Landfills

In the United States, 228 million metric tons per year of trash/solid waste materials are generated at an astonishing rate of 4.6 pounds (2.1 kilograms) per day per person. It is twice the amount generated by other major developed countries in the world. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, about 32.5 percent of solid waste is recycled, 12.5 percent is burned, and the rest—55 percent—is buried in landfills.

Compaction of waste at landfills like this one in Perth, Western Australia, is organized by cells. Once one cell is covered with compacted solid waste and topped with soil or other materials, another cell is dug close to it

Source: Ashley Felton/Wikipedia

Landfills used by a single producer to bury their own waste at the place of production are ...

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