Lone Pine Transfer Station

A landfill is a location that manages our waste. In some landfills the garbage is left in piles, in some the garbage is incinerated and, in some others, the waste is decomposed onto other chemical structures and processed. In some landfills, the waste is buried.

Landfills are in specific areas, and they are away from cities and counties as there are gases that leak from the decomposition of the waste. There are various types of landfills. Some are used for municipal waste, some are used for sorting of the waste, some serve as transfer stations, and some are specialized only for recycling. Each landfill has its acceptance conditions, which means only a specific type of waste can be accepted.

When a load of waste is accepted, the garbage trucks go to the dumping point and offload the materials. During the processing of the waste, the main ideas are to confine the waste in the smallest space possible and to reduce the volume of the waste by compacting it. The garbage trucks are weighed when they enter and exit the landfill. The difference is the tons of garbage deposited and that affects the cost to use the landfill. Each landfill has its prices per ton depending on the type of waste that is deposited.

There is a lot of waste generated in the USA. In 2018, there were 292 million tons of waste generated. Averagely that is 4.9 Lb. of waste per person. The waste from municipalities is recycled the most. The data says that in 2018, there was a recycling rate of 32%. Some of the waste is reprocessed not other means such as bio-chemical management.The largest categories of waste pertain to paper, food plastics, yard trims, and metals. Food, plastics, and paper make are the main resources for energy production from waste.

After all the cells in a landfill are used and are full, then we start the process of reclaiming. The idea is that the space on top of the landfill can be used for other purposes. Whatever is the type of landfill, the space on top of it is covered by layers of dirt, to recreate reusable soil. The space is compacted, and it is made sure to be leakproof so that there is no spillage onto the environment.

There are specific laws that regulate the use of landfills after being full and there are specific measures to be taken and to assure compliance. For chemical and garbage that is hazardous, there is a synthetic material that covers it. There is an intricate drainage system. For general garbage, there is a liner system at the bottom area of the cells. The top is covered by topsoil, clay, and synthetic materials.

After this has been done, the space on top of the landfill can support various uses. It can be used to create parks, As of right now, there are more than 1000 parks in the USA that originated from landfill places. The area on top can be used to generate electricity and attach solar panels. This idea is a bit dangerous as the ground below can shift during the years. The area on top of a landfill can even support wildlife habitats, as the layers of clay and dirt that cover the landfill can support and grow trees.

When waste arrives in a landfill it needs to be sorted out first. Therefore, we have waste sorting stations. These are specialized for municipal waste and not for other types of landfills. Garbage trucks dump their municipal waste. Then the waste is separated into recyclable waste and non-recyclable materials. The non-recyclable garbage is then separated into hazardous waste, energy recyclable waste, landfill waste, or incinerator waste. Afterward that it has been sorted out, it is then loaded onto garbage trucks, and this deposits the waste onto their designated places.

Chemical landfills are a variation of sanitary landfills. Chemical landfills are made to secure and hazardous waste. This type of landfill is made on top of a nonporous bedrock. The idea is to create a place that is specialized to reduce the likelihood of hazardous waste reaching the environment. This type of landfill has a pit with a heavily protected bottom that does not allow hazardous materials to reach the soil. These landfills are operated by specialized personnel, and they have strong monitoring systems. To deposit materials in a chemical landfill, it is mandatory to research the local applicable laws and any federal laws that pertain to the type of waste that you intend to dispose of.