What are disadvantages and advantages of landfill?

Answer 1

Landfills are engineered waste disposal systems that have largely replaced rubbish tips or dumps. The modern landfill is engineered to prevent loss of leachate and gases to the environment. It features impermeable membranes under it to prevent liquid leachate, segregated areas for hazardous waste, and a comprehensive monitoring program.

Landfill Advantages

• A specific location for disposal that can be monitored.
• When a landfill is complete, it can be reclaimed, built on or used as parks or farming land.
• Waste going to a properly designed landfills can be processed to removeall recyclable materials before tipping.
• Waste going to a properly designed landfills can be processed to remove organic material and use it for compost or natural gas (methane) production.
• Properly managed landfills can capture the natural gas (methane) produced by the decomposing material underground.
• Properly managed landfills can minimize and/orcapture the leachate produced by the decomposing material underground.

Landfill Disadvantages and ProblemsA poorly designed or operated landfill shares many problems observed at uncontrolled dumping areas:

• Landfills and the surrounding areas are often heavily polluted.
• Landfill can pollute the water, the air, and also the soil.
• It is difficult to keep dangerous chemicals from leaching out into the surrounding land.
• Dangerous chemicals can spread into the water table or into waterways.
• Landfill can attract animals and insects to come such as raccoons, rats, mosquitoes, cockroaches, and seagulls.
• Landfill can also cause sicknesses, illnesses, and diseases which might spread in communities.
• Landfill can increase the chances of global warming by releasing methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas.
• Landfills are taking up lots of our land and that can also take away habitats for other animals.
• Landfills contain a lot of kitchen scraps and organic material. As the landfill is constantly being covered with new garbage the organic material decomposes anaerobically (that is, without air).
• Anaerobic decomposition produces methane, which is a 20 times more dangerous greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.