount of waste by limited recycling and reuse, most trash is still thrown away to fill landfill sites. To list just a few staggering facts, every year, 13.4 million tons of food waste, 28 billion bottles, 36 billion aluminum cans, and 200 million tons of garbage are landfilled in America each year 1. As trash is piling up, environmental concerns rise because of landfills’ large production of leachate and landfill gas.
Leachate is the liquid drained from landfill sites, composed of dissolved waste material components and particles from degrading trash through percolation in landfills. Over time, leachate can impede plant growth, contaminate drinking water, and damage ecosystems as the liquid infiltrates groundwater and soil. Moreover, leachate has numerous detrimental compounds, like organic matter that leads to excessive amounts of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) …show more content…
When considering the economic, environmental, and social lenses, anaerobic biodegradation seem to be the best option. Overall, anaerobic biodegradation has major potential for the future because of its beneficial environmental impact and limited social repercussions. However, although economically feasible with grants, the feasibility of anaerobic biodegradation is limited at the moment. Currently, research to improve the method is being pursued by engineers throughout the world. With more technological developments and research, landfills will continually be improved to supply energy and decrease adverse environmental and social impacts while being economically
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    SCEI210 - Unit 4 IP
    • 1126 Words
    • 4 Pages

    SCEI210 - Unit 4 IP

    In this research paper we will be reviewing the history of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). We will describe what problems an open landfill, early landfill and a modern landfill are and how innovations are being implemented to the landfill to make it more productive and reduce the environmental impact. The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is all of the garbage, refuse, trash or junk that gets thrown away from our homes or small businesses. Some of these items are grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, paint, batteries, etc.…

    • 1126 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Recycling Is Wasteful Summary
    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Recycling Is Wasteful Summary

    Since garbage is taken to landfills most people perceive the issues of their trash as out of sight-out of mind type of situation, but the amount of trash currently present on Earth is no big fuss because it would not cover much. In this article the support of this sub claim comes from A. Clark Wiseman of Spokane's Gonzaga University, he discloses “At the current rate, Americans could put all of the trash generated over the next 1,000 years into a landfill 100 yards high and 35 miles square. Or dig a similar-size hole and plant grass on top after it was…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Discuss The Extent To Which Sustainability Can Be Achieved
    • 1634 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Discuss The Extent To Which Sustainability Can Be Achieved

    Waste management is all about the need to change our attitude to waste. The four methods of managing waste at the moment are: landfill, composting, recycling and energy recovery (incineration). To be sustainable, waste must be managed in a way that is maintainable for the foreseeable future and will not be hurtful to the environment or the population. Waste is a problem at the moment because the amount of waste we use is increasing and therefore so is toxicity along with the time that the rubbish is toxic for. We are also running out of landfill sites. Therefore, another method of waste management must be found that will solve these problems.…

    • 1634 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Hidden Life of Garbage
    • 1159 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Hidden Life of Garbage

    According to “The Hidden Life of Garbage,” Heather Rogers states, “Today’s garbage graveyards are sequestered, guarded, and veiled.(178)”Rogers claims that the Waste Management Inc. operates its Geological Reclamation Operations and Waste systems (GROW) landfill on a historical river valley in Pennsylvania in which Washington had crossed the Delaware river. At the landfill site, Rogers’ states, “the logic of our society’s unrestrained consuming and wasting quickly unravels. (178)” In addition, Rogers explains “the aptly named GROWS landfill is part of Waste Management Inc’s (WMI) 6000-acre garbage treatment complex, which includes a second landfill, an incinerator, and a state- mandated leaf composting lot.(178)” Perhaps the landfill GROWS is aptly named due to the fact that the landfills have become increasingly larger. Moreover, Rogers stressed that although landfill regulations make them less dangerous, these answers will only be short-term solutions. Altogether Rogers attitude of the situation is that these landfill projects are being kept away from the public eye for a reason, which is to keep us from asking questions. In short, Rogers concludes her article by asking the repressed question, “what if we didn’t have so much trash to get rid of?” We generate a large amount of garbage ourselves, everywhere we go. At my grocery store, trash is being generating by the lack of a proper recycling program, untouched, edible food going to waste, and certain materials not being reused.…

    • 1159 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    english annotation
    • 2453 Words
    • 10 Pages

    english annotation

    When thrown into a recycle bin in a college biology class, where does that plastic water bottle head off to? Does it arrive in a landfill in India, in the Gulf Coast, or reused in other bottles? The research question that will be addressed is; how efficient is recycling, from the bin to reusable material, and how well does it reduce landfills compared to incineration? Answering this question will be useful for environmental scientists and other related fields to determine the importance and necessity of material recycling. Reducing landfills using recycling can help to clean the environment and atmosphere so it is important to know exactly how much recycling helps and if it can improve.…

    • 2453 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Environmental Science Final Study Guide
    • 7330 Words
    • 249 Pages

    Environmental Science Final Study Guide

    o Open dumps: fields or holes where garbage is dumped or burned o “Sanitary” landfills: landfills in which MSW is spread out in thin layers, compacted and covered daily – designed to reduce leachate • Pros o Low operating costs o Can handle large amounts of waste o Filled land can be used for other purposes o No shortage of landfill space (usually) • Cons o Noise, traffic, dust o Release of GHG (CO2 and methane) unless collected o Leaks and water contamination o Does not encourage waste reduction Incinerator • Incinerators (“resource recovery” or “waste to energy”) o 89 located in the US where 12% of all MSW is burned • Pros o Reduces volume of trash o Produces energy o…

    • 7330 Words
    • 249 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Plastic Affecting The Environment
    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Plastic Affecting The Environment

    Landfills are big contributors to the destruction of the environment. They lead to pollution of water and soil, and produce methane which is a greenhouse gas. The effects of landfills also can include animals or even people being killed, roads being damaged, and annoyances like a lot of noise, stenches, and vermin. According to Conserve Energy Future, “Recycling programs keep 70 tons of waste from being deposited into landfills every year” (No Author Given, 1). Hence, recycling plastic will decrease waste, which in turn will decrease the amount of landfill space needed. If the amount of landfill space decreases, the environment is greatly…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Humans vs. Other Primates
    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Humans vs. Other Primates

    Even though humans could be the leaders of the world wielding the most power, are we that much different from other primates? No, we are not. Of course humans are different, but definitely not unique. We share too many characteristics to other primates like the chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas. Characteristics like culture, speech, communication, having social classes would which may have been thought to unique to humans have also seen done by other primates. Humans may have been considered unique once upon a time, but now were closer to our primate relatives than ever. Culture was once considered unique to humans, but it has been discovered that chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos also have culture. In Jane Goodall’s study of chimps (Goodall, 2002). A baby chimpanzee was observed watching his mother, as she groomed the alpha male. It had been noted that a baby chimpanzee learns by watching his mother. His mother may have learned this by watching her mother. The child also observes all the others grooming, and by watching that the others are doing he will also grow up to do so. In the article “Another Cultured Age, this Time with Red hair” Carol K. Yoon explains that oragutans in different groups in different areas each have different rituals they perform. The nightly howl for one differs from another, so does sexual behaviour, and tool use. The bonobo studied by Sue Savage-Rumbaugh shows the baby bono Teco growing up with two cultures (Savage-Rambaugh, 2010). Teco the baby, is growing up in a human culture, but will also adapt some bonobo culture from his father. Adapting to the culture in your surroundings was thought to only be done by humans, but now chimps, orangutans, and bonobos also show culture. In the chimp community, a baby chimp will grow up to do the same practices as he is shown by his mother and the others in his…

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Got Trash Persuasive Essay
    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Got Trash Persuasive Essay

    Most of the garbage humans produce ends up in landfills and although they have mechanisms in place to avoid contamination, it is quite possible that it will still happen because trash creates different gases and liquids such as methane, which can contaminate the underground water, soil, and air. These landfills are around the community you and your family live in and one of the short-term detriments is that it depreciates homes’ value.…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Sustainability Assignment
    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Sustainability Assignment

    Open dumps, landfills, and industrial composting are three methods in which solid waste is disposed of. These three methods have overlapping history and methods, while also being distinctive entities. Open dumps are the predecessor to the modern landfill. Open dumps in the United States have been on the decline in the last 50 years. Open dumps were historically locations where solid waste was deposited without regard to the impact on the environment. These locations made no distinction between hazard waste and organic manner. Most open dumps have been closed or converted to landfills. Open dumping is illegal in all of the United States,…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Getting Rid Of Recycling Research Paper
    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Getting Rid Of Recycling Research Paper

    If the trash is continuity dumped in a landfill many miles away you just happen to forget about it, however people won’t forget if a landfill just happens to fall next to a home. Well with the growing amount of trash the amount of landfill space is growing smaller and smaller. A portion of the material is burned emitting harmful gasses to the surrounding land. The majority, however, is thrown into a landfill and forgotten. “Liquids that get thrown away will seep through the ground and could harm the soil.” (unknown). When the liquids are thrown away, they can seep into the ground and cause damage to the plants. When this damage is don’t to the plants it also affects the wildlife’s food. Under those circumstances, recycling would be much better for the environment and the…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Recycling Is Wrong
    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Why Recycling Is Wrong

    In the article, “Recycling Is Not Garbage” environmentally Defense fund scientist Richard A. Denison and economic analyst John F. Ruston rebut a series of myths that they say have been promoted by industrial opponents in an effort to undermine the environmentally valuable and successful recycling movement. One of them is that recycling is not necessary because landfilling trash is environmentally safe. But this statement is simply wrong. “In fact, 250 out of 1,204 toxic waste sites on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund National Priority List are former municipal solid waste landfills” (Denison 280). That means landfills are major sources of air and water pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions. Another myth is that recycling is not cost effective, and should pay for itself. As discussed in “Recycling Is Not Garbage” an analysis of nine years of detailed data collected by the Seattle Solid Waste Utility shows that, after a two year startup period, recycling services saved the city's solid waste management program $1.7 to $2.8 million per year (Denison 281). Thus, we do not expect landfills or incinerators to pay for themselves, nor should we expect this of recycling. No other form of waste disposal, or even waste collection, pays for itself. Waste management is simply a cost society must…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Waste In Canada
    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Waste In Canada

    The most popular and inexpensive way to get rid of garbage is burial, but burying your problems does not necessarily mean getting rid of them. Landfill sites pose as severe ecological threats as these mass garbage dump yards overflow with trash and frequently contaminate our air, soil and water with hazardous wastes. About 400 million tons of hazardous wastes are generated each year1. A large-scale release of these materials can cause thousands of deaths and may poison the environment for many years. For example many industrial companies around the world cannot afford to enforce the strict pollution regulations set by many developed countries. This usually forces these types of companies to move to developing countries where pollution regulations are very lenient. These developing countries knowingly accept environmentally hazardous companies usually because they are in desperate need of employment. The harmful effects of these companies were clearly illustrated in the 1960s and 1970s when residents living near Minamata Bay, Japan, developed nervous disorders, tremors, and paralysis in a mysterious epidemic. The root was later found to be a local industry that had released mercury, a highly toxic element, into Minamata Bay. The disaster had claimed the lives of 400 people1. Since 1970 you can bet that a lot more than 400 people have died as a result of…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    College Application Essay
    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages

    College Application Essay

    Option #4: Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Should Recycling Be Mandatory?
    • 3039 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Should Recycling Be Mandatory?

    Recycling is a method that appeared as a solution for the problems that environmentalists were having with landfill’s capacity and contamination of garbage around 1980’s. According to Christopher Douglass (2003), dramatic predictions of landfill closings created a crisis mentality in America. He also informs that the in 1988 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported to Congress that “one-third of all landfills in the United States would close by 1994 and that by 2008 nearly 80 percent of landfills would be shut down” (Douglass, 2003). The situation that the EPA presented to the Congress in 1988 seemed to be disastrous; but fortunately those predictions were all wrong. The problem with these predictions was that the government and environmentalists turned on red lights in order to solve this issue in a positive way that could help the planet’s environment. As a result, state and local…

    • 3039 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics