What are the advantages and disadvantages of using landfills for trash disposal?
Landfills provide an “out-of-sight-out-of-mind” rationality to the problem of waste management. After its leaves your home, most people ignore what happens to it. Once it is buried in a landfill, we are inclined to forget about it. This is a problem, because all landfills have inherent problems related to contaminants escaping and affecting our environment.So the primary advantage is: Our consciences are eased!! Other advantages are that the trash isn’t piling up around us and creating worse health problems as it rots and attract pests which can carry disease. A well engineered landfill can greatly reduce the potential nasty effects on our environment….it’s better than just throwing the trash in a pile somewhere (which is done in many places).Disadvantages include the fact that rotting food waste allows methane and carbon dioxide to seep out of the ground and up into the air. Both these gases contribute greatly to global warming. Chemicals can also leach out of confinement into ground water and streams. Landfills must be monitored for LONG after they are closed and capped. The ongoing costs can be several hundred thousand dollars per year (or more, depending on the size) …forever! This adds to the “Present value” cost of a new landfill (we calculate the present day value of that ongoing expense stream)A better solution to landfills is to:sort the trash as it comes in;Remove any valuable recyclable materialsSort the remaing material into 3–4 categoriesbiodgradable (“soft and wet” stuff) that can be digested anaerobically … capturing the methane gas that is created to use as an energy source“hard and dry” stuff that can be gasified …capturing the hydrgoen that is created to use as an energy sourcePyrolysis material (tires!) which can be processed into liquid fuel“Leftovers” that can be incinerated, the heat from which can be used for multiple purposesThe above can be done affordably. It is more environmentally friendly. It harnesses a renewable source of energy. It diminishes the volume and mass of material to be buried, so it saves space and money! Energy is created locally, jobs are created, transportation costs are reduced and GHGs are reduced.This is a 100% scalable option and can be done for a small landfill or transfer station of 10 or 20 tons per day up to operations of 1000 tons per day or more. It costs about the same to do this per kW of energy as it does to build a natural gas plant …. and WAY less than building nuclear reactor facilities.
What is a landfill?
1)What do you think a landfill is? 2) How do you think a landfill is formed? 3)Where do you think landfills locate, and where do you think it should be located? 4)What do you think is bad about landfills? 5)Why do you think landfills are formed? 6)Instead of landfills, where do you think we can put our trash? 7)How can you help to solve this problem? 8)Should landfills be formed? Why or why not? 9)Who do you think can help stopping the use of landfills? 10) What can be changed in your life if landfills don’t exist?
Playtex Drop-Ins fill back up with Air during burping?
Hi there. I searched the messages to see if I could find an answer about this, but I couldn't. I am confused about the drop ins. When I pour in the milk and put on the nipple, I push my fingers up through and squeeze out the air. I feed my baby about 1/2 of the bottle and then put it down to burp her. RIght away, the liner starts filling up with air again. It really makes me crazy! Does anyone else have this problem? It seems to defeat the purpose of the entire system. I can re-cap, but re-capping and then taking the cap off with one hand (my baby can't yet support her neck at all) is really a pain. And I can't seem to get my fingers far enough up in there to push the air out after she has finished 1/2 the bottle. I use Dr. Browns most of the time, but I bought a TON of the drop in things before the baby was born thinking that they were the way to go.
What happens when a landfill closes?
In the United States landfills are required to have a long term maintenance program as well as to Be returned to astensibly natural condition. What this means is that the land fill will be capped over with a substantial earthen cap to cover and protect it while keeping the waste inside. The area around the landfill and the earthen cap will be replanted with native ground cover though not normally are trees replanted on the actual landfill they are relocated to the areas around the landfill.The wastewater treatment and gas collection systems are generally consolidated and transitioned to more permant sub surface structures(during operation landfills are very fluid as different cells are filled the utilities servicing them are constantly extended and relocated to aconadate these operations)from their operational, shallow or above ground temporary structures.The support areas around the landfill such as staging, parking roads drainage etc are normally transitioned back to a semi natural state or many times into civic areas for the public such as parks , ball fields, walking or bike paths etc.it it is also not unusual to see older lanfills(the flatter more natural fills as opposed to the high hill styles of today) reclaimed for development. There are many schools, shopping centers etc that are located on old landfills or adjacent to them with the actual landfill proper being used for parking and athletic fields.
Do closed landfills still smell?
They'll have to put vents in it to allow the gases produced during decomposition to escape. Closed ones don't smell much, but they DO still smell a bit near the vents. So you should see an improvement if nothing else. In the UK, this is what a typical vent looks like (link below). A typical UK landfill site might have dozens of these. The main problem is the gases produced are detectable at extremely low levels (see second link). The landfill CANNOT be hermetically sealed, and it MUST have vents for safety reasons, so odours are STILL going to be produced. Someone in the right place at the right time may well be able to detect their presence - though it should be obvious that a 4" tube placed every couple hundred feet will be less of a problem than a completely open landfill in terms of smells.
How does recycling help landfills?
Less mining necessary and less garbage ruining land. Japanese recycle everything. They even make more land by pushing it into Tokyo Bay. It is called reclaimed land. The highest building in Japan sits on reclaimed land. Monday is for burnables, Tuesday for plastics and glass, Wednesday for papers, and Thursday for metals. A person often has to pay to take things to a second hand shop unless it is electronics.
Are solar panels an option for condo buildings and apartment blocks?
As mentioned in a previous answer, the landlord problem is a tricky one.I’ve tried to get around this and built this very system with components off Amazon on my blog “Build a Personal Power Plant for $200”. It was pretty easy to do, and I’ve been living off nothing but solar energy in my room for the past 2 months. As I explain in the article though, it’s a little tougher to add the fridge and the washer to the system.Here’s some images of the DIY project:However, as I explain in the article the business case just isn’t there for the consumer yet. That’s why I don’t believe this sized use case makes sense unless you want to install multiple of these systems and grid them together, to actually run your whole apartment off it.I think part of the reason window A/C units and satellite dishes have spread so rapidly across the globe is because apartment owners can install them themselves without permission (mostly) from the landlord. What if solar was just another consumer electronic?So there is an option for apartment renters in this kit, BUT there’s not a more integrated product as you were probably imagining because it’s hard for a business to make money from selling a product like this – it’s a low margin, commoditizable business. Again, explained more deeply in the article Build a Personal Power Plant for $200
What is a sanitary landfill?
sanitary landfill, method of controlled disposal of municipal solid waste (refuse) on land. The method was introduced in England in 1912 (where it is called controlled tipping). Waste is deposited in thin layers (up to 1 metre, or 3 feet) and promptly compacted by heavy machinery (e.g., bulldozers); several layers are placed and compacted on top of each other to form a refuse cell (up to 3 metres, or 10 feet, thick). At the end of each day the compacted refuse cell is covered with a layer of compacted soil to prevent odours and windblown debris. All modern landfill sites are carefully selected and prepared (e.g., sealed with impermeable synthetic bottom liners) to prevent pollution of groundwater or other environmental problems. When the landfill is completed, it is capped with a layer of clay or a synthetic liner in order to prevent water from entering. A final topsoil cover is placed, compacted, and graded, and various forms of vegetation may be planted in order to reclaim otherwise useless land—e.g., to fill declivities to levels convenient for building parks, golf courses, or other suitable public projects.
Why don’t any landfills in the USA burn garbage?
A landfill and a refuse incinerator are two different entities.A sanitary landfill is designed for the sole purpose of separating waste from the environment, and maintaining them safely, for an indefinite period of time.You would not want a fire in a modern landfill. the landfill typically has a clay liner, which itself is lined with a polymer (plastic) to prevent infiltration of rainwater, once the landfill is capped over, and to catch any that does manage to seep into the wastes. A fire would damage the protective liner and render it unusable. You would also be undoing the good of the landfill, by putting great amounts of contaminates into the air from the burning of the contents.So communities still use refuse incinerator for disposing of some wastes, but they are becoming less common due to the expense of “scrubbing” the emissions during the combustion process to prevent contamination of the air. You also have the problem of disposing of the filtered contaminates as well as that of the ash left by the “burned” refuse. Sorting of the wastes has to be very thorough, which is an added cost, to ensure non-combustible items do not enter the incinerator. One potential good for wastes incineration, is that in some communities, heat produced is “recovered” to make steam and used directly as a source of power or indirectly to generate electricity.Today, properly engineered sanitary landfills are the method of choice for most communities, when in comes to getting rid of refuse. as it provides for a good balance between cost effectiveness and environmental protection.
How do landfills do harm to the local environment?
“How do landfills do harm to the local environment?”A properly designed and built sanitary landfill’s purpose is to prevent harm by separating out and containing wastes from the environment.As long as you have human beings, you will have wastes. We have to do something with it. Even with recycling all that is feasible with today’s technology, you will still have wastes.A modern sanitary landfill will place wastes in a buried water resistant clay vault, lined with an impermeable polymer linear. When the landfill is full, more liner is placed atop the wastes, then it is capped off with clay. Soil is then placed on top and landscaped. Land is returned to use, and may become a park, or wildlife refuge, etc.Should any liquid seep from the landfill (this is known as “leachate”) it is caught by a system surrounding the land fill and treated.Decomposing wastes, within the landfill, produce methane gas. This gas is vented and often burned. Methane burns cleanly and this gas may be used for heating or other applications.Many people view landfills as a negative entity. Based on your question, I would say you are one of those.The purpose of a landfill is beneficial, and is to do just the opposite of what you state. It affects the environment is a positive manner. If the wastes were allowed to be openly disposed of haphazardly, it would have a very negative effect on the environment.