solid-waste management: Quick Facts

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Photos and Videos

sanitary landfill

Piles of discarded electronic waste, including old televisions and computer monitors, scattered across a dry, grassy field with rusted metal and debris.

Side-by-side diagrams compare the trench and area methods of constructing a sanitary landfill, showing waste collection trucks and bulldozers layering compacted solid waste with daily and final earth covers on original ground, with labeled parts but without liners or leachate systems.

Explore how bacteria and other microorganisms decompose solid-waste efficiently in sanitary landfills

Learn how local recycling waste-management programs lessen landfills' solid-waste burdens

How most of a car's parts are recycled

Is garbage the next big resource for energy?

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