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Landfills are three dimensional and the Earth is astonishingly large. On millennia timescales, we will never run out of places to put them. At a depth of 400
by jlmorton 7y ago
Landfills are three dimensional and the Earth is astonishingly large. On millennia timescales, we will never run out of places to put them.
At a depth of 400 feet, the entire US annual trash output is approximately 1,000 acre [1].
There are 37 billion acres on earth. And indeed, much of that is not very habitable land.
And importantly, landfill space is not permanently lost. There are many beautiful parks around the world built atop landfills.
[1] https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/one-giant-landfill.htm https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-scienc...
- codedokode 7y agoThe waste in the landfill produces toxic gases. Also it can burn and produce even more toxic gases. Even if the landfill is several kilometers away from homes, it is still dangerous. Also, the waste can pollute underground waters, and if there are many rivers in the region, the water will be contaminated in a large area around.
- Aenyn 7y agoSo the problem isn't that it takes space then.
- radford-neal 7y agoYeah. Some toxic/flammable gasses can be produced from landfills. But that toxic gas is not produced by plastic. So reducing the amount of plastic in the landfill isn't going to reduce the amount of toxic stuff. Similarly, the plastic in a landfill is not going to end up in underground water, or in rivers. So what's your point?