Making Sanitary Landfills Live Up To Their Names

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An eco-friendly alternative to the conventional city dump, the sanitary landfill is the most common way of garbage disposal in the United States. Sanitary landfills are built and managed with the intent to lower the amount of overall pollution produced by the decomposing garbage.

Traditional dumps have several ecological disadvantages. Although they served the purpose to provide adequate waste disposal for cities and towns, they often led to several pollution problems on their own. These include foul odor, infestations of insects and rodents, and the leaching of potentially hazardous toxic substances from the garbage.

By burying the garbage systematically in specially lined pits, sealed with plastic and clay, the amount of pollution produced by the landfill is reduced. The lining of the pits collects the leachate. The waste itself is buried in layers of about a meter at a time, after which it is lined with soil and compacted. The process continues up until the combined layers form a single cell. Once the entire landfill is full, it is sealed and covered with clay.

Upon cleared testing, the landfill is opened up to redevelopment, usually as a park or golf course.

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Ensuring that the sanitary landfill lives up to its environmental purpose is of paramount importance. The systems that compact and seal in the garbage and its leachate must be kept very tight to prevent pollution from runoff. Likewise, the piles should be adequately compacted and layered to promote immediate and rapid decomposition.

Beginning from a trucking firm with a fleet of one, Fred B. Barbara grew his holdings in trucking and sanitation into multimillion dollar enterprises before moving toward investments. Visit this blog for more updates on the business of investments, sanitation, and transportation.