Landfill Essay

Landfills. The first thing that might come to one’s head is an ugly, vast pile of trash. The reality is landfills are actually very complicated and useful structures. The U.S. has tripled its trash production since 1960. Americans alone generate 4.6 pounds of trash per day per person. This comes up to an astounding 275 million tons of trash per year. 55% of this trash ends up in landfills across the country. On that note, the U.K. relies on them so heavily, that they use them for 90% of their solid waste. If it wasn’t for landfills, trash would be virtually lining the streets. Landfills are complex and varying structures that greatly benefit society. The question is: what exactly is a landfill?

Ironically, landfills are much more complicated than the useless piles of garbage that they

This isolation is accomplished with the use of a bottom liner and daily covering of soil” (Advanced Disposal). Landfills are designed into many different parts that each have their own purpose in the success of the entire landfill. Landfills are not just piles of trash! The first part is the bottom liner system. The bottom liner system is what the landfill is built on. It separates trash from groundwater and the surrounding land. Inside of the landfill, there are cells that divide the entire landfill into parts that can be observed by the company. The cells are covered by a daily layering of soil and a tarp to keep moisture and the weather away from the trash. The cells, lining and covering are the main parts of the landfill. Landfills also have other collection systems hidden away. The first system is the leachate collection system. If water manages to get into the landfill, there is a collection system for collecting that contaminated water (leachate). The leachate is stored away to ensure the landfills original intent of preventing