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In 2010, Americans recovered almost 65 million tons of MSW (excluding composting) through recycling. [1] Despite an increase in population, the total amount of solid waste disposed in landfills has decreased since 1990. And as of 2017, Americans only discarded 52% of their waste in landfills, as opposed to 89% in 1980. [6]
The space that is occupied daily by the compacted waste and the cover material is called a daily cell. Waste compaction is critical to extending the life of the landfill. Factors such as waste compressibility, waste-layer thickness and the number of passes of the compactor over the waste affect the waste densities.
These steps are to prevent waste, reduce and reuse, and recycle and compost. [64] [65] [66] Los Angeles defines zero waste as "maximizing diversion from landfills and reducing waste at the source, with the ultimate goal of striving for more-sustainable solid waste management practices." Los Angeles plans to reach this goal by the year of 2025.
Landfills waste are categorized by either being hazardous, non-hazardous or inert waste. In order for a landfill design to be considered it must abide by the following requirements: final landforms profile, site capacity, settlement, waste density, materials requirements and drainage.
Energy recovery from waste is the conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into usable heat, electricity, or fuel through a variety of processes, including combustion, gasification, pyrolyzation, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas recovery. [51] This process is often called waste-to-energy.
Disposal of solid waste is most commonly conducted in landfills, but incineration, recycling, composting and conversion to biofuels are also avenues. In the case of landfills, advanced countries typically have rigid protocols for daily cover with topsoil, where underdeveloped countries customarily rely upon less stringent protocols. [46]
Post-consumer waste is a waste type produced by the end consumer of a material stream; that is, where the waste-producing use did not involve the production of another product. The terms of pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled materials are not defined in ISO standard number 14021 (1999), but pre-consumer and post-consumer materials are.
The Municipal Waste Planning Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (Act 101) was passed in 1988 which first initiated a statewide recycling program in Pennsylvania. As of 2016, at least 94% of Pennsylvania residents had access to recycling while 79% of the same population have direct access through curb side pick up programs.