We’d be up to our ears in garbage if it weren’t for landfills and similar methods of waste disposal! However, not every type of waste can be buried in a pile. Some waste requires more attention for disposal to protect humans, wildlife, and the environment. Nothing is 100 percent, and we need to implement more effective waste disposal methods in the future. For now, these five different types of disposal methods for various materials are available to us.
Sanitary Landfills
Burying trash has been a go-to method for getting rid of trash for a long time. Just dig a hole, toss in the trash, and cover it up! However, landfills didn’t really solve the waste problem; they just obscured it, leaving buried trash to leak toxic substances into the soil and water supply.
Modern sanitary landfills employ protective linings and exist in areas with low risks of flooding in order to prevent toxic materials from entering the ecosystem. Over time, waste is covered up and compacted with layers of soil. It’s not a perfect system, but it gets the job done.
Waste Incineration
Incineration is the other classic method of getting rid of garbage. Basically, we throw trash into a furnace or incinerator and burn it to ash. While this method is effective at getting rid of most materials—and some metals require extremely high temperatures to melt—it produces toxic gases that pollute the air. Still, it remains the best solution for sterilizing medical waste or performing the important task of lab packing hazardous materials. We can even use this waste disposal method to produce energy!
Recycling and Reusing
Another popular way to get rid of waste is finding new uses for it. Recycling, of course, involves taking materials like plastics, aluminum, steel, paper, and glass and turning them into raw materials for new applications. Recycling isn’t always cheap, but it does reduce the need to extract raw materials, which is good for the environment.
Composting
Composting is one method of waste disposal that has nothing but positive aspects. Compostable waste is restricted to organic waste, like fruit and vegetable scraps, leaves and twigs, garden debris, and materials labeled as “compostable.” Composting requires plenty of space and time to create a nourishing substance you add to your garden.
Vermicomposting
Another disposal method for various waste materials is vermicomposting, which may give some folks the creepy-crawlies. While composting relies on the slow process of organic decay through the actions of microorganisms, vermicomposting employs worms. It’s a slow, laborious, but ultimately cleaner and healthier operation.
