4 ms·

Why are landfills like this still a thing? Why not burn everything and only dump what's left?

digging 2y ago
Assuming incineration has lower externalities than landfills[1], you're... expressing surprise that a cheaper, suboptimal technique is ever used? [1] I don't know if that's true.
abracadaniel 2y ago
Some places do. Waste to energy plants are a thing. One of the big challenges is running a large, stable, chemical reaction on unknown fuel. It’s difficult to burn things hot enough to reduce potentially dangerous compounds while also having variable input. Then, the gasses need to be monitored to avoid dangerous compounds reforming as the exhaust cools.
- SargeDebian 2y ago
  And sometimes people throw things in that explode.
- d110af5ccf 2y ago
  > It’s difficult to burn things hot enough to reduce potentially dangerous compounds And that's before accounting for people illegally tossing things that contain heavy metals (such as batteries).
briffle 2y ago
My county has one that does 90% of our garbage, and its not an easy problem. The key part is scrubbing the smoke to get rid of the polutants, and then cleaning the ash to also get rid of things like mercury. The only way they can seem to make a buck is to charge high rates to dispose of 'medical waste' that helps with costs.
- aziaziazi 2y ago
  Curious: why medical wastes? 90% : Sweden or Japan ? https://sensoneo.com/global-waste-index/ https://sensoneo.com/global-waste-index/
  - briffle 2y ago
    Marion County, Oregon.. Medical waste is 'biohazard' waste (think blood, guts, needles, etc) So they can't just throw most of that in a landfill, it has to get burned. They charge a premium partly because they can, and partly because most of that is from outside our county. https://www.co.marion.or.us/PW/ES/disposal/Pages/mcwef.aspx https://www.co.marion.or.us/PW/ES/disposal/Pages/mcwef.aspx
cm2012 2y ago
Landfills are cheap, plentiful, easy and pollute much much less than burning.
- nobodyknowin 2y ago
  And in the US we have plenty of open land to place them. I understand places like Japan wanting to find alternative means
Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
Because some things release Very Bad Chemicals(tm) when burned. Better to just bury them.
- adrian_b 2y ago
  Most burned things release Very Bad Chemicals(tm) only when they are incompletely burned. It is possible to design burners that ensure a complete combustion, but they are much more expensive than simple burners. Upon a complete combustion, some things may still release volatile acid oxides, e.g. oxides of nitrogen or of chlorine, but those can be captured.
- greenavocado 2y ago
  Often it's just as bad or worse to bury them because they will work their way into the water table and then it's gg for decades
  - daedrdev 2y ago
    The article is about how much engineering modern landfills in first world countries use to avoid that problem.
bluGill 2y ago
People are not careful about what they throw away. Batteries, lead, and so on end up in trash. When you burn it those get released to the atmosphere, sometimes in a form that is even worse chemically than what we started with. We do burn trash, but as the other reply said, it is expensive because you have to somehow account for all that.

Assuming incineration has lower externalities than landfills[1], you're... expressing surprise that a cheaper, suboptimal technique is ever used? [1] I don't know if that's true.

abracadaniel 2y ago

Some places do. Waste to energy plants are a thing. One of the big challenges is running a large, stable, chemical reaction on unknown fuel. It’s difficult to burn things hot enough to reduce potentially dangerous compounds while also having variable input. Then, the gasses need to be monitored to avoid dangerous compounds reforming as the exhaust cools.

SargeDebian 2y ago
And sometimes people throw things in that explode.
d110af5ccf 2y ago
> It’s difficult to burn things hot enough to reduce potentially dangerous compounds And that's before accounting for people illegally tossing things that contain heavy metals (such as batteries).

briffle 2y ago

My county has one that does 90% of our garbage, and its not an easy problem. The key part is scrubbing the smoke to get rid of the polutants, and then cleaning the ash to also get rid of things like mercury. The only way they can seem to make a buck is to charge high rates to dispose of 'medical waste' that helps with costs.

aziaziazi 2y ago
Curious: why medical wastes? 90% : Sweden or Japan ? https://sensoneo.com/global-waste-index/ https://sensoneo.com/global-waste-index/
- briffle 2y ago
  Marion County, Oregon.. Medical waste is 'biohazard' waste (think blood, guts, needles, etc) So they can't just throw most of that in a landfill, it has to get burned. They charge a premium partly because they can, and partly because most of that is from outside our county. https://www.co.marion.or.us/PW/ES/disposal/Pages/mcwef.aspx https://www.co.marion.or.us/PW/ES/disposal/Pages/mcwef.aspx

cm2012 2y ago

Landfills are cheap, plentiful, easy and pollute much much less than burning.

nobodyknowin 2y ago
And in the US we have plenty of open land to place them. I understand places like Japan wanting to find alternative means

Sohcahtoa82 2y ago

Because some things release Very Bad Chemicals(tm) when burned. Better to just bury them.

adrian_b 2y ago
Most burned things release Very Bad Chemicals(tm) only when they are incompletely burned. It is possible to design burners that ensure a complete combustion, but they are much more expensive than simple burners. Upon a complete combustion, some things may still release volatile acid oxides, e.g. oxides of nitrogen or of chlorine, but those can be captured.
greenavocado 2y ago
Often it's just as bad or worse to bury them because they will work their way into the water table and then it's gg for decades
- daedrdev 2y ago
  The article is about how much engineering modern landfills in first world countries use to avoid that problem.

bluGill 2y ago

People are not careful about what they throw away. Batteries, lead, and so on end up in trash. When you burn it those get released to the atmosphere, sometimes in a form that is even worse chemically than what we started with. We do burn trash, but as the other reply said, it is expensive because you have to somehow account for all that.