Landfill

Uncommon card · No. 118619

A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials, including municipal solid waste. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate, and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was simply left in piles or thrown into pits (known in archeology as middens). Landfills take up significant amounts of land and pose environmental risks. Some landfill sites are used for waste management purposes, such as temporary storage, consolidation, and transfer, or for various stages of processing waste material, such as sorting, treatment, or recycling. Unless they are stabilized, landfills may undergo severe shaking or soil liquefaction during an earthquake. Once full, the area over a landfill site may be reclaimed for other uses. Both active and restored landfill sites can have significant environmental impacts which can persist for many years. These include the release of landfill gases that contribute to...

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