If all else fails in terms of reducing consumption and recycling our waste we still need to resort to the final option – storing. Well, it is not exactly storing since rubbish will eventually decompose or evapourate but we still need to transport it to certain locations and handle it properly before we forget about it. This might sound a little frightening and it is. There are two main disposal solutions.
- Landfill
- Incineration
We can always use the ground to store our waste
Landfill being the first option has a title that is pretty self-explanatory. This method uses old caves, mines quarries etc. and fills them up with garbage. It is the cheaper version of the two. Junk is stored underground where it is not in anybody’s way. Some landfills are actually remarkably clean if constructed properly and especially meant for garbage disposal. Countries with big open spaces can really benefit from landfills. Processing and incinerating all this rubbish will come at a price and filling the ground with garbage is always more convenient and cheap. It is popular that solid waste is compressed at first so that it would take up less space. Sealing it in bags or any other sort of packaging assures that it will not leak and thus endanger the environment. Speaking of that, there are some disadvantages to landfills as well.
By leaving these significant amounts of various junk to rot, favourable conditions for pollution and the occurrence of vermin start to emerge. There are a number of open field dumps and this creates the danger of wind-blown rubbish. Furthermore as the junk decays it starts producing gases which are harmful to the environment. We’ve come to a point where we are actually able to pump the gas off the landfill and use its energy to turn it into electricity.
But setting it on fire is also an option
Speaking of gas, this brings us to the second method of waste disposal – incineration. It goes without saying that this means subjecting waste to combustion. Again this process produces gases which need to be contained so that damage to nature can be prevented. By capturing these gases we are also able to produce energy. Many argue that this is also a way of recycling. Many factories that do not produce clothing or food decide to volunteer and get waste transported to them. They then use that garbage in their furnaces and set it on fire thus powering the whole plant or factory.
This is a very convenient way of garbage disposal as it requires less space. Most of the solid junk is transformed into fumes. Countries such as Japan benefit greatly from this method. However concerns of pollution remain and many activists are against this method of garbage disposal also. And they have the right to be. There has been an increase of air pollution ever since incineration of junk started massively taking place. Studies on the other hand show that communities who frequently send their rubbish for incineration have higher recycling rates in comparison to others who do not.