Scale
Landfill sites exist is virtually every country in the world. They are a globally recognised method of waste disposal. However, as can be seen from the cases below, the scale of the issues to be dealt with globally means that the existence of landfill poses a serious threat to humanity.
Australia: Landfills receive 40 percent of Australia's waste some landfills, receiving up to 20 million tonnes of waste a year
Australia: Landfills receive 40 percent of Australia's waste some landfills, receiving up to 20 million tonnes of waste a year
This is a map of operational landfills in Australia. (http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/styles/original-left/private/pages/5f5398bb-6f16-4797-b654-a3e8a2f3a453/images/infrastructure-figure1.jpg?itok=LdOTWKvI)
USA landfills
Landfills are a big problem in the US and they take up a lot of space. "Us has over 3091 active landfills and 10000 old landfills according to EPA" (Beyond landfills org, online) Fresh kills landfill New York had over 150 millions tons dumped there a year until it was closed.
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Map of number of landfills in america. (http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/Images/4-8.gif)
Top 6 largest landfills in the world.
- Bordo Poniente Landfill, Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico was taking 12,000 tons of garbage a day
- Fresh Kills Landfill, New York, reached a capacity of 150 million tonnes of waste before being closed down
- Lagos Landfill, Nigeria takes 10,000 tons of garbage a day
- Apex Regional Landfill, Las Vegas, Nevada takes 9000 tonnes of waste a day and is predicted to reach around a billion tonnes before it is closed which will be one of the biggest landfills ever
- Sudokwon Landfill, South Korea, so far collecting 88 million tonnes of waste, 8.3 million a year and 20,000 a day
- Puente Hills Landfill, Los Angeles, California, Americas biggest landfills taking up around 700 acres of land and holding 3.7 millions tonnes a day