7 ms·

Yeah, I'm not sure why anyone would think burying waste underground is an okay solution. It made sense when most household waste was fabrics, wood, old food etc

Yeah, I'm not sure why anyone would think burying waste underground is an okay solution. It made sense when most household waste was fabrics, wood, old food etc but nobody stopped quick enough to evaluate the impacts when our waste got more and more toxic and non-biodegradable. I've recently move to the Netherlands from the UK and was amazed to discover they don't recycle household metal items (e.g. soft drinks cans, food cans etc). That's been a staple of the recycle industry for as long as I can remember in the UK, maybe it's a business opportunity waiting to happen in Holland :)

Namrog84 9y ago
Depending upon the facility. Some places do quite a bit of sorting on trash. Especially things like metals. While they don't have a separate bin. They might still filter or export some components to be recycled?
- Chris86 9y ago
  In many places in Europe consumers separate their waste themselves prior to collection, Holland included. Any waste that hasn't been separated and is just in a rubbish sack and presumed to be non-recyclable and buried without being opened or sorted. The metal cans in Holland end up in the rubbish sacks and are buried forever along with non-recyclable plastics, food waste, nappies etc
pcrh 9y ago
Well... the Dutch are very enthusiastic for more landfills, I gather.
- Chris86 9y ago
  I guess it doesn't help that 1/3 of the country is below sea level...nowhere to dig
greenshackle2 9y ago
A modern landfill is not like a landfill back then either, there's a lot of engineering that goes into it, it's not just a hole in the ground. You make it sound like no thought was given to the problem but municipal solid waste disposal is an entire science and engineering discipline. There is room for improvement but I'm pretty ok with modern landfills. Methane capture IMO is the biggest lack. It's such a waste to let it pollute the atmosphere (at 30x the GHG potential of CO2) when you can capture it, scrub it and burn it for energy. Google says landfill gases account for about 10% of global GHG emissions. (That's in North America, probably most of the world has woefully inadequate waste management solutions.) It's clear there's not enough thought and resources going into preventing environmental problems but IMO landfills are not at the top of the list. > I've recently move to the Netherlands from the UK and was amazed to discover they don't recycle household metal items Wikipedia says metal cans are separated from regular trash (at the plant) to be recycled. It also says recycling in handled by municipalities so YMMV. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_in_the_Netherlands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_in_the_Netherlands
- Chris86 9y ago
  Interesting, well that is reassuring as nobody I asked in the Netherlands believed that they were recycled. Regarding your early point, obviously there is a industry built around waste disposal - but the problem is still that we are creating types of waste that are destined for landfill. The fact there is this option to put it in the ground is a barrier to solutions for how we package our products, which chemicals we use, what we actively recycle etc.
aoner 9y ago
Actually you can recycle a lot of metal items (soup cans, aluminum foil, etc) together with plastic. It might depend on your city but have a look here: http://www.plasticheroes.nl/wat http://www.plasticheroes.nl/wat (sorry Dutch only)
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

Namrog84 9y ago

Depending upon the facility. Some places do quite a bit of sorting on trash. Especially things like metals. While they don't have a separate bin. They might still filter or export some components to be recycled?

Chris86 9y ago
In many places in Europe consumers separate their waste themselves prior to collection, Holland included. Any waste that hasn't been separated and is just in a rubbish sack and presumed to be non-recyclable and buried without being opened or sorted. The metal cans in Holland end up in the rubbish sacks and are buried forever along with non-recyclable plastics, food waste, nappies etc

pcrh 9y ago

Well... the Dutch are very enthusiastic for more landfills, I gather.

Chris86 9y ago
I guess it doesn't help that 1/3 of the country is below sea level...nowhere to dig

greenshackle2 9y ago

A modern landfill is not like a landfill back then either, there's a lot of engineering that goes into it, it's not just a hole in the ground. You make it sound like no thought was given to the problem but municipal solid waste disposal is an entire science and engineering discipline. There is room for improvement but I'm pretty ok with modern landfills. Methane capture IMO is the biggest lack. It's such a waste to let it pollute the atmosphere (at 30x the GHG potential of CO2) when you can capture it, scrub it and burn it for energy. Google says landfill gases account for about 10% of global GHG emissions. (That's in North America, probably most of the world has woefully inadequate waste management solutions.) It's clear there's not enough thought and resources going into preventing environmental problems but IMO landfills are not at the top of the list. > I've recently move to the Netherlands from the UK and was amazed to discover they don't recycle household metal items Wikipedia says metal cans are separated from regular trash (at the plant) to be recycled. It also says recycling in handled by municipalities so YMMV. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_in_the_Netherlands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_in_the_Netherlands

Chris86 9y ago
Interesting, well that is reassuring as nobody I asked in the Netherlands believed that they were recycled. Regarding your early point, obviously there is a industry built around waste disposal - but the problem is still that we are creating types of waste that are destined for landfill. The fact there is this option to put it in the ground is a barrier to solutions for how we package our products, which chemicals we use, what we actively recycle etc.

aoner 9y ago

Actually you can recycle a lot of metal items (soup cans, aluminum foil, etc) together with plastic. It might depend on your city but have a look here: http://www.plasticheroes.nl/wat http://www.plasticheroes.nl/wat (sorry Dutch only)

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]