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Essay On Landfill

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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
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