Has it ever crossed your mind when you are tossing out that food that has been sitting in the fridge for weeks, where the aged, spoiled food goes once it is thrown out? When waste is thrown out, it is often taken to a landfill, an area of land where refuse is taken and accumulates over time (“Landfill Problems”). Landfills provide a simple and low-cost solution to the copious amount of trash that people accumulate; however, these dome-shaped dumps seriously harm people and the environment. In fact, studies have shown that living too close to a landfill and inhaling the toxic gases that landfills are known to release has proven to cause various forms of cancer. The composition of a landfill, crucial to the safety of the environment, consists
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“Hazardous waste landfills hold unwanted toxic residues from manufacturing processes. Municipal solid waste landfills hold discarded products, many of which were manufactured from toxic materials” (Montague). These two types of landfills may consist of different types of waste, but the fluid composed within the two landfills is “chemically identical” (Montague). Landfills are devoid of oxygen and moisture. Therefore, the process of decomposition is stagnant (Freudenrich). The delaying decomposition of waste in landfills is acceptable because the obligation of landfills is to entomb the trash (Freudenrich). Due to large amounts of waste being taken to landfills every day, it is plausible that eventually the landfill will become full and will have to shut down. When a landfill closes, the trash and all of the issues that came along with the landfill do not die out. In fact, once the landfill closes, or is considered full, the site must be monitored for possible groundwater contamination and expulsion of toxic gases “for up to 30 years” (Freudenrich). One of the reasons why the landfill must be maintained and most importantly controlled for so long after the closing is so the toxic gases that are released from landfills do not continue harming the residents surrounding the
“Hazardous waste landfills hold unwanted toxic residues from manufacturing processes. Municipal solid waste landfills hold discarded products, many of which were manufactured from toxic materials” (Montague). These two types of landfills may consist of different types of waste, but the fluid composed within the two landfills is “chemically identical” (Montague). Landfills are devoid of oxygen and moisture. Therefore, the process of decomposition is stagnant (Freudenrich). The delaying decomposition of waste in landfills is acceptable because the obligation of landfills is to entomb the trash (Freudenrich). Due to large amounts of waste being taken to landfills every day, it is plausible that eventually the landfill will become full and will have to shut down. When a landfill closes, the trash and all of the issues that came along with the landfill do not die out. In fact, once the landfill closes, or is considered full, the site must be monitored for possible groundwater contamination and expulsion of toxic gases “for up to 30 years” (Freudenrich). One of the reasons why the landfill must be maintained and most importantly controlled for so long after the closing is so the toxic gases that are released from landfills do not continue harming the residents surrounding the